How the 2026 TOEFL Writing section works

The current TOEFL iBT Writing section is short and linear. You complete 12 questions in about 23 minutes, in this order:

1. Build a Sentence — 10 items, 6 minutes 50 seconds
2. Write an Email — 1 campus email, 7 minutes
3. Academic Discussion — 1 discussion post, 10 minutes

You cannot return to a previous part. Unused time does not carry forward.

What disappeared

Integrated Writing and the independent essay are gone. You are not writing a 250-word opinion essay. Academic Discussion is a short post in a class thread, not an essay.

How scores work

• Build a Sentence is machine-scored: each item is 1 or 0. Ten items, so 0–10.
• Write an Email and Academic Discussion use the official 0–5 constructed-response scales.
• TOEFLGRADER also shows an indicative 1.0–6.0 Writing figure so you can track practice over time. That figure is orientation only. It is not an ETS conversion table, and it is not a /30 total.

How to practice

Sit a full section under the real timers, then open the tutor report. Practice the weak task type on its own (/writing?task=email or ad or bas) before you sit another full mock.