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TOEIC score to CEFR level

The official mapping is per section. Add the two B2 cut scores and you get 785 — that is not a coincidence.

4 min read

Search for "TOEIC to CEFR" and you will find a dozen total-score tables, all different. They cannot all be right, and in fact none of them is official: ETS has never published a CEFR mapping for the total score. The table ETS does publish is per section, and it is far more interesting.

The official table, section by section

It comes from a standard-setting study run by ETS and reproduced in the official TOEIC score user guide. A panel of 22 experts — language instructors, programme directors and testing specialists — from ten European countries recommended a minimum score for each CEFR level.

Minimum scores recommended by ETS for each CEFR level
SectionA1A2B1B2C1C2
Listening (5–495) 60110275400490—
Reading (5–495) 60115275385455 *—

* The C1 cut score on Reading was supported by only 45% of the panel, below the two-thirds criterion ETS had set for itself. ETS publishes it with that caveat attached — honest, and almost never repeated elsewhere.

There is no C2 on the TOEIC

The table stops at C1, and that is not an omission. TOEIC Listening and Reading measures comprehension in a workplace context; the panel did not consider it possible to recommend a C2 cut score on this test.

Any chart announcing "990 = C2" is therefore inventing a level ETS does not claim. A 990 means you reached the ceiling of the scale, which is not the same as being assessed at C2.

Where the 785 threshold actually comes from

Here is the point most pages miss. Take the two B2 cut scores from the official table and add them:

400 (Listening) + 385 (Reading) = 785

The threshold French engineering schools require to award the degree is not a round number picked at random: it is the sum of the two B2 cut scores ETS recommends, restated as a total. Once you know that, the figure stops being mysterious — and its weakness becomes visible.

The flaw in adding the two

A total of 785 can be made of 460 Listening and 325 Reading. The total clears the bar, but Reading stays below the 385 required for B2: the candidate is B2 in listening and B1 in reading. Most institutions look only at the total. Some look at both sections — check the regulations before reassuring yourself.

An indicative reading of the total score

Since the question always comes back, here is an indicative reading of the total. It is not official: it simply assumes the two sections are balanced. Use it to place yourself, never to argue with an institution.

Indicative reading — not published by ETS
Total scoreApproximate levelWhat it covers
905 – 990C1Professional fluency, including on unfamiliar subjects.
785 – 900B2Working independence: meetings, technical documents, sustained exchanges.
605 – 780B1Limited independence: familiar topics, with losses at speed.
405 – 600A2Simple, predictable exchanges.
255 – 400A1Isolated sentences and everyday expressions.
10 – 250Below A1Scattered fragments.

The caution ETS attaches itself

The official guide publishes its own table alongside a warning nobody quotes: the results "should be considered guidelines, as ETS does not recommend the use of rigid cut scores". ETS publishes thresholds while advising against treating them as sharp boundaries.

That makes more sense once you remember the measurement margin: the standard error is about 25 points per section, set out in how the TOEIC is scored. A candidate on 395 in Reading is not measurably different from one on 385 — yet one is "B2" and the other is not.

The practical consequence is simple: if a CEFR threshold has been imposed on you, aim clearly above it rather than at it.

Measure yourself section by section

Since the official table is per section, that is how you should measure. Sit Listening and Reading separately: it is the only way to see whether your two CEFR levels are aligned or whether one is dragging the other.

Quick answers

What TOEIC score is B2?
In the ETS standard-setting study, B2 starts at 400 on Listening and 385 on Reading. Those two added together are 785, which is where the common total-score threshold comes from.
Is there a C2 level on the TOEIC?
No. The panel recommended cut scores up to C1 only, and even the Reading C1 figure was supported by fewer than half the panellists.
Why do total-score CEFR tables differ between sites?
Because ETS never published one. Every total-score chart is somebody's reconstruction, which is why no two agree.

Sources

Fees, deadlines and funding rules change. Where a number matters to your decision, check it against the official page linked here before you book.

  1. ETS — Score User Guide, « Mapping TOEIC Scores on the CEFR » (PDF)
  2. Tannenbaum & Wylie (2008) — Linking English-Language Test Scores onto the CEFR (PDF)
  3. ETS — Mapping the TOEIC Tests on the CEFR (PDF)

Now find out where you actually stand

Reading about the test only gets you so far. Take a section under real conditions and get a score on the official 10–990 scale.

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Keep reading

What score do you need to pass the TOEIC?

There is no official pass mark. The number you need comes from whoever is asking for it.

How the TOEIC is scored

There is no penalty for guessing, no published conversion table, and a ±25-point margin ETS states openly.

TOEIC, TOEFL, IELTS or Linguaskill?

The right test is decided by your reader, not by you. Start from the requirement and work backwards.