The social challenges of academic mobility in Brazil and their impact on the TOEFL IBT

A language assessment test can become an instrument for social advancement when it moves beyond measuring linguistic competence to recognizing the diversity of learning experiences and social contexts behind each candidate. The TOEFL iBT® exemplifies this shift. By maintaining its academic rigor while continuously adapting to reflect global realities, it ensures that proficiency assessment is not a privilege restricted to those with formal access to English education. Instead, it becomes a bridge for talent, enabling individuals from different socioeconomic backgrounds to pursue international education and professional growth. In this sense, language testing evolves from a gatekeeping mechanism into a pathway toward equity and opportunity.

The academic mobility of Brazilians abroad reflects not only the value placed on international education but also the country’s structural limitations in sustaining continuous professional development. As shown in ETS’s 2025 Human Progress Report, 61% of Brazilians feel stuck in their current roles, and 57% report losing sleep due to concerns about their professional relevance. These numbers reveal a deeper phenomenon: a sense of stagnation and the urgent need for concrete pathways to social advancement. In this context, international education and proficiency certifications such as the TOEFL iBT® are not merely academic tools but strategic instruments of social and professional mobility.

At the same time, the outlook is not entirely pessimistic. The same report shows that 55% of Brazilians feel hopeful about new opportunities for reskilling, and 66% believe that by 2035 this process will be even more central to their careers. This mix of anxiety and expectation suggests that Brazilians not only recognize the gaps in their qualifications but also view international education as a viable solution. ETS’s perspective reinforces this point: we were created to prepare candidates for a market where, according to the data, 84% believe new skills will be as valuable as a degree, and 72% have already needed to update their skills shortly after graduation. In this sense, academic mobility is no longer just an individual project; it has become a collective strategy to face the challenges of competitiveness and relevance in the global market.

However, the report also highlights persistent obstacles. Brazil shows a Skills Development and Reskilling Index of 121.8 and a Social Mobility Index of 129.1, both above the global average. This means that, compared to other countries, it is more difficult for Brazilians to acquire new skills and improve their social standing. The World Economic Forum and UNESCO have long noted that social mobility is strongly correlated with equitable access to education and language learning opportunities. In Brazil, English proficiency remains unevenly distributed, often determined by geographic and socioeconomic factors. Public schools still struggle to offer consistent English programs, while private institutions and international schools concentrate language excellence among higher-income populations.

This imbalance directly affects the country’s potential for academic and professional mobility. When English proficiency becomes a gatekeeper, access to international degrees, research collaboration, and global employment opportunities narrows. By contrast, when testing systems are designed to recognize diverse learning paths and provide fair access to certification, they act as catalysts for inclusion. Proficiency exams like the TOEFL iBT®, therefore, play a central role not only in measuring language ability but also in shaping a more democratic model of access to global education.

With this scenario in mind, ETS has implemented a series of structural transformations to the TOEFL iBT to ensure that it continues to serve as a fair, inclusive, and globally relevant tool. Starting in May 2025, candidates taking the TOEFL iBT Home Edition have benefited from improved supervision and support, including ETS-trained proctors, AI-assisted identity verification, and a simplified registration and check-in process that reduces stress and administrative barriers. These adjustments reflect ETS’s broader commitment to ensuring a smoother, more reliable experience for test takers, regardless of where or how they take the exam.

In January 2026, the TOEFL iBT will introduce a multi-stage adaptive design for its Reading and Listening sections. This innovation allows the difficulty of questions to adjust dynamically to the candidate’s performance, ensuring a more personalized and precise measure of proficiency. More importantly, it acknowledges the wide range of learning contexts that characterize today’s test takers — from students who have learned English in classrooms to those who have acquired it through independent, informal, or practical experiences. This adaptive format mirrors real-life academic situations, such as group discussions or project-based tasks, creating a more authentic and equitable testing environment.

These changes are part of a broader modernization of the TOEFL iBT’s content and delivery. Outdated passages, such as those based on niche or culturally specific topics, are being replaced with more globally relevant materials that resonate with the academic and cultural realities of modern learners. In partnership with leading educational experts and linguists, ETS has ensured that all new content is accessible, current, and carefully reviewed to reduce cultural bias.

Beyond content and structure, the TOEFL iBT will also offer a more intuitive scoring system. Alongside the traditional 0–120 scale, a new 1–6 scoring band will be introduced, aligned with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) — the most widely recognized global standard for English proficiency. This alignment will make it easier for both test takers and institutions to interpret results consistently and to relate TOEFL scores to familiar proficiency frameworks. Institutions worldwide will receive updated resources and training materials to integrate this new scale seamlessly, promoting clearer communication between candidates and universities.

ETS has also prioritized accessibility and preparation. New preparation materials, including an expanded set of free resources, were made available starting in July 2025. These materials are designed to help candidates better understand the test format, improve their performance, and build confidence in demonstrating their English skills. Additionally, ETS is upgrading test-center audio equipment worldwide, ensuring a uniform, high-quality listening experience across more than 2,300 centers in over 120 countries.

Another improvement that directly benefits candidates is the faster turnaround time for score reports — now delivered within 72 hours or less. This enhancement helps test takers meet application deadlines with greater ease and certainty, reflecting ETS’s ongoing investment in efficiency and user-centered design.

These transformations were conceived under the FAST concept — Fair, Accurate, Secure, and Tailored. This framework summarizes ETS’s commitment to maintaining the TOEFL iBT’s long standing academic rigor while ensuring fairness and adaptability to the diverse realities of global learners. The goal is not only to measure language ability but to recognize the different paths that lead individuals to proficiency, enabling them to compete on equal footing for educational and professional opportunities.

For Brazil and other emerging economies, this kind of adaptation carries significant social implications. Research by the OECD and UNESCO has shown that language proficiency is one of the most powerful predictors of cross-border educational mobility. When assessment systems evolve to reflect inclusivity, they contribute to leveling the playing field for candidates who may have acquired English outside traditional settings — through digital platforms, immersion, or informal practice. For many of these learners, the TOEFL iBT represents more than a test: it is a validation of their lived experiences and the key to expanding their professional horizons.

Moreover, the evolution of the TOEFL iBT aligns with a broader global movement toward more personalized and data-informed education. As artificial intelligence and adaptive technologies reshape the learning landscape, assessment must also evolve. ETS’s continuous investment in research and innovation ensures that fairness, accessibility, and scientific integrity remain at the center of this transformation. In doing so, the organization fulfills its mission of advancing human progress through measurement — transforming assessment into empowerment.

In a country like Brazil, where 94% of respondents consider the development of technical skills essential for career changes and 80% believe that artificial intelligence will create new skills by 2035, the new TOEFL iBT serves as a bridge between the present and the future. It connects the urgent demand for reskilling with the global recognition that English proficiency provides. As international education becomes an increasingly important driver of socioeconomic mobility, exams like the TOEFL iBT are redefining what fairness and accessibility mean in academic assessment.

For more than six decades, the TOEFL iBT has helped millions of students around the world access higher education, serving as the gold standard of English proficiency assessment. Today, it is accepted by 100% of universities in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia, and by more than 13,000 institutions worldwide. The test continues to evolve to meet the expectations of modern learners — who demand flexibility, efficiency, and relevance — and of institutions that require trust, accuracy, and consistency.

By embracing technology, renewing its content, and upholding its core values of fairness and academic excellence, the TOEFL iBT remains not only a test of English but also a reflection of a world striving for greater equity in education. For Brazilians, and for learners everywhere, it stands as a testament to the belief that language proficiency should not be a barrier, but a gateway to opportunity, inclusion, and social advancement.