score-concordance
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- PaperIELTS Partnership Research Reports
Aligning scores of language proficiency tests: A score concordance study between IELTS Academic and TOEFL iBT
This study establishes score concordance tables between IELTS Academic and TOEFL iBT, enabling direct comparison of proficiency levels across the two tests.
- PaperLanguage Testing25 Jun 2026
Reflections on the Practical Implementation of Knoch and Fan’s (2024) Good Practice Principles for Score Concordance Studies
Spiros Papageorgiou, Tony Clark
Reviews the practical implementation of Knoch and Fan's (2024) good practice principles for score concordance studies, drawing on experience from a large-scale concordance study comparing IELTS Academic and TOEFL iBT scores. Emphasizes methodological rigor, transparency, construct comparability, and limitations of concordance tables for admissions decisions. Offers recommendations for fair score requirements regardless of test choice.
Original abstract
When different tests are used for the same purpose, score requirements should be comparable so that examinees cannot obtain an unfair advantage simply because of the test they chose. Drawing on our experience conducting a large-scale concordance study to allow for an empirical comparison of IELTS Academic and TOEFL iBT test scores, we review Knoch and Fan’s evaluative framework, explore methodological best practices and challenges, and offer future directions for score concordance research. We emphasize the importance of methodological rigor in collecting test-taker score data, transparency in analyzing such data to build score concordance tables, and a reasonable degree of construct comparability as a prerequisite for conducting a score concordance study, while also highlighting the limitations of concordance tables as standalone tools for admissions decisions. We note that some aspects of Knoch and Fan’s good practice principles are more straightforward to implement in practice than others. The good practice principles could be updated or adjusted after real-world application, which we describe with a view to furthering best practice in concordance research. We conclude this viewpoint with recommendations for decision-making that are based on fair score requirements, irrespective of which test the examinees chose.