You’ve just taken the TOEFL (or a TOEFL practice test), and you’ve received a score in the form of a number from 0 – 120. But what does this number mean? How does this score compare to everyone else’s score? That’s where score percentiles come in!
TOEFL Percentile Breakdown
Score percentiles tell you how your score compares to everyone else’s. Your “percentile” tells you what percentage of test-takers you scored better than. For example, if your score puts you in the 75th percentile, this means that you scored higher than 75% of all test-takers. You can find out your percentile rank with this chart:
| Total Scale Score | Percentile Rank |
|---|---|
| 120 | 100 |
| 116 | 99 |
| 112 | 97 |
| 108 | 93 |
| 104 | 88 |
| 100 | 81 |
| 96 | 74 |
| 92 | 67 |
| 88 | 59 |
| 84 | 51 |
| 80 | 44 |
| 76 | 37 |
| 72 | 31 |
| 68 | 25 |
| 64 | 20 |
| 60 | 16 |
| 56 | 13 |
| 52 | 10 |
| 48 | 8 |
| 44 | 6 |
| 40 | 4 |
| 36 | 3 |
| 32 | 2 |
| 28 | 1 |
| 24 | 1 |
| 20 | — |
| 16 | — |
| 12 | — |
| 8 | — |
| 4 | — |
| 0 | — |
So, if you scored a 116, you scored better than 99% of all test-takers (according to this data from ETS).
Does your TOEFL score percentile matter?
Yes, and no. Your score on the TOEFL matters, of course. But, that’s all that universities will look at — they won’t also check your percentile rank. As long as your score meets the requirements for the universities you’re applying to, then that’s all that matters. Here are some requirements for top universities, and you can learn more about what makes a “good” TOEFL score in this post. If you’d like to improve your score so that you meet your universities’ requirements, take a look at our online TOEFL preparation course!
Percentiles are just a useful way to help you compare yourself to the general population of TOEFL test-takers. And if your percentile isn’t as high as you’d like it to be, don’t worry! When you apply to universities, you won’t be measured against everyone else who took the TOEFL — only the students who are also applying to the same universities as you. So, be sure to check out those score requirements above, and happy studying!
