Updated October 2026
Retaking the TOEFL: when to sit it again and what to change
Missing a required score by half a band is common, and a retake often closes the gap, but only if something changes between the two attempts. This page covers the rules, how to read your first result, and how to use the time before the second one.
The retake rules
There is no limit to the number of times you can take the TOEFL iBT, but you cannot take it more than once in any three-day period. That applies even if you cancelled the scores of the earlier test, and you cannot book a new date within three days of a test you are already booked for.
Each attempt is a full test: you sit all four sections again, and each attempt is registered and paid for separately.
How MyBest scores help
Your score report includes MyBest scores: your best score in each section from all your valid TOEFL iBT tests of the last two years. If your first test had a strong Reading band and your second a stronger Speaking band, MyBest shows both together.
This makes a retake lower-risk than many students think: a weaker section on the second attempt does not erase a better one from the first. However, not every institution accepts MyBest scores, and some ask for all section requirements to be met on one test date. Check before you plan around it.
Should you retake at all?
Compare section by section
Put each section band next to the institution's requirement. Many programmes set a minimum per section as well as overall. A gap in one section calls for a different plan than a gap overall.
Look at the size of the gap
Half a band in one section is often reachable with focused work on that section's task types. A full band or more overall usually needs a longer plan and more time between attempts.
Check the calendar
Count back from the deadline: scores take about three days to post and up to about ten business days to reach an institution electronically. Make sure a retake, and possibly another, still fits.
Ask about alternatives
Some programmes offer conditional admission or a language course for students just below the requirement. It is worth asking before booking.
Read your first result properly
Start with the section bands, not the overall band. Then think about how each section felt. Did Reading run out of time? Did Listening feel hard in the second half, which may mean you were on the harder module? Did you stop early in Speaking or leave a point of the email unanswered?
If one of your Writing or Speaking bands is far below everything else, a score review is possible within 30 days of the test, for a fee, as long as you have not sent your scores to any institution. The score can go down as well as up, so it is only worth it when the gap is clearly out of line with your other results.
What to change before the second attempt
Reading
If time ran out, practise single modules on the module clock until you finish with a minute to spare. If accuracy was the problem, sort your practice errors by type: vocabulary, detail or inference.
Listening
Train short, focused listening: one recording, answer within the time limit, move on. Add listening at natural speed every day, above your comfort level if you are aiming for the harder module.
Writing
Check your email answers against every point of the task, and your discussion posts for a clear opinion with a reason and an example. Typing speed matters: practise until you can write a complete email in the seven minutes.
Speaking
Record your interview answers and listen back: did you answer in the first sentence and keep speaking for the whole time? For Listen and Repeat, practise repeating longer sentences exactly, word for word.
How long to wait
Retaking within days only makes sense if the first test was spoiled by something outside your English, such as illness, a noisy room or a technical problem. Otherwise you will mostly repeat the same result.
For a half-band gap in one section, two to four weeks of focused work on that section is a common plan. For a larger gap, give yourself longer and use the four-week plan as a base.
An example: half a band short in Speaking
Say a programme asks for band 4.5 in every section, and your first test gave Reading 5, Listening 5, Writing 4.5 and Speaking 4. Only Speaking needs to move, by half a band.
A sensible plan: listen to your own practice recordings and find the habit that costs most, for example long pauses at the start of interview answers or sentences abandoned halfway. Spend three weeks on daily interview answers aloud with a fixed shape, plus ten minutes a day of Listen and Repeat with longer sentences. Keep the other sections ticking over with one short timed set each day, sit a full practice test, then book the retake. If MyBest is accepted, your earlier Reading and Listening bands still count even if they dip.
Check before you rebook
Before booking the second test, sit a full practice test in the 2026 format to see whether the weak section has actually moved. If it has not, the plan needs changing, not the date. fullmock mocks give an estimated band for each section; they are estimates, and only ETS issues official TOEFL scores.
Common retake mistakes
Retaking without changing anything
The same preparation tends to produce the same bands.
Studying your strongest section
It feels productive, but the points you need are in the weaker one.
Watching only the overall band
A required section minimum can block an application even when the overall band is high enough.
Booking back-to-back attempts
Several tests in a row without study between them are tiring and rarely improve the result.
Questions about retaking the TOEFL
How soon can I retake the TOEFL?
You can take it again after three days. ETS does not allow more than one test in any three-day period, even if you cancelled the earlier scores.
How many times can I take the TOEFL?
There is no limit on the number of attempts.
Will universities see that I took the test more than once?
They receive the score reports you send. Reports include your MyBest scores, which draw on all your valid scores of the last two years, so assume an institution may see that you have taken the test before.
Can I combine section scores from different test dates?
Your MyBest scores do this automatically. Whether an institution accepts them is its own decision, so check its requirements.
This is an independent summary written for test takers. ETS publishes the official specification of the test on its own website.