The Educational Testing Service has introduced the first internet-based version of the Test of English as a Second Language (TOEFL iBT). The new test features changes such as assessing integrated communications skills and communicative competence. Reportedly, TOEFL iBT is a better gauge of how well foreigners seeking to study in the United States and other countries could really speak the language.

The new test does much more to gauge those skills together. Students will be asked to listen to a recording and to read about a topic before writing and speaking their answers. The new test will contain fewer but longer texts and recorded lectures, intended to better assess students' comprehension. Students must still report to a physical testing center to take the new internet version. The premiere of TOEFL iBT in the U.S. will be followed by administrations in Canada, France, Germany and Italy on 22 October.