English tests compared: choose by purpose and how speaking is assessed

Choose an English test that your university, employer or other recipient accepts, then check which skills and speaking format it measures. For international study, consider accepted versions of TOEFL iBT, IELTS Academic, Cambridge English Qualifications or the Duolingo English Test; Japanese admissions may also use Eiken, GTEC or TEAP. TOEIC L&R does not directly test speaking: if that is your goal, choose an accepted test with a speaking component.

To connect TOEIC L&R formats with Part-specific practice and a realistic weekly schedule, use our TOEIC study plan.

For students, adults and parents deciding what to take. Provider facts checked on 15 October 2026; the purpose suggestions and editorial choices are not rankings. Availability and acceptance depend on the country, institution, course and exact test version. Japan-specific tests below are explained in that context.

For TOEIC preparation specifically, our app comparison by purpose, score range and free access also explains how to combine apps with official practice books.

After choosing IELTS, follow our IELTS study plan to organise official materials and practice around your overall and skill requirements.

For whole-test preparation, use our TOEFL study plan to organize all four skills and official materials around your target.

Before choosing preparation materials, use our guide to choosing your first Eiken grade to compare official levels, test tasks and your purpose.

Main English tests at a glance

Four skills means reading, listening, writing and speaking. This table describes the named products, primarily public tests or school delivery in Japan. Letters link to their official sources below. A computer-delivered test is not automatically AI-scored.

Test / sources	Purpose and skills	How speaking is assessed	Score scale	How / where
Eiken E	Japan: learning and admissions; four skills from Grade 3 upwards	Live human interview from Grade 3. Grade 4/5 have a separate recorded test, outside grade qualification	Grade + CSE; score range depends on grade	Written first stage; interview second stage where applicable
Eiken S-CBT S	Japan: Eiken in one day; four skills	Recorded answers; inspected operational pages do not specify human/AI allocation	Same grades and CSE as conventional Eiken	Centre PC; handwritten or typed writing; Grades Pre-1, 2, Pre-2 Plus, Pre-2, 3
TOEIC L&R L	Careers, study and institutional uses; listening/reading	No spoken-response test	10–990 total	Japan public test: paper answer sheet at a centre
TOEIC S&W W	Work and communication; speaking/writing	Recorded answers marked by ETS-certified human raters	0–200 for each skill	Centre computer and headset
TOEFL iBT F	Academic admissions; four skills	Recorded; 2026 specification describes AI scoring	1–6 in half bands; transitional comparable overall 0–120 also reported	Computer at centre or Home Edition
IELTS I	Academic: higher education/professional registration; General Training: migration/training; four skills	Live human examiner; video-call delivery may be available	0–9 bands	Centre computer or other locally available mode; verify exact format
Cambridge English Qualifications C	Level-based learning, study and work; four skills	Live interaction; B2 First includes other candidate(s) and examiners, one potentially remote	Cambridge English Scale, grade and CEFR; range depends on exam	Authorised centre; paper/digital
GTEC G	Japan secondary schools; learning and admissions through accepted examination version; four skills	Recorded; do not infer speaking’s human/AI split from writing information	Core max 840; Basic 1080; Advanced 1280	School application; distinguish assessment and examination versions
TEAP T	Japan university entry, mainly high-school students; four skills	One-to-one human interview	80–400 total; 20–100 per skill	Centre: paper components and interview; check selected skill package
Duolingo English Test D	Accepted academic applications; four skills	Recorded responses graded by an engine; human proctoring is a separate function	10–160 in steps of 5, plus individual subscores	Online computer test in a compliant home environment
Versant Speaking and Listening V	Staff/student assessment; speaking/listening	Recorded and automatically scored	GSE 10–90; CEFR reporting	Browser or mobile app allowed by administrator
PROGOS P	Business speaking and workplace assessment; speaking	Recorded and AI-scored	Nine overall bands: Pre-A1 to B2 High and above	Corporate web invitation or personal app; monitoring requirements differ

All rows checked 15 October 2026. Recorded describes submission; human/AI describes assessment. S&W is not a four-skills test on its own. B2 First’s group format must not be generalized to all Cambridge young-learner exams.

Validity and each provider’s own CEFR reporting

Test	Validity / acceptance caveat	Own official CEFR mapping or report
Eiken	Grade/CSE valid for life; recipient may limit result age	Yes — provider source
Eiken S-CBT	Same qualification policy; recipient’s age limits still apply	Yes — provider source
TOEIC L&R	ETS sets 2 years; a recipient may accept older scores	Yes — provider source
TOEIC S&W	ETS sets 2 years; check recipient’s rules	Yes — provider source
TOEFL iBT	2 years	Yes — provider source
IELTS	Recommended evidence period: 2 years; check recipient	Yes — provider source
Cambridge English Qualifications	Results/certificate valid indefinitely; recipient may impose age limits	Yes — provider source
GTEC	Official score and certificate reissue: until fiscal year-end two years after Test Date	Yes — provider source
TEAP	Score year and following fiscal year: not rolling 24 months	Yes — provider source
Duolingo English Test	Certified results: 2 years	Yes — provider source
Versant Speaking and Listening	No universal result expiry stated in the inspected guide; ask recipient	Yes — provider source
PROGOS	No universal expiry stated in inspected product/manual pages; ask employer	Yes — provider source

A missing expiry statement does not mean unlimited validity. Acceptance rules and certificate reissue periods are separate checks. The CEFR column links only to the test provider’s own mapping/report; it is not our conversion chart.

Changes to check in 2026

TOEFL iBT introduced the 1–6 scale on 21 January 2026; during a two-year transition the report also supplies a comparable overall 0–120 score. GTEC’s former CBT type and public-centre examination delivery ended in fiscal 2025; school Assessment Digital is a different service. IELTS announced a move away from paper-based delivery from mid-2026, with market-specific dates and Writing on Paper in selected markets. Check current local booking rather than assuming an older format is available. Sources F, G and I below.

Choose for your purpose

International study: start with the course’s accepted tests

Purpose → candidates: an accepted TOEFL iBT, IELTS Academic, DET or Cambridge qualification. Selection criteria: exact product, overall and skill minima, accepted centre/home delivery, result age and electronic delivery deadline. We would try official samples for both a live interview and recorded responses if several tests qualify. Do not decide solely from the destination country. Use the relevant preparation guide after choosing:

TOEFL Speaking · IELTS Speaking · DET preparation · Cambridge speaking

Japanese school and university admissions

Purpose → candidates: Eiken/conventional or S-CBT, school GTEC examination version and TEAP where accepted. Selection criteria: institution, faculty and selection route; required grade/CSE or test score, skill package and eligible testing period. Eiken S-CBT awards the same qualifications in its offered grades, but the receiving institution’s conditions still need checking. Do not book a discontinued GTEC CBT test. Detailed formats:

Eiken interviews · Eiken S-CBT · GTEC speaking · TEAP speaking

Jobs and career changes

Purpose → candidates: the test actually named in the vacancy, including TOEIC L&R or S&W. Selection criteria: listening/reading requirements versus a speaking requirement, recognised certificate and score age. If the vacancy just says TOEIC, clarify the exact product. We would report an actual speaking result rather than interpret a high L&R score as proof of speaking.

TOEIC Speaking

Workplace assessment and training

Purpose → candidates: employer-designated TOEIC S&W, Versant Speaking and Listening or PROGOS. Selection criteria: full product name, invitation method, monitoring, deadline and the company’s score policy. A personal test/app result may not satisfy a corporate invitation. Separate the assessment requirement from practice for real meetings. Guides:

Versant preparation · PROGOS preparation

Children: match experience and learning goals

Purpose → candidates: an appropriate Eiken grade or Cambridge Young Learners/other age-suitable qualification. Selection criteria: official sample instructions, reading demands, speaking situation and school goals. We would not assign an exam from age alone. Eiken Grade 4/5 qualification and their separate speaking tests are different. Parents can help select and organise practice without acting as official raters.

Eiken interviews · Cambridge speaking

Tokyo note: ESAT-J

ESAT-J is a Tokyo school speaking assessment, not a general international qualification. YEAR 3 uses recorded speech on tablets and trained human assessors, with six result grades A–F used in specified metropolitan high-school admissions. The official rubric’s reference to CEFR-J is not a conversion to other tests. Follow the relevant year’s school instructions. Official sources J below.

ESAT-J guide

Speaking delivery and scoring are different choices

Compare two axes: live interaction versus recorded submission, and human versus automated assessment. Eiken conventional, TEAP and IELTS include human interviews. Cambridge B2 First also involves other candidates. TOEIC Speaking recordings are assessed by certified human raters; Versant and PROGOS use automatic scoring, DET a grading engine, and TOEFL’s 2026 specification describes AI scoring. See the product-specific official sources above.

Editorial choice: try the provider’s sample and check whether you can follow the prompts, operate the equipment and answer the actual question. Choosing a format is not a prediction that it will be easy or produce a higher score. Consider whether the tasks capture the speaking ability you need to demonstrate.

Can you compare tests through CEFR?

Read each provider’s own CEFR mapping, and keep the tested skill attached to it. A listening/reading correspondence does not establish a speaking level. Eiken has grade-specific CSE calculable ranges; GTEC and TOEIC publish skill-specific information. IELTS warns against treating CEFR alignment as exact one-to-one equivalence.

Our editorial record would be: test name, date, overall result, speaking result and official CEFR statement. A speaking-only result does not establish all four skills. We do not construct cross-test conversions or predict an untested score.

Fees, deadlines and test location

Use official current fees or the centre/school quote. The links below are provider booking/fee entry points, checked 15 October 2026. Compare the required skill package, travel, result delivery and additional certificates as applicable; corporate/personal offers may differ. No fixed-price ranking or affiliate recommendation is used. Plan through the submission deadline, not merely test day.

Eiken · Eiken S-CBT · TOEIC L&R · TOEIC S&W · TOEFL iBT · IELTS · Cambridge English Qualifications · GTEC · TEAP · Duolingo English Test · Versant Speaking and Listening · PROGOS

How we would choose — editorial opinion

Editorial opinion: we would pick one primary accepted test. Write down the recipient’s exact requirements, shortlist accepted products, try official samples, and book a mode you can access within your budget and deadline. Add another test only when a different recipient or skill requirement creates a real need. A certificate count is not our goal.

Methods we do not recommend

Do not book many tests at once: format checks and result delivery become separate projects. Do not choose only from rumours about difficulty: an easier-feeling test is useless if the result is not accepted. Do not convert a CEFR label or L&R result into a speaking score: that changes what was actually measured. Report the test name and the genuine result.

After choosing: say an opinion and a reason

Editorial worked example: say one preference and one reason. This original sentence is not an official exam item or a scored full answer.

I prefer walking to nearby places because it helps me relax.

For nearby destinations, I like walking because it helps me unwind.

If the idea is true for you, say it aloud; otherwise change the reason to your own. Then add only the details the selected task requires. We would not memorise this as a universal answer to unrelated prompts. A short complete thought is a starting point, not a score guarantee.

English study guide

Listen and say this sentence with SpeakGain

On 15 October 2026 we saved the sentence above through SpeakGain’s normal Add screen in English, then followed Library → Knowledge → Learn this card. Listening hid the written sentence while playing audio and prompted us to say it aloud before Reveal answer showed the saved sentence and an English explanation. We also replayed the same audio on the answer screen.

Frequently asked questions

Eiken or TOEIC: which is more useful?

The one accepted for your goal. Eiken reports grades/CSE; TOEIC L&R measures listening/reading and S&W speaking/writing. Check the exact product and required skills.

TOEFL or IELTS for studying abroad?

Choose an accepted version. If both qualify, compare skill minima, delivery, deadline and live versus recorded speaking. IELTS Academic and General Training are not interchangeable choices.

Which test proves speaking?

An accepted test that directly measures it. The comparison includes speaking tests; L&R alone does not supply a speaking result.

Does the same CEFR label mean the same score?

No. Use only the provider’s published relationship and check overall versus skill-level reporting. Apply the recipient’s test-specific requirements.

How long do results last?

It varies. TOEFL and DET: 2 years; IELTS recommends 2 years; TEAP uses two fiscal years. Eiken/Cambridge can be indefinite while recipients still limit age. See the validity table and sources.

What should a child take first?

There is no compulsory first test. Match official samples to experience, goals and school requirements. Distinguish Eiken Grade 4/5 qualifications from separate speaking tests.

Our editorial verdict

Our choice is the test that is accepted, measures the required skills and can be completed and submitted in time. For speaking, check the speaking component itself and distinguish delivery from scoring. Choose one suitable test, use its official sample, and spend the remaining time practising what you want to say rather than collecting entries.

If you are deciding whether to aim for Pre-1, our guide to its official level, CEFR, adjacent grades and self-check steps helps you compare the evidence.

Official sources

All provider facts checked 15 October 2026. Letter groups support the corresponding comparison rows; J supports the Tokyo note. Current local booking and receiving-institution rules take priority for your application.

E — Official source 1 · Official source 2 · Official source 3 · Official source 4

S — Official source 1 · Official source 2 · Official source 3

L — Official source 1 · Official source 2 · Official source 3

W — Official source 1 · Official source 2 · Official source 3 · Official source 4

F — Official source 1 · Official source 2 · Official source 3 · Official source 4

I — Official source 1 · Official source 2 · Official source 3 · Official source 4 · Official source 5 · Official source 6 · Official source 7

C — Official source 1 · Official source 2 · Official source 3 · Official source 4

G — Official source 1 · Official source 2 · Official source 3 · Official source 4 · Official source 5 · Official source 6

T — Official source 1 · Official source 2 · Official source 3

D — Official source 1 · Official source 2

V — Official source 1 · Official source 2

P — Official source 1 · Official source 2 · Official source 3 · Official source 4

J — Official source 1 · Official source 2 · Official source 3

Test names belong to their respective owners. This independent comparison is not an official test manual.

For the official benchmark, CEFR and limits of pass-rate evidence, use our Eiken Grade 2 level guide and its steps for checking your readiness.

For interpreting an L&R result, our TOEIC score guide separates proficiency, averages, distributions and section-level CEFR.

Before choosing the next target, use our Eiken Grade 1 level guide to compare Pre-1, check official pass thresholds and try the official tasks yourself.