The minimum acceptable scores announced by the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) demonstrates quite well that the TOEFL-iBT is somewhat easier to pass (earn an acceptable score) than the IELTS.

The IELTS minimums are 7.0 out of a possible 9.0 for speaking and 6.5 out of a possible 9.0 overall. Given that a candidate reaches the 7.0 on speaking, a 6.1 average must be maintained on the reading, writing and listening modules to maintain the minimum 6.5 overall score. A 6.1 average works out to a correct answer rate of 67%. The 7.0 minimum for the speaking module represents a score of 78%.

The TOEFL-iBT minimums are 26 out of 30 for the speaking module and 83 out of a possible 120 overall. The 83 overall minimum represents just a 47.5% correct answer rate, far below the 67% of the IELTS. The speaking module of the TOEFL-iBT minimum is 26, which is 87% of the possible 30. This is higher than that of the IELTS, but considering that the TOEFL-iBT has reduced the number of questions to only six, and the fact that they have integrated them into the entire test should ease the problems that plagued those that took the old TSE.

Our recommendations regarding healthcare and other professionals needing to pass an English proficiency test remain essentially the same. We encourage all to take the sample tests offered by both the Educational Testing Service (ETS) and the British Council.

If those tests are not readily available we can furnish a fine evaluation test for FREE. Just send an email to [email protected] and we will send you a PDF file with our fine evaluation test on it. For our test we strongly recommend that those who score at 75% or higher be scheduled for the IELTS. For those who score lower than 75% we recommend the TOEFL-iBT.

Please keep us in mind for all of your preparation needs for either the TOEFL-iBT or the IELTS.

You should be encouraging students to improve their English rather than meet minimum standards. I have tutored a number of nationalities for many years and I can't think of a career field where good language skills are more critical.

There are so many errors in hospitals and the medical field now and I've often wondered if some of them are because of ESL medical professionals who simply don't hear and understand what is needed.

I agree totally
We had a terrible incident where we misunderstood the nurse as she didn't speak very good english. We were under the impression someone was dead as they had been 'turned off'. I immediatly left the bedside and phoned their relation to tell her and then when I got back to the bed the nurse said oh no it could be hours yet. What do you do go back to the phone and say sorry they aren't dead. Luckily it wasn't just me that had misunderstood and everyone stuck by me!!!!!!!!!