Strategy to Ace TOEFL Exam in 2025

Is English a Funny Language, or Is It Just Us?

Ever find yourself thinking that English is a rather odd language? For instance, read and lead rhyme, and read and lead also rhyme, but then read and lead don’t rhyme, and neither do lead and read. Confusing, isn’t it?

Even though the words share the same letters, their past and present tenses sound completely different. It’s enough to make your head spin!

Now, if that left you scratching your head and you’re planning to Study Abroad, we might have a little problem on our hands.

To study abroad, you’re typically required to clear a few important exams—particularly English proficiency tests and standardised assessments. While tests like the GMAT and SAT evaluate your academic readiness, exams such as IELTS and TOEFL assess your command of the English language. And yes, passing these is often a key requirement for international university admissions.

That’s why today, we’re bringing you the ultimate 101 guide to cracking the TOEFL exam with confidence in 2025.

So, without further ado, let’s dive in!

What is TOEFL Exam?

TOEFL or Test of English as a Foreign Language, conducted by ETS (Educational Testing Service), is an English proficiency exam taken by study abroad aspirants. It is one of the most popular exams to study abroad and is accepted widely in countries like the UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, and more.

To get an admission abroad, you are required to clear the TOEFL exam as it is used to measure your English language skills. This test analyses your reading, writing, listening, and speaking abilities to perform academic tasks easily.

As you are planning to study abroad, it is the correct time for you to start with the English proficiency exams, and what’s better than TOEFL? Let’s know more about it.

TOEFL Exam in a Crux

Types of TOEFL Exams

As of 2025, the ETS conduct the TOEFL exam every year, every month in various types for the easy accessibility of study abroad aspirants. Here are the different types of TOEFL exams.

1. TOEFL iBT (Internet-Based Test): The is the most popular test amongst study abroad aspirants as it is widely accepted as well. Furthermore, students can take this test online at an exam centre or at home through TOEFL iBT Home Edition. This test accesses four skills reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

2. TOEFL Paper Edition: As the name suggests, it is a pen-paper based exam available in selected countries. For this exam, the test-taker had to visit an exam centre where they attempt reading, writing, and listening test through pen-paper mode and the speaking test is conducted online. TOEFL paper edition is not an ideal test type for many students due to the break in the exam process.

3. TOEFL Essential: This is a shorter exam like TOEFL iBT but less academic. This test is mostly for those who are planning to migrate or work abroad as it is not accepted in abroad universities. This exam tests general English language skills like reading, writing, listening, and speaking to ensure the candidate can survive abroad easily.

NOTE: Universities abroad prefer TOEFL iBT more; hence, it is advisable to check with the university’s requirement guidelines before taking the exams to study abroad.

TOELF Exam Pattern 2025

The TOEFL exam pattern has been updated recently, making it shorter and more efficient for the test-takers. With the total time of 1 hour and 56 minutes, here is the breakdown of TOEFL exam pattern.

The TOEFL score ranges from 0 to 120, 30 marks for each section.

TOEFL Exam Syllabus

Before you begin with your TOEFL iBT preparations it is crucial for you to understand the TOEFL Exam Syllabus. For your easy understanding, refer to the image below.

1. Reading Section

• 2 academic passages (~700 words each).
• Each passage followed by 10 multiple-choice questions.
• Topics include science, humanities, social sciences, etc.

2. Writing Section

Task 1: Integrated Writing (20 minutes)

• Read a short passage and listen to a lecture.
• Write a response comparing both.

Task 2: Independent Writing (9 minutes)

• Write an essay based on personal opinion or experience.

3. Listening Section

• 3 lectures (5-6 minutes long) and 2 conversations.
• Academic and campus-related settings.
• Questions test your ability to understand tone, attitude, and main ideas.

4. Speaking Section

• 1 Independent Task (opinion-based)
• 3 Integrated Tasks (involve reading and/or listening)

Now that you know the TOEFL exam pattern and syllabus, then let’s not waste time and get to the preparation tips.

Tips and Tricks to Crack TOEFL Exam

How long are you going to learn English by watching FRIENDS or other American TV shows? It is a sad truth that the Exams to Study Abroad doesn’t analyse your skills based on how good your American or British accent is. It is your English language skills as whole gets analysed to ensure you can survive in an English-speaking nation. So, to help you get there, let’s get started with the preparation tips for your TOEFL exam.

General Preparation Tips

TOEFL is not that big of a deal that you may not be able to clear it. Sure, the exams is a little tough but with strategic preparation, you can make it happen within 1 month with dedicated learning and TestPrep mentorship. So, let’s look at some general preparation tips for the TOEFL iBT exam.

1. Start Early: If you are aiming for the September intake later this year, then you have to take the TOEFL exam within next 2 months, this means you have to start your preparations today. Starting early gives you ample time to prepare well and take as many practice tests as possible. For better preparation, give yourself 8-12 weeks of thorough learning.
2. Know the Requirements: Before you start with your TOEFL exam preparations, do check the university requirements. Be sure of what type of English proficiency exam is accepted in your preferred universities. If it is TOEFL, then look at the TOEFL exam type and accepted TOEFL score to get an easy admission in your dream university abroad.
3. Use Official Sources: When you start with your preparations, do ensure not to use unofficial sources in the form of practice tests. As the TOEFL exam is conducted by the ETS, they provide you sample papers from previous years as well as months; hence, make sure everything that you study for TOEFL iBT exam, you study it from the official sources only.
4. Track Your Progress: One of the most important things you have to keep in check is to track your progress. To check your readiness for the TOEFL exam, you must keep taking full length mock tests every other week to track your progress. This will help you in improving your performance as you will know how much time you are taking in each section.

Section-wise Preparation Tips

Now, let’s move to know how you will prepare for each TOEFL exam section with ease.

Reading Section Tips

As there are 2 academic passages each of 700 words followed by 10 multiple-choice questions, it is crucial for you to attempt every question. Hence, rather than investing time in reading every word of the passages, you should learn the skimming and scanning technique. In this manner, you just have to look for important dates, numbers, names, and other information that seems crucial to you.

While reading, keep highlighting those keywords and important points to mark out the answers from those sections later. At last, to enhance your reading skills and time efficiency, practice reading articles from The Atlantic, Scientific American, or National Geographic every day.

Writing Section Tips

There are two tasks in your TOEFL Writing exam, one is integrated writing, and the other is independent writing. While task-2 is about writing an essay based on personal opinion or experience, task-1 is about reading a passage and listening to a lecture and then combinedly answering questions as per that.

To make your TOEFL Writing exam easier, try setting a template. Make sure your write-ups have a clear introduction, body, and conclusion. Avoid making spelling errors and repeating words, improve your grammar and vocabulary for this. For clear transition between sentences use words like “moreover,” “however,” and “furthermore.” At last, always have enough time in hand to do the final checks on your write-ups to ensure there are no mistakes.

Listening Section Tips

The TOEFL Listening test contains 3 lectures 5-6 minutes each and 2 long conversations based on academic and campus-related settings. You have to attentively listen to them and answer questions accordingly. To practice for the same, start your preparations with listening to academic podcasts daily. You can listen to NPR, BBC Learning English, or TED Talks in different accents to be familiar with different dictions.

Practice notes taking skills, as writing everything will be a tough task, use symbols and abbreviations for quick understanding and marking the answers later. When practicing for your TOEFL Listening exam, never go for audios with subtitles as it is a bad practice. Furthermore, you must also avoid to replaying the audio in case you missed something as it will break your concentration and you may struggle with next questions too.

Speaking Section Tips

The TOEFL Speaking exam tests your English-speaking fluency and clarity, along with pronunciation and vocabulary. Hence, when preparing for the speaking section, try to record yourself. Speak on a relative topic for 40-60 seconds and record yourself. Afterwards, listen to how you’ve spoken to analyse if you were fluent or not and whether your pronunciations were right.

To make sure you speak fluently in the exam, try using sentences like “I believe,” or “let me think about it,” instead of using “umms” and “ahhs”. While practising, it is also beneficial to time your response. As you get a limited time for your speaking test, it is important you finish your responses within the allotted time.

MetaApply IE- Clear Your TOELF Exam with Our TestPrep Classes

As the blog comes to an end, we believe you have got the right knowledge about the exam. Before studying for any exam, it is always important to study about the exam. Hence, do ensure you check the requirements from your preferred universities before taking an exam to study abroad.

Furthermore, if, after reading this blog, if you still think you need personalised attention, then connect with MetaApply IE mentors today. We understand that clearing the TOEFL exam is a big pressure on you, and you don’t want to risk it. Hence, our mentors guide you at every step ensuring your get your desired score in your TOEFL exam.

So, if you are ready to clear your TOEFL exam in just four weeks, then don’t wait anymore. Connect with MetaApply IE experts today.