All applicants who attended college in a country/region in which the official language is not English are required to submit official evidence of English language proficiency via a TOEFL or IELTS score, regardless of whether or not English was the primary language of instruction at your college. This requirement applies to applicants from Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Latin America, the Middle East, Israel, the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, most European countries, and non-English-speaking countries in Africa.
We recommend that you plan to take any required exams no later than October to allow time for scores to arrive in time for consideration for fall admission.
For Fall 2025, tests taken before June 1, 2023 will not be accepted even if your score was reported to UC Berkeley.
The USMLE and other similar exams are not approved substitutes for the TOEFL.
Exemptions
You may be exempt from this requirement if you:
- Have a basic degree from a recognized institution in a country where the official language is English
- Have completed a basic or advanced degree at an institution, in the United States or a United States institution abroad, where the language of instruction is English and the institution is accredited by one of the United States’ regional accrediting agencies
- Have completed at least one year of full-time academic course work with a grade B or better at a regionally accredited* institution within the United States.
If you qualify for an exemption, you must upload an unofficial transcript from the recognized U.S. institution to your Berkeley Graduate Application.
If you are unsure if your country of education qualifies you for a TOEFL exemption, please contact us at [email protected].
Minimum Scores
- TOEFL: Paper: 570, Internet (iBT): 90
- IELTS: 7
How to submit TOEFL
Official TOEFL test scores administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) must be submitted to UC Berkeley (code 4833). We do not accept MyBest Scores.
How to submit IELTS
Beginning for the Fall 2021 application cycle, we will no longer be accepting paper Test Report Forms. All IELTS scores must be sent electronically from the testing center to UC Berkeley (no institution code is required).
Our address for identification purposes is:
University of California, Berkeley, Graduate Division
Sproul Hall Rm 318, MC 5900
Berkeley, CA 94720
Please do not mail any score reports to us.