There are two tasks in the Writing section of the TOEFL iBT: an Integrated Writing Task and an Independent Writing Task.

The Integrated Writing task comes first because it involves some listening, and when you are taking the real TOEFL iBT you will wear your headphones. When you are finished with the Integrated Writing Task, which takes about 20 minutes, you will be free to take your headphones off to work on the Independent Writing Task. You will have 30 minutes to complete the Independent Writing Task.

This chapter discusses each of the writing tasks in detail and the scoring criteria that readers will use to evaluate your writing. It includes samples of each task, sample responses to each task, and specific advice on how to approach writing your own response.

For both the writing tasks on the TOEFL iBT, the people evaluating your writing recognize that your response is a first draft. You are not expected to produce a well-researched, comprehensive essay about a highly specific, specialized topic. You can earn a high score with an essay that contains some errors.