CEFR Equivalencies: Reading an IELTS, TOEFL or ACTFL Score
The same language level reads differently depending on the framework used. Our correspondence charts — sourced from alignment studies and official documents — let you place a score on the CEFR scale without losing the nuance.
The European CEFR, the North American ACTFL scale and test scores such as IELTS all measure language proficiency — but they were built separately, for different purposes. Correspondences between them do exist, they are documented, and they are more nuanced than the conversion charts usually found online. Every page below cites its sources and states plainly where no official correspondence exists.
CEFRHub TeamSources: IELTS, ETS, ACTFL
IELTS
Is IELTS 6.5 B2 or C1?
Either is possible. IELTS itself names band 6.5 as a borderline zone between B2 and C1: many test takers at this band are C1, but a number remain just below, at B2. The score alone doesn't settle it.
The full IELTS correspondenceTOEFL iBT
What CEFR level is a TOEFL score of 95?
It depends on the system. On the old scale (0-120, for a test taken before January 21, 2026), a total score of 95 corresponds to the C1 threshold. On the new system (1-6, from 2026 onward), the equivalent score is 5, which also corresponds to C1 — the two line up exactly at this threshold.
Both TOEFL scoring systemsACTFL
Is ACTFL Superior C1 or C2 in CEFR terms?
It depends on the skill being tested. In comprehension (reading, listening), Superior corresponds to C1.2. In expression (speaking, writing), Superior corresponds to C2, the top level of the productive-skills table, which has no Distinguished row. Source: ACTFL, Assigning CEFR Ratings to ACTFL Assessments.
Both ACTFL chartsIELTS and TOEFL
How do you compare an IELTS score and a TOEFL score?
Through the CEFR: IELTS and ETS each publish their own correspondence with its levels. C1, for instance, corresponds to IELTS bands 7.0 and 7.5 (band 6.5 being a B2/C1 borderline) and, on the TOEFL, to scores of 5 to 5.5 on the new scale or a total of 95 and above on the old one. This reading goes through the CEFR: it is not a conversion from one test to the other.
Our correspondence charts
CEFR and IELTS: band by band
The official correspondence between IELTS bands and CEFR levels — with a confidence level for every row. IELTS rules out an exact table and names three borderline bands itself: this chart shows them instead of smoothing them over.
IELTS won't settle it: bands 5.0, 6.5 and 8.0 are grey zonesView the chart and its grey zonesCEFR and TOEFL: both scoring systems
ETS's official correspondences between TOEFL iBT scores and CEFR levels — for both scoring systems in use since the January 21, 2026 switch: the new CEFR-native 1–6 scale and the historical 0–120 scale.
ETS switched scales in 2026: two systems coexistView both systems' correspondencesCEFR and ACTFL: the American scale
The official correspondence chart published by ACTFL — in fact two charts, one for comprehension and one for expression, and they don't tell the same story. Plus the decisive caveat: the correspondence only holds in one direction.
Superior is C1.2 in comprehension, C2 in expressionView both chartsLooking for the official CEFR descriptors themselves, boundary by boundary?
See the CEFR descriptorsThese pages are written and checked against primary sources: alignment studies, official agency documents and published frameworks. Where a correspondence has not been officially established, we say so rather than estimate it.