TOEFL iBT® · Writing · 2026
Writing templates for a realistic word budget
Two of the 2026 TOEFL iBT® Writing tasks are written under real time pressure: Write an Email in 7 minutes and Write for an Academic Discussion in 10 minutes. ETS's published directions do not give a hard maximum for either task. The ranges below are practice targets designed to leave enough time for relevant development and a quick proofread.
Read this before you memorise anything
ETS's scoring guides reward a response that answers this prompt with relevant elaboration, varied and accurate language, and — for the email — appropriate social conventions. A memorised paragraph can become irrelevant and use time that should go to the task in front of you.
So treat these as skeletons, not scripts. The fixed part is the shape — what job each sentence does and roughly how long it runs. Every content word should come from the prompt in front of you. Nothing on this page is a phrase you should reproduce verbatim on test day.
Why a word budget works
Under time pressure, writers often underdevelop a response or spend too long on one point. A budget helps because it converts a vague target into a per-sentence instruction. These totals include every word you type in the response box, including the greeting, sign-off, name and any sentence stem you choose to use.
| Task | Time | Practice target | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Write an Email | 7 minutes | ≈95–125 words | Enough room to address all three requested actions, elaborate, and use an appropriate opening and close. ETS says to write as much as you can in complete sentences; it does not publish a minimum or maximum. |
| Academic Discussion | 10 minutes | ≈110–150 words | ETS states that an effective response contains at least 100 words. A modest margin above 100 gives you room to develop one idea without treating 150 as a ceiling. |
Write an Email — three frames
Official practice tasks give you a situation and three requested actions to address. A dependable structure is one short paragraph per action, in the order given, although closely related actions can share a paragraph. Coverage alone is not enough for the top band: the email also needs relevant elaboration, clear organization, language variety and an appropriate register.
Frame A — Requesting something
asking for permission, an extension, information, access
Greeting using the name given in the scenario.
3–5 wState the situation and what you want, in one sentence. I am writing about … and would like to ask whether …
18–24 wBullet 1 — give the reason the request is necessary. One cause, made concrete.
22–28 wBullet 2 — the specific ask: what exactly, by when, in what form.
22–28 wBullet 3 — remove the obstacle: offer a compromise, an alternative, or reassurance.
22–28 wClose and sign off. Thanks + your name.
8–12 wTotal ≈ 95–125 words
Frame B — Replying to a proposal
accepting, declining, or agreeing with conditions
Greeting.
3–5 wThank them for the message and give your answer immediately — do not delay the decision to the end.
18–24 wBullet 1 — why: the reason behind your answer, stated without apology.
22–28 wBullet 2 — the practical detail they asked for: a time, a preference, a constraint.
22–28 wBullet 3 — what happens next, or what you can offer instead.
22–28 wClose and sign off.
8–12 wTotal ≈ 95–125 words
Frame C — Reporting a problem
something is broken, wrong, late, or unfair
Greeting.
3–5 wName the problem plainly and say when it started.
18–24 wBullet 1 — the effect on you or others. This is what justifies the email.
22–28 wBullet 2 — what you have already tried, or the detail they will need to act.
22–28 wBullet 3 — the outcome you are asking for, phrased as a request not a demand.
22–28 wClose and sign off.
8–12 wTotal ≈ 95–125 words
Worked example — Frame A
Our own illustration of the format (not an official test prompt or response). Your university library has announced that it will close at 8 p.m. next term instead of midnight. Write to the faculty administrator, Ms Aldridge.
- explain why the change affects you
- ask what alternative study space will be available
- suggest something that would make the change workable
Dear Ms Aldridge,
I am writing about the new library closing time of eight o'clock, and I would like to ask what provision is planned for evening students.
My seminars finish at seven, so the library is realistically the only place I can work before going home; losing those hours removes most of my reading time each week.
Could you tell me whether any alternative space will stay open later — the ground-floor seminar rooms, for example, or part of the study centre?
If the difficulty is the cost of staffing, I would gladly use an unsupervised room that students book in advance and lock behind them.
Thank you for looking into this.
Best regards,
Daniel Okoye
Notice what carries the score: every bullet is answered in its own paragraph, the reason is concrete ("my seminars finish at seven"), and the third paragraph offers a compromise rather than repeating the complaint. The connectors are ordinary — so, if, for example — and that is fine.
Academic Discussion — three frames
You are given a professor's question and two students' posts. State and support your own opinion, and add something relevant in your own words. You do not have to name or rebut both students; referring to one viewpoint can help you join the discussion, but your own clear, developed reasoning carries the response.
Frame D — Side with one student
use when one post is clearly closer to your view
State your position; refer to the student only if it helps. I agree with [name] that …
20–26 wYour reason — why that position holds. Not a restatement; a mechanism.
28–34 wAnswer the other student directly. Concede what is fair, then show why it does not overturn your position.
28–34 wEvidence — a specific example from your own experience, study or observation.
30–38 wOne closing sentence that restates the position in sharper terms. Optional if you are short of time.
12–18 wTotal ≈ 118–150 words
Frame E — Agree with a condition
when your honest view is "yes, but only if…"
State the position and the condition in one sentence. … is worth doing, provided that …
22–28 wWhy the main claim is right.
26–32 wWhy the condition matters — this is where you absorb the opposing student's objection instead of dismissing it.
30–36 wEvidence for the conditional version specifically.
30–38 wClose: name the condition as the thing that decides it.
10–16 wTotal ≈ 118–150 words
Frame F — Reframe the question
when both students share an assumption you can challenge clearly
Name the shared assumption and say why it is the wrong axis.
24–30 wGive your own position on the question as you have reframed it.
26–32 wShow the reframing does real work — what changes once you look at it this way.
30–36 wEvidence.
30–38 wClose.
8–14 wTotal ≈ 118–150 words
Worked example — Frame D
Our own illustration (not an official test prompt or response). Dr Halloran: Many universities require students to take at least one course well outside their main subject. Is that a good use of a student's limited time?
Priya: Yes — narrow specialists struggle later. A course outside your field teaches you to think in an unfamiliar way, and that flexibility lasts longer than any single technique.
Marcus: I disagree. Degrees are already crowded. Time spent on an unrelated subject is time taken from the field you are actually going to work in.
I agree with Priya that a required outside course earns its place in the timetable. The reason is that handling unfamiliar material is itself the skill being taught: an engineering student made to argue about history has to weigh evidence that cannot be measured, and that is a genuinely different habit of mind. Marcus assumes the hours come out of the major, but at my university they replaced optional modules that largely repeated content we had already covered, so very little was actually lost. When I took a philosophy course during a computing degree, it changed how I wrote technical documentation more than any programming class did, because for the first time I had to imagine a reader who would disagree with me. The cost is real, but it is paid out of the least valuable hours.
The response takes a clear position, engages both viewpoints, explains a mechanism and adds a specific example. Those details provide the relevant elaboration described in ETS's top-band scoring guide. Naming both students is useful here, but it is not a requirement.
Count your practice responses
Write your response here and compare its length with the practice target. The upper number is a time-management signal, not an ETS limit. Count everything you type, including greetings and sign-offs.
Five habits that matter more than any template
- Answer the actual question. Relevance is essential. A beautifully structured response to a different question cannot earn a strong score.
- Develop what you introduce. One reason explained with a mechanism or example is safer than a list of unsupported claims.
- Be specific. "It improves outcomes" is filler. "It cut my revision time by about a third" is evidence.
- Ordinary connectors are enough. Because, so, although, once do the work. Rare vocabulary used incorrectly costs more than it earns.
- Leave 30 seconds. Spelling, punctuation and capitalisation are explicitly part of what is assessed. A quick read-through catches most of it.
Try both tasks under real timing
Templates only help once you have felt the clock. Take a full-length practice mock built to the 2026 TOEFL iBT® format and get a predicted 1–6 band. No card required.
All frames, scenarios and sample responses on this page are original Avermond material, not copied official questions or model answers. Format and scoring guidance was checked against the ETS Writing overview, the ETS Writing Scoring Guide and ETS teacher practice tests. The target ranges are our own timing guidance, not ETS limits. Avermond Test Prep is independent; TOEFL® is a registered trademark of ETS, and this product is not endorsed or approved by ETS.