How Many Times Can You Retake TOEFL or IELTS and Which Attempt Do US Universities See
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published Sep 18, 2026 • Updated Sep 18, 2026
Neither TOEFL nor IELTS limits how many times you take the test, but a university only sees the score report you choose to send. TOEFL lets you send one test date or a combined MyBest report, and IELTS sends a separate Test Report Form for each sitting.
⏱️ TOEFL iBT scores stay valid for 2 years from your test date.
📩 You pick which TOEFL report or IELTS Test Report Form goes to each university, not the test center.
🎓 TOEFL's MyBest feature combines your strongest section scores across attempts, but each school decides whether to accept it.
IELTS now offers a One Skill Retake, resitting a single section instead of the whole test.
Some nursing and licensing bodies ask for your full test history, so a weak early attempt does not always stay hidden outside standard admissions.
No lifetime cap on retakes, for either test
ETS (TOEFL) and IELTS both let you sit the test as many times as you want. Nothing in either program blocks you after a fixed number of attempts. Your real limits are cost, test-center availability, and the short gap each program builds in between sittings.
That gap has changed before, so confirm the current minimum wait on your ETS account or your chosen IELTS test center before you book a retake close to a deadline.
Which attempt reaches the university
TOEFL reports scores by test date. When you order an official score report, you choose which date's result to send, or you send your MyBest Scores report, which lines up your strongest section results from every valid attempt in the past two years into one combined view. ETS confirms that each institution decides for itself whether it accepts MyBest reporting, so check your target program's admissions page before you rely on it.
IELTS works differently. Every sitting produces its own Test Report Form (TRF), and you request copies sent to specific institutions after you receive your results. A university that asks for an official IELTS score sees only the TRF or TRFs you choose to send, not an automatic list of every time you sat the exam.
IELTS One Skill Retake
If three of your four IELTS skills already meet your target band but one is short, IELTS lets you resit that single skill, Listening, Reading, Writing, or Speaking, instead of the full test again. IELTS combines your kept scores with the new one into a Combined Test Report Form. Not every university accepts this combined format yet, so confirm with your admissions office before you book a One Skill Retake in place of a full retest.
When a school wants your full history
Standard undergraduate and graduate admissions offices only see the score report you send them. Some licensing and certification steps work differently. Nursing VisaScreen certification and similar clinical credentialing processes ask candidates to disclose every English test attempt as part of verification, so a strategy built on hiding a weak early score does not carry over outside standard university admissions. This full-history rule also shows up in some professional licensing steps outside health care, so read the specific instructions for any licensing body separately from your university's own application rules.
Deciding whether a retake is worth it
Before you book another sitting, check exactly how close you are to your target score and which section pulled the overall number down. A retake makes sense when one section, not your whole performance, cost you the score you need. Spend a study cycle on that specific skill instead of repeating the same preparation across all four sections.
Factor in the reporting lag too. Order your next score report the moment results post, since most application portals close on the deadline date regardless of when you tested.
How to send the right report
Log into your ETS or IELTS account after you get results and look for the option to send an official score report to a specific institution. TOEFL calls this a score recipient request, and you select either a specific test date or your MyBest Scores report at that point. IELTS asks you to request extra copies of your Test Report Form and give the institution's exact name and address.
Give yourself lead time for this step too, since sending a report is not instant. Many applications also ask you to self-report your score directly in the application form, separate from the official report. Enter the number from the report you plan to send officially, since a mismatch between your self-reported score and the official report slows down your file review.
Scores from TOEFL and IELTS never combine
MyBest and the IELTS Combined Test Report Form each work only within their own test. TOEFL's MyBest combines section scores from multiple TOEFL sittings, not from an IELTS attempt, and IELTS cannot pull in a TOEFL section either. Pick one test and stay with it across your retakes if you want either combined-scoring option to apply.
Weigh the registration fee against the improvement you realistically expect before you book a retake. A retake helps most when you have identified a specific, fixable gap, whether that is one weak section or general timing under exam pressure, rather than a broad hope for a slightly better day.
Practical takeaway
Retake as many times as you need. Neither test blocks you after a set number of attempts.
Send the report format your program accepts. Ask whether MyBest (TOEFL) or a Combined Report Form (IELTS One Skill Retake) counts before you rely on either.
Keep every score report until you enroll, since a licensing body later in your career path sometimes asks for your complete test history.