Both IELTS and TOEFL are English proficiency tests meant to check and mark your language skills. In order to study abroad, appearing for one of these tests is necessary. They serve as proof to testify your ability to speak and write in English. International universities, especially the ones that are based in English-speaking countries have a requirement to submit one of these test scores during the application process. Apart from these two, there are many other language testing exams but these two remain the most popular. All the students who prepare for studying abroad go through this confusion of which out of these two exams to pick.
IELTS stands for International English Language Testing System and TOEFL is the Test of English as a Foreign Language. A lot of people think that TOEFL is the easier one out of the two but that is not the case. Both of them are equally difficult. IELTS and be given in both online and paper mode. The results of the online mode are out in 3-5 days whereas paper-based tests take around 13 days. The assessment of the test is based on the concept of ‘bands’ ranging from 0 to 9 where 0 is the lowest and 9 is the highest. The exam is 2 hours and 45 minutes long.TOEFL on the other hand is held only in online mode and is 3 hours 15 minutes long. The scores are usually in the range of 0-120, where 0 represents the lowest number and 120 represents the highest number. TOEFL is generally demanded specifically in countries like the UK, Canada, and some European countries. IELTS is accepted across the UK. In the US, to date, many universities insist on having a TOEFL score. So choose the test depending upon the university that you are aiming for.
