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One Language, 27 Points: TOEFL's Arabic-Speaking Countries
ETS reports an Arabic-speaking group mean of 77 on the TOEFL iBT, but the 18 Arabic-speaking countries it lists run from 62 to 89, a 27-point spread.
IELTS: Reading and Writing Ranks Move Together at 0.85
Ranking 40 nationalities by each IELTS skill, Reading and Writing line up at 0.85, while Listening and Speaking line up at only 0.49.
EF EPI 2025: 15 Different Skill Orders Across 111 Countries
Ordering each country's four English skills produces 15 distinct patterns in the EF EPI 2025; one pattern covers 44 countries and Reading comes first in 88.
EF EPI 2025: 53 of 111 Countries Sit Below 500
Counting the EF English Proficiency Index 2025 by band: 14 countries score very high, 13 high, 31 moderate, 27 low and 26 very low, so 53 of 111 sit below 500.
A 10-Point TOEFL Section Gap Is Rare: 2025 Country Profiles
Across 153 countries and regions, the gap between a country's highest and lowest TOEFL section is typically 3 points; only eight reach 5 or more, and Vietnam's 10 is the widest.
TOEFL Listening Leads in Every Region; Speaking Does Not
Listening is the highest-scoring TOEFL section in all six ETS regions, but Speaking overtakes Reading in four of them and falls behind in Asia and the Pacific.
IELTS Writing Varies Least Across Countries, Reading Most
Across 40 nationalities, IELTS Writing means span 1.52 bands while Reading means span 2.90: the skill that separates countries most is the receptive one.
TOEFL 2025: Europe Averages 92 and Africa 74
Averaging ETS's published national TOEFL means by region puts Europe at 92.1 and Africa at 73.5, an 18.6-point gap across 153 countries and regions.
Two IELTS Rankings, One Country: Agreement at 0.69
Ranking the same nationalities on IELTS Academic and on General Training produces two orders that agree at 0.69, less than any pair of skills agrees within one test.
Band 9 Is 17 Times More Common on IELTS General Training
Band 9 is rare on both IELTS tests, but 0.54% of General Training candidates reach it against 0.03% of Academic candidates.
Who Sits Behind the Ranking: EF EPI 2025 Test-Taker Composition
The EF EPI 2025 ranks 123 countries on 2,200,000 tests taken in 2024. The people behind those tests are young, online and concentrated: Asia supplies 39% of test takers from 20.3% of the ranked countries.
French Is the Second Choice in 60 Countries: Duolingo 2025 Two-Language View
Duolingo's 2025 report ranks languages per country. The first-place table uses 4 languages and the second-place table uses 14, and French leads the runner-up list in 60 of 194 countries.
0.73 Is a Correlation, Not a Conversion: Duolingo English Test Concordance, 2025
Duolingo publishes concordance tables that let a Duolingo English Test score stand in for an IELTS band. The test maker's own 2025 manual gives the correlations behind them: 0.73 overall, and 0.53 to 0.68 for the four subscores.
Capital Cities Run 16 Points Above Their Countries: EF EPI 2025
The EF EPI 2025 ranks 123 countries and prints a separate table of capital city scores. In 104 of 121 matched cases the capital scores higher, at a median of 16 points, and the exceptions are as instructive as the rule.
Half a Band Is One Standard Error: IELTS Reliability, 2024-2025
IELTS publishes its own 2024-2025 reliability estimates: a Listening score carries a standard error of 0.43 of a band, which is 0.86 of the half-band step the score is reported in.
Duolingo 2025: Japan Leads for Learners Studying Three Languages
Duolingo's 2025 report ranks Japan first both for learners studying three or more languages and for average time spent learning, with English still the top language in 154 countries.
TOEFL iBT 2024: National Means Run From 58 to 102
ETS 2024 data: national mean TOEFL iBT totals run from 102 in Austria to 58 in Lao PDR, a 44-point spread, while some countries hold a total near the average with a speaking score far below it.
EF EPI 2025: Skill Gaps Are Widest Where English Is Strongest
The EF EPI 2025 published skill scores for the first time: the gap between a country's strongest and weakest skill is almost twice as wide in the most proficient countries.
EF EPI 2025: The Gender Gap Narrowed in Every Region
The EF EPI 2025 finds 37 countries with a significant gender gap in English scores, down from 48 in 2024, with every continent moving in the same direction.
What Made 8,395 IELTS Test Takers Book? Voices 2026, by Purpose
IELTS Voices 2026 asked 8,395 test takers what helped them book: a university website listing IELTS led for study takers at 44%, while being required led for professional-registration takers at 43%.
TOEFL iBT 2025: Same Total Score, Different Section Profile
ETS 2025 tables show men and women averaging an identical TOEFL total of 85.8, while men lead reading by a full point and women lead speaking by a full point.
IELTS 2024-2025: Higher Bands Come With Wider Skill Spreads
Official IELTS 2024-2025 Academic means for 40 nationalities: the gap between a group's best and weakest skill runs from 0.41 to 1.47 of a band.
IELTS 2024-2025: Where the Middle Academic Candidate Sits
Official IELTS band distributions for 40 nationalities: the median band is 6.5 in 19 of them and 5.5 in only three, a two-band range across the table.
EF EPI 2025: Adding Speaking and Writing Moved Scores by 26 Points
The EF EPI 2025 published each country's score with and without speaking and writing for the first time. Between them, one country moves 26 points.
How the EF EPI 2025 Is Built: 2,200,000 Tests, 400 Test Takers Minimum
The EF EPI 2025 rests on 2,200,000 free online tests, needs 400 test takers for a country to appear, and averages three years of scores into one number.
Duolingo 2025: Chinese, Korean and Portuguese Lead the Fastest-Growing List
Duolingo's 2025 report puts English first in 154 countries, Chinese fastest-growing in 12 and Portuguese first in both China and India.
IELTS Speaking Bands 6, 7 and 8: What the 2026 Descriptors Change
A line-by-line reading of the official IELTS Speaking band descriptors, with counts for the wording that separates Band 6, Band 7 and Band 8.
Which Age Group Has the Best English? EF EPI 2025, 123 Countries
In the EF EPI 2025 data, 26-30 is the top age group in 51 of 103 country profiles, while the youngest adults sit 87 points below their 2015 level.
Duolingo English Test Reach in 2025: 219 Countries, 148 First Languages
What Duolingo's 2025 report and DET demographic data show about test takers: 219 countries, 148 first languages, and Africa's rising share of sessions.
IELTS Voices 2026: What 8,395 Test Takers Say Preparation Gave Them
In the 2026 IELTS Voices survey, 65% of 6,347 test takers rated preparation highly helpful for the skills their goals need; study and work takers reached 68%.
Hardest IELTS Requirements to Understand: 8,395 Test Takers, 2026
In a 2026 survey of 8,395 IELTS test takers in 165 countries, 28% found minimum English score requirements the hardest rule to understand.
IELTS 2024-2025: Male-Female Gap Under a Tenth of a Band
Official IELTS 2024-2025 tables: the overall band differs by 0.06 in Academic and 0.11 in General Training, while skill gaps inside each group reach 0.57.
IELTS Band Shares by First Language: 2024-2025 Official Tables
Official IELTS band distributions for 40 first-language groups: the Academic share at 7.0 or above runs from 14.2% to 88.0%, with no group mostly below 6.0.
Where IELTS Voices 2026 Test Takers Come From and Plan to Go
In a survey of 8,395 IELTS test takers, ten nationalities supplied 48.7% of respondents, Australia led intended destinations at 18% and planned stays diverged.
EF EPI 2025: 50 Countries Gained, 54 Lost, Median Change Zero
Comparing the EF EPI 2025 scores with the 2024 edition: 50 countries gained, 54 declined and 7 held steady, with a median change of zero points.
A 100 Is the 74th Percentile: TOEFL iBT 2025 Score Tables
ETS 2025 percentile tables: a section score of 25 is the 82nd percentile in Speaking but the 57th in Reading, and a 100 total ranks differently by group.
Two Test Populations: IELTS Academic vs General Training, 2024-2025
Official IELTS 2024-2025 statistics: Academic holds 78.9% of test takers, and in 22 of 30 shared nationalities General Training records a lower overall mean.
Speaking Is the Weakest Skill: EF EPI 2025, 123 Countries
In 59 of the 113 countries with complete EF EPI 2025 skill data, speaking was the lowest-scoring of the four skills. Here is how wide the gap runs.
Which TOEFL iBT Section Lags? 2025 Scores by Native Language
Section means for everyone who took the TOEFL iBT test in 2025: Speaking is lowest at 20.6 of 30, but Reading is the weakest section in more language groups.
IELTS Band Spread by Test Reason: 2024-2025 Official Statistics
Official IELTS 2024-2025 tables by reason for testing: 69% of doctor-registration takers scored 7.0 or above; nurse-registration takers cluster at 6.0 to 6.5.
English Leads in 154 Countries: What Duolingo's 2025 Report Shows
Duolingo's 2025 report puts English first in 154 countries, Japanese fourth and Korean sixth, but never publishes how many learners each rank represents.
Recognition Over Price: IELTS Voices 2026, 8,395 Test Takers
A survey of 8,395 IELTS test takers across 165 countries: what drove test choice, which requirements were hardest to understand, and what preparation changed.
Where Do IELTS Skills Sit Apart? Official Test Statistics, 2024-2025
Official 2024-2025 IELTS data: speaking trails listening in 23 of 40 nationality groups, and writing is the lowest skill in 31 of 40.