ETS, score validity and test security
ETS Questioned or Cancelled Your GRE or TOEFL Score
ETS can cancel a score when it concludes there is substantial evidence that the score is invalid, a standard its own published materials describe as requiring less proof than preponderance of the evidence. Before it cancels on that basis it has to tell you, and it has to let you answer.
Score invalidity and misconduct are not the same finding
Where the concern is score validity, ETS's policy describes a written notice, an opportunity to submit information addressing its concerns, and then a choice of options. Where ETS finds misconduct instead, its published policy provides that the options available in connection with score invalidity reviews will not be available, even if they were previously offered. That makes the content of your written submission consequential in a way most people do not realise: it is addressed to which kind of finding is made, not only to whether one is made.
The deadlines, before anything else
Every process on this page can be lost on a date rather than on the evidence. Put these in a calendar before you start drafting anything.
Response to ETS's notice
As stated in your notice
ETS's general policy describes the opportunity without publishing a fixed window, so the date in your letter is the operative one.
Score review, which is a different process
Up to 90 days after your test
Score review is a rescoring service, not a challenge to a cancellation. Scores are placed on hold during it, and the fee is refunded if the score changes.
Testing rules are revised regularly, and the version in force on your test date is the one that governs your case. The notice you received controls. Read it against the rules as they stood when you tested.
What triggers a review on the GRE, TOEFL and other ETS exams
- •Unusual answer patterns
- •Inconsistent performance on different parts of the test
- •Discrepant handwriting
- •A testing irregularity, or an identification discrepancy
- •Misconduct at the test centre or in an at-home administration
- •Frequent reuse of shared testing devices or common testing locations in at-home testing
How the process actually runs
Taken from ETS’s own published rules. Stages shown in grey are past the point where we assist, and are included so you can see the whole route rather than only our part of it.
Written notice of ETS's concerns
Before cancelling scores on score-validity grounds, ETS's published policy provides that it notifies the test taker in writing about its concerns. The notice is where the actual basis is stated, and the basis is what your submission has to answer.
Your opportunity to submit information
The policy provides that ETS gives the test taker an opportunity to submit information that addresses its concerns and considers any such information submitted. This is the stage where evidence about your preparation, your performance history, and the conditions of the administration can still change the classification.
A choice of options
Having considered what you submitted, ETS offers a choice of options, which its policy describes as potentially including voluntary score cancellation, a free retest, a voucher for a future test, or arbitration under ETS's standard arbitration agreement. The free retest option is limited to test takers in the United States, US Territories and Canada.
If misconduct is found, the options close
ETS's published policy provides that where misconduct is found, the options available in connection with score invalidity reviews will not be available, even if those options were previously offered. Test takers whose scores are cancelled forfeit their test fees and must pay to take the test again, and misconduct can also lead to a bar from future ETS tests.
ArbitrationWe stop before this
Arbitration under ETS's standard arbitration agreement is one of the options the policy describes, and where it is the route taken it is a formal proceeding rather than a further review on the merits.
What we do, and where we stop
We assist with the written submission to ETS and with weighing the options it offers: what the notice actually alleges, what evidence addresses it, and what each option costs you in time and in record. We do not handle arbitration under ETS's arbitration agreement. One honest caveat specific to this page: ETS publishes its score-cancellation policy across several programme sites in slightly different wording, and we were not able to verify every element against a single current GRE page. Read your own notice as controlling and ask ETS in writing to identify the policy and version it is proceeding under.
AdvocatED is an education advising practice, not a law firm. We do not provide legal representation or legal advice. When you need an attorney instead.
How AdvocatED Helps With a GRE, TOEFL and other ETS exams Score Review
Most people facing this have an application deadline, a score on hold, and a letter that does not make clear whether they are accused of anything.
Where guidance pays off most:Your submission is not only arguing that no cancellation should follow. It is arguing about which kind of finding this is, and a misconduct finding takes the options off the table.
- Work out whether the notice raises score validity or misconduct, because the submissions are different and so are the consequences
- Draft the written submission to address the concerns ETS actually stated
- Assemble the performance history and preparation record that make your score explicable
- Document the administration, particularly for at-home testing, where device and location issues are a stated concern
- Weigh voluntary cancellation against a retest against a voucher on your actual application calendar
- Separate score review, which is rescoring, from a validity challenge, so the right window is used
Mistakes that cost people the case
- ×Requesting a score review and believing you have challenged a cancellation. Score review is a rescoring service.
- ×Answering a validity notice as though you had been accused of cheating, or the reverse. Read which one it is.
- ×Letting the date in the notice pass while assembling a perfect submission.
- ×Assuming the free retest is available. The policy limits it to the United States, US Territories and Canada.
- ×Accepting voluntary cancellation without checking what institutions already received the score.
Questions we get about GRE, TOEFL and other ETS exams score reviews
What standard does ETS use to cancel a score?
Substantial evidence that the scores are invalid. ETS's published materials describe substantial evidence as enough to persuade a reasonable person, and state that it is a lower standard, requiring less proof, than beyond reasonable doubt, clear and convincing evidence, or preponderance of the evidence. Examples of evidence of invalidity given in those materials include discrepant handwriting, unusual answer patterns, and inconsistent performance on different parts of the test.
Does ETS have to tell me before cancelling my score?
On score-validity grounds, the published policy provides that before cancelling, ETS notifies the test taker in writing about its concerns, gives an opportunity to submit information addressing them, considers any information submitted, and offers a choice of options. Those protections are described in connection with score invalidity reviews, and the policy provides that they are not available where misconduct is found.
Is a score review the same as appealing a cancellation?
No. Score review is a rescoring service: requests are accepted up to 90 days after the test administration, scores are placed on hold while it runs, and the fee is refunded if the review produces a different score. It verifies the scoring of your test and does nothing about a security or validity determination. Confusing the two is the most common way people spend the window that mattered.
Can I get a free retest if my GRE score is cancelled?
Only if it is among the options ETS offers you, and the published policy limits the free retest option to test takers in the United States, US Territories and Canada. The policy also provides that test takers whose scores are cancelled forfeit their test fees and must pay to take the entire test again at a future administration, so a retest offered as part of a resolution is a materially different thing from retaking the test afterwards.
Where this comes from
Every stage, deadline and standard on this page was read against ETS’s own published rules in October 2026. We link them so you can check us, and so you can compare them against the version in force on your test date.
- ETS, cancellation of scores (GRE institutional policy)
Grounds for cancellation, written notice, the opportunity to submit information, and the choice of options.
- ETS, GACE scoring policies
Where ETS defines the substantial evidence standard and compares it with other standards of proof.
Other exams we handle
Got a letter about your GRE & ETS exams score?
Send us the notice. The case review is free, and the first thing we will tell you is which deadline you are working against.