TOEFL essay grader

Practice the two TOEFL iBT writing tasks that take your own text: Write for an Academic Discussion and Write an Email. You get a 0 to 5 estimate, quotes from your response and one fix per point.

What the grader looks at

ETS scores each task as one level from 0 to 5. To give you feedback you can act on, we split each task into three criteria, score each from 0 to 5 and average them to the nearest half point. The criteria summarise ideas in the public ETS writing scoring guide (read 2026-11-03) in our own words.

Write for an Academic Discussion

ContributionDoes your post add a clear idea to the class discussion and respond to what the others said?0–5
DevelopmentIs the idea supported with reasons or examples, not just stated?0–5
LanguageRange and accuracy of grammar and vocabulary, and how easily it reads.0–5

Write an Email

PurposeDoes the email do what the situation asks, with enough detail to support that purpose?0–5
Tone & organizationAre politeness and register right for the reader, and is the request or information laid out in an order that is easy to follow?0–5
LanguageRange and accuracy of grammar and vocabulary, and how easily it reads.0–5

Per ETS (read 2026-11-03) the writing section has three tasks: Build a Sentence, Write an Email and Write for an Academic Discussion. Build a Sentence arranges given words rather than writing an essay, so it is not graded here. Per the same material, the Email task is timed at 7 minutes and the Academic Discussion at 10.

A scored example

Opening of a short Academic Discussion reply that we wrote ourselves.

Sample essay written by usopening

I think online classes are better for most students. They are good because you can learn at home and save time, and many students like that.1 Professor Diaz said that schedules matter, and I agree with her.

Development

2/5

“They are good because you can learn at home and save time, and many students like that.”

Why: The reason is general. It does not say what time is saved or what a student does with it, so it adds little to the discussion.
Suggestion: Give one concrete case, such as a commute you skip, and tie it to what Professor Diaz said.
Rewrite example (this sentence only): Online classes save me the 40-minute bus ride, which gives me an hour a day for the lab reports Professor Diaz says matter most.

Synthetic example. Scores are estimates, not official scores.

A second example: the email

Opening of a short email we wrote ourselves for a made-up situation (asking a professor for an extension), with the note for one criterion.

Sample essay written by usopening

Hey Professor Lin, I need more time for the report so give me until next week, ok?2 I was sick.

Tone & organization

2/5

“I need more time for the report so give me until next week, ok?”

Why: The request is clear, but it reads as an order and the reason comes after it. For a professor, the register is too casual and the order is backwards.
Suggestion: Give the reason first, then ask politely and name the new date.
Rewrite example (this sentence only): I was ill for most of last week, so I would be grateful if I could hand in the report next Friday instead.

Synthetic example. Scores are estimates, not official scores.

Practising under the clock

Set a timer of 10 minutes for an Academic Discussion reply and 7 for an email, then paste what you finished.
Read the other posts or the situation first and note what you can add or ask for.
Leave 30 seconds for a closing line and a quick re-read for typos.

Common mistakes

Repeating a classmate's point instead of adding your own.
An email that is too casual for a professor or too stiff for a friend.
Listing reasons with no example for any of them.
Running out of time before a closing line.

Honest limits

A practice estimate, not an ETS score.

Official TOEFL scores come from ETS. Our 0 to 5 numbers are an AI estimate and cannot predict your reported score.
The grader cannot enforce the time limit. Time yourself separately.
The older Integrated and Independent essay tasks are not used in the current test, so they are not offered here.

Questions about TOEFL grading

Is this the official TOEFL score?

No. It is an estimate against a rubric summarised from the public ETS rubrics. It is not an ETS score.

Which tasks can I paste?

Write for an Academic Discussion and Write an Email. Build a Sentence is a different task type and is not graded.

Does it check my word count?

It shows your word count and flags the limit you enter. It does not know the exact length ETS expects for your test, so check the ETS page.

Will it rewrite my response?

No. It rewrites one sentence at a time as an example and never produces a whole response.

Is the 0 to 5 estimate one overall score?

For each task, yes. We score three criteria from 0 to 5 and average them to the nearest half point, so you see both the single number and where it came from.