TOEFL Essentials - new more affordable TOEFL to be launched in 2021

ETS aims to launch TOEFL Essentials -a new version of TOEFL. To be launched later this year, TOEFL Essentials is clearly intended as a counter to the grwoing popularity of more affordable competitors. TOEFL Essentials could cost about half of the iBT price and be of 90 minutes duration. TOEFL Essentials will be designed to be a broader, more versatile test. About half of the content will be academic; the other half will be more general “life skills” English. Students will be able to take this version at home, supported with a combination of human and AI proctoring.

Currently, the Duolingo test is of 60 minute duration and costs US$49 and is now accepted by 1,600 institutions worldwide; and TOEFL iBT costs approximately US$225 and is of 3 hour duration.