The Association Between TOEFL iBT® Test Scores and the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) Levels - Research Memorandum No. RM-15-06

Sep 30, 2026

The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), published by the Council of Europe (2001), provides a progression of language proficiency levels widely used in second language teaching and assessment. Educational Testing Service (ETS) previously mapped TOEFL iBT® test scores to CEFR levels to support score interpretation. After user feedback and decision-maker actions, ETS revised the CEFR cut scores in 2014 and this memorandum presents the rationale and validity evidence that the revised cut scores are reasonable and preserve the quality of admissions decisions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages28

Reading Time1 h 11 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Key words

Validity and score interpretation

Mapping TOEFL iBT scores to CEFR levels

Research Memorandum ETS RM–15-06 The Association Between TOEFL iBT® Test Scores and the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) Levels Spiros Papageorgiou Richard J. Tannenbaum Brent Bridgeman Yeonsuk Cho ETS Research Memorandum Series EIGNOR EXECUTIVE EDITOR James Carlson Principal Psychometrician ASSOCIATE EDITORS Beata Beigman Klebanov Research Scientist Heather Buzick Research Scientist Brent Bridgeman Distinguished Presidential Appointee Keelan Evanini Managing Research Scientist Marna Golub-Smith Principal Psychometrician Shelby Haberman Distinguished Presidential Appointee Donald Powers Managing Principal Research Scientist Gautam Puhan Principal Psychometrician John Sabatini Managing Principal Research Scientist Matthias von Davier Senior Research Director Rebecca Zwick Distinguished Presidential Appointee PRODUCTION EDITORS Kim Fryer Manager, Editing Services Ayleen Stellhorn Editor Since its 1947 founding, ETS has conducted and disseminated scientific research to support its products and services, and to advance the measurement and education fields. In keeping with these goals, ETS is committed to making its research freely available to the professional community and to the general public. Published accounts of ETS research, including papers in the ETS Research Memorandum series, undergo a formal peer-review process by ETS staff to ensure that they meet established scientific and professional standards. All such ETS-conducted peer reviews are in addition to any reviews that outside organizations may provide as part of their own publication processes. Peer review notwithstanding, the positions expressed in the ETS Research Memorandum series and other published accounts of ETS research are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Officers and Trustees of Educational Testing Service. The Daniel Eignor Editorship is named in honor of Dr. Daniel R. Eignor, who from 2001 until 2011 served the Research and Development division as Editor for the ETS Research Report series. The Eignor Editorship has been created to recognize the pivotal leadership role that Dr. Eignor played in the research publication process at ETS. The Association Between TOEFL iBT® Test Scores and the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) Levels Spiros Papageorgiou, Richard J. Tannenbaum, Brent Bridgeman, and Yeonsuk Cho Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey August 2015 Corresponding author: Spiros Papageorgiou, E-mail: spapageorgiou@ets.org Suggested citation: Papageorgiou, S., Tannenbaum, R. J., Bridgeman, B., & Cho, Y. (2015) . The association between TOEFL iBT® test scores and the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) levels (Research Memorandum No. RM-15-06). Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service. Find other ETS-published reports by searching the ETS ReSEARCHER database at [http://search.ets.org/researcher/](http://search.ets.org/researcher/) To obtain a copy of an ETS research report, please visit [http://www.ets.org/research/contact.html](http://www.ets.org/research/contact.html) Action Editor: Donald Powers Reviewers: Jonathan Schmidgall and Michael Kane Copyright © 2015 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, and TOEFL IBT are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS) . MEASURING THE POWER OF LEARNING is a trademark of ETS. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Abstract The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), published by the Council of Europe (2001) is arguably one of the most influential language frameworks in the field of second language teaching and assessment, articulating a progression of language proficiency through a number of levels. Tannenbaum & Wylie (2008) mapped the TOEFL iBT® test scores onto the CEFR levels to help test users and decision makers interpret TOEFL iBT test scores in terms of the CEFR levels. B

FAQs

What is the purpose of revising CEFR cut scores in 2014?

The memorandum presents the rationale for the CEFR cut score revision and provides validity evidence that the revised scores are reasonable and do not harm admissions decision quality.

How are TOEFL iBT® test scores used in academic admissions?

TOEFL iBT® scores are used by universities to decide whether prospective ESL students have sufficient English-language skills for admission, using criterion-based interpretations aligned to CEFR levels.

Why is mapping test scores to proficiency descriptions important?

A test score alone does not show whether a criterion has been met; mapping associates TOEFL iBT scores with level descriptions of language proficiency, enabling clearer score interpretation.

Sep 30, 2026

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