TOEIC, Everything You Need to Know

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The leader of our household recently had a sudden urge to improve herself and decided to take the TOEIC exam, starting to memorize vocabulary on and off. Since I’m currently an idle person being “supported,” I was drafted for duty to scout ahead for her — to personally experience the difficulty and process of the TOEIC exam. Against this background, I did some research on the exam.

This article mainly answers three questions for the leader:

1. What is the TOEIC exam? With so many English exams and certifications on the market, why choose this one?
2. Who is TOEIC suitable for? Is it suitable for us right now?
3. What are the benefits of this exam? Setting aside emotional factors, how’s the ROI of investing a period of time, energy, and money into it?

If you’re also interested in these three questions, read on — hopefully this will clear up your doubts about TOEIC.

Test Of English International Communication

TOEIC stands for Test of English for International Communication. The key word here is communication. It is an English proficiency test designed for non-native speakers, focused on the ability to use English in specific domains. We generally divide English into General English and Professional English.

General English: China’s CET-4/CET-6 (College English Test), the IELTS General Training module.

Professional English: BEC, TOEIC, IELTS Academic — targeting specific professions and usage scenarios.

So we now know TOEIC is professional English, focused on business communication. You might notice its name looks a lot like BEC (Business English Certificate) — what’s the relationship between the two? They’re actually cousins: BEC is British, TOEIC is American. The goal is the same; only the origin differs — just like TOEFL and IELTS.

Since it’s about business communication, the exam inevitably involves business and corporate knowledge: human resources, business communication, email correspondence, marketing, business negotiation, and so on. If you have work experience and have dealt with these areas in a company, the content is easy to understand — you only need to overcome the language barrier. So this exam is best suited for people with work experience who use English at work, or who plan to use English in a workplace or corporate setting.

With So Many Certifications, Why TOEIC?

There aren’t many business English certifications to choose from, and TOEIC is one of the most widely recognized — especially among employers. Many companies use TOEIC scores as a reference when hiring for overseas assignments or positions with language requirements. Compared to CET-4/6, its content is much closer to real corporate scenarios.

TOEIC 2024 Exam Schedule

If you want to take the exam in 2024, time is running out. You must register by November 25 at the latest to sit the December 22 exam.

Registration Deadlines

Exam Dates

Exam Format Overview

The TOEIC exam covers listening, reading, speaking, and writing. Listening and reading are tested together; speaking and writing are tested together. The two sessions can be taken separately.

Listening: 45 minutes

Four parts, 100 questions in total. Test takers hear a variety of statements, questions, short conversations, and short talks, then answer questions based on what they heard. The listening section takes about 45 minutes.

Part 1: Photograph descriptions, 6 questions (choose 1 of 4)

Part 2: Question-response, 25 questions (choose 1 of 3)

Part 3: Short conversations, 39 questions (choose 1 of 4)

Part 4: Short talks, 30 questions (choose 1 of 4)

Reading: 75 minutes

Three parts, 100 questions in total. Test takers read a variety of texts and answer related questions. The reading section takes 75 minutes, and test takers can pace their reading and answering within the time limit.

Incomplete sentences: 40 questions

Text completion: 12 questions

Single passage reading comprehension: 28 questions (7–10 passages, 2–5 questions each)

Double passage reading comprehension: 20 questions (4 pairs of related passages, 5 questions each)

Speaking: 20 minutes

Questions 1–2: Read a text aloud

Question 3: Describe a picture

Questions 4–6: Respond to questions

Questions 7–9: Respond to questions using information provided

Question 10: Propose a solution — 30 seconds to prepare, 60 seconds to respond

Question 11: Express an opinion — 15 seconds to prepare, 60 seconds to respond

Writing: 60 minutes

Questions 1–5: Within 8 minutes, describe the pictures you see using the two given words. Both words must be used in your sentences.

Questions 6–7: Reply to an email within 10 minutes according to the given requirements.

Question 8: Within 30 minutes, write an essay of at least 300 words, stating, explaining, or expressing your opinion based on the given topic.

Exam Content at a Glance

Listening and reading are scored on a 5–495 scale based on the number of correct answers, then converted to a combined 10–990 score.

Speaking and writing have their own scoring criteria, converted to a 0–200 score each.

Score Conversion

The scoring is not a strict 5-points-per-question system; there are floating ranges.

For example, if a test taker answers 80 questions correctly on both listening and reading, the score is not exactly 800. Listening might come out at 435 while reading might be only 385 — the score is assigned based on the test taker’s percentile ranking among all candidates in that sitting.

This raw-score conversion table is not fixed; it likely varies slightly with the difficulty of each sitting.

Take the exam corresponding to the table below as an example: answering ≥94 listening questions correctly earns a full 495; for reading it’s ≥98. For anyone aiming at a high score, knowing this is important — it allows targeted review of weak spots.


Score Report Overview

Below is a score report found online, to give you a sense of how results are presented.


What the Scores Mean

Rather than the raw number, what matters is what the score actually represents. Below is an interpretation of the abilities behind each score range, for reference only.

905–990

Able to use correct grammar and precise vocabulary on everyday, social, and work-related topics; can effectively participate in most conversations, chair meetings in English, mediate conflicts, and express opinions fluently.

785–900

Can use grammar effectively to meet most workplace demands. Communicates quite effectively and fluently on topics of special interest or familiarity, but may still use inappropriate or incorrect phrasing when nervous or under pressure.

605–780

Can hold conversations in general social settings in English, but cannot express opinions smoothly.

405–600

Written English ability is passable; spoken vocabulary is insufficient. Suitable for jobs with little relation to English.

255–400

Language ability is limited to everyday conversations; unable to work in English.

10–250

Can only answer questions with memorized sentences; English cannot serve as a communication tool.

TOEIC vs. Other Exams

English being a common test language, there are many certification bodies with different focuses. Here’s a quick horizontal comparison. Because each exam emphasizes different things, these conversions are not strict equivalences — for reference only.

Score Conversion Across Exams

Comparison of English Exams

How Hard Is the TOEIC?

Above CET-4, short of CET-6.

The content leans toward business English. If you can pass CET-6, scoring 800 on TOEIC is generally no problem.

Listening

The listening section is slow-paced and very clear, with few accented pronunciations.

The vast majority of listening questions test comprehension of the material, so as long as you understand the content and main idea of what you hear, finding the answer is easy.

Reading

Single-choice grammar questions test very basic grammar — essentially parts of speech, tense, voice, and word meaning. CET-4 level is more than enough; you can mostly pick the right answer by feel.

The second part of reading comprehension is similar to cloze passages, emphasizing grasp of the overall meaning of the text.

Stay True to Your Original Aspiration

Why learn English? Why this certification?

If you simply want a certificate, there’s really no need to put in so much effort. Search for “TOEIC” on Taobao and what pops up isn’t training courses or study materials — it’s proxy test-taking services, guaranteed passes, and expedited options. So if all you want is a high-scoring certificate, there’s no need to make things hard for yourself: what money can solve isn’t worth your time and energy, and the result of struggling through it yourself may not even satisfy you!

But if you want to use this certification to objectively gauge your English ability and genuinely improve your practical English skills — especially in listening and speaking — TOEIC is a solid choice.

Whatever the certification, an exam is only a means. English ability has many facets; real proficiency must be continuously applied and honed in real-world settings before your overall ability truly improves.

In my view, English is a tool — a tool for communication, and a tool for getting to know this colorful world.

I hope one day my English reaches a level of confidence and fluency.

English is a tool that can extend your abilities, enabling you to explore the colorful and wonderful world. When you can speak English confidently and fluently, you can see a different world.

If a language only lives in textbooks and certificates, we lose the chance to experience its charm and diversity.

Hopefully this has answered your questions about TOEIC. Next time I’ll write about TOEIC preparation strategies and the preparation process, and share some study resources.

References

• https://www.ets.org/toeic.html
• https://www.test-toeic.cn/
• https://efl-esl.com/toeic-ch/

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