In the core sections, a blind guess breaks even at best
With five options, guessing at random wins one time in five: 0.2 × 1 minus 0.8 × 0.25 is exactly zero, before the time it costs. Eliminate even one option and guessing becomes clearly worth it.
TOLC-I · Format and scoring
How the TOLC-I is built and marked.
The official structure, the separate section clocks and the scoring rules, including the two things that most often cost marks: the wrong-answer penalty and the fact that you cannot go back.
Structure
4 sections, then English.
The scored core is 50 questions in 110 minutes. The English section adds 30 questions in 15 minutes and is scored separately from the core result.
| Section | Questions | Minutes |
|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 20 | 50 |
| Logic | 10 | 20 |
| Sciences | 10 | 20 |
| Reading comprehension | 10 | 20 |
| Core total | 50 | 110 |
| English proficiency | 30 | 15 |
| Total sitting | 80 | 125 |
Every question has five answer choices with exactly one correct answer.
Scoring
A wrong answer costs a quarter of a mark.
The core sections carry a penalty for a wrong answer. The English section does not. That difference changes how you should guess in each.
| Core sections | English section | |
|---|---|---|
| Correct | +1 | +1 |
| Incorrect | −0.25 | 0 |
| Left blank | 0 | 0 |
In the English section, never leave a blank
A wrong answer scores the same as a blank, so there is no reason not to answer every question before the 15 minutes run out.
Timing
Each section has its own clock, and it does not carry over.
This is the rule that catches people out. The TOLC-I is not one 110-minute paper you can budget freely.
Sections are timed separately
Mathematics has 50 minutes of its own. Logic has 20 minutes of its own. You work them in order.
Unused time is lost
Finishing a section early does not add the remaining minutes to the next one. The time belongs to the section.
You cannot return to a finished section
Once a section closes, it closes. A question you meant to come back to is scored as you left it.
So pace within the section, not across the paper
Mathematics allows about 2.5 minutes a question. Logic allows about 2.0 minutes a question. Those are different habits and worth practising separately.
What a score does not tell you
There is no national pass mark.
Universities may transform or weight a TOLC-I result, and each sets its own minimum threshold and its own use of the English section. Two courses can treat the same score completely differently.
Check the notice published by the university and course you are applying to. No figure on this page is an admission threshold.
Sources
Confirm before you rely on this.
Taken from CISIA's published material, checked on 11 September 2026. Format and rules change between years.
cisiaonline.it/en/tolc/tolc-i/structure-and-syllabus
cisiaonline.it · Regolamento TOLC 2026 (PDF)