Fortunately, the UK welcomes students from all over the world. However, before applying to British universities, you must meet specific requirements.

Most British UK universities have practically the same requirements. These are general conditions that you will find in most applications, such as advanced English and a copy of certificates from previous studies, among others.

There is a complete possibility that English may not be your first language or the official language of your country. For this reason, you need an advanced English certificate as a requirement for international students. Talking about advanced English, several tests validate your knowledge of the English language for travelling abroad, IELTS and TOEFL are most common. The IELTS or TOEFL are two of the best-known tests to study a program in the United Kingdom to check your level of language knowledge as an essential requirement; Also, most scholarships ask applicants to have satisfactory results from one of these two exams. You can also read our previous articles on IELTS such as What is IELTS. The decision to take the TOEFL or the IELTS will ultimately depend on several factors. Read on to decide which one is best for you.

The first big question is which of these two exams to take?

One cannot say that one exam is easier than the other, they are very different and there are many such specific cases in which one student is given an option, and another is not.

Preparing very well for the exam is the most important thing, to know the format perfectly so that you don’t waste much time to understand how it should be solved.

TOEFL is a test that is made, like IELTS, to measure the knowledge of the English language. Still, its root comes from more years ago, being created in the United States in the sixties. At the same time, IELTS is a test that created in England in the eighties, in this way it could be said that each exam serves more for its own country since the validity of an IELTS in England is usually more accepted than that of a TOEFL since it is American English and English British.

Also, within each exam, there are different formats, with the TOEFL exam having a paper modality and another online modality. The online mode is carried out on a computer, and it is about answering the same hits that would be answered on paper, but now on the computer, and for the oral part, a microphone is used to send the particular audio notes to each question.

The IELTS exam, on the other hand, had always been a paper test. For the oral part, an evaluator was the one in charge of speaking with the other person to start a conversation in English and at that time, measure the abilities.

Recently, IELTS presented its new format (CD IELTS) to take its exam, it is a computer test with the same reagents, leaving the oral examination as the only one that is carried out face to face.

Points to consider:

• The first distinction between the two is the United States accent, which is used in the TOEFL, while the English and Australian accent are used in the IELTS.

• A second point to consider is the format of the exam; the TOEFL is entirely computer-based, and the IELTS is a paper-based test.

Test score and items:

British universities will ask you to meet a minimum of total points, and a minimum of points for each element of the test, which we explain below.

Typically, universities request a minimum of 6.5 global IELTS points for postgraduate programs, and for TOEFL a score of 92 global points.

1. Listening:

In this section, you will hear a series of audios from which you must collect information to solve in the exam. Usually, you can only listen to it once so you must pay close attention.

In the case of the IELTS, you will have to complete some sentences in which sentences are missing, and in the case of the TOEFL, you have to solve a series of multiple-choice questions.

This makes the TOEFL  much more captivating and the IELTS a more direct exam, consider that in the IELTS to be written on paper if the spelling counts.

2. Speaking:

This is probably the section that has the most differences between both exams:

At the IELTS you will be in front of an evaluator who will ask you a series of questions that you must answer and start a kind of conversation. In the case of the TOEFL, they will give you a series of guidelines, and you will have to speak to the computer explaining the topic that has touched you.

3. Reading:

This section is similar to Listening; you will have to read a text and solve a series of questions. In the case of the TOEFL, they are again multiple choice. Our recommendation is to do an initial quick reading and underline the sections where vital information is given, so it will be easier to find it when you have to solve the questions.

4. Writing:

Of all things, writing is considered an essential part of college entrance! Both sections are more or less similar; they will give you a theme that you must solve as essays.

Usually, this is the section that is most difficult for students and the one that we most recommend preparing for, since it is difficult for a university to accept results that are less than the minimum of the score they ask for.

Consider that you should NOT try to learn an answer, evaluators may notice that your response was determined and you did not use your skills to solve it.

5. Analyse:

How do you feel more comfortable? Talking to a computer in a monologue or having a conversation with a person? Multiple choice or direct answers? What accent do you like the most?

It is always an excellent option for searching the internet for videos with tips in addition to taking the right preparation course!

TOEFL Vs IELTS

TOEFL	IELTS
Approximately 4 hours long	2 hours and 45 minutes long
Can be avail at more than 500 locations in the US, and more than 4,500 worldwide	Available at more than 59 locations in the US, and approximately 900 worldwide
The cost varies typically between $160 to $200.	The cost can vary greatly, even within the same country; usually around  $200
Score scale from 0 to 120	Score in any of the 9 “bands”, or levels of competition