TOEIC Listening and Reading Test

What is it?

What exactly is the TOEIC Listening and Reading Test?

The workplace English test scored 10 to 990 that measures listening and reading ability.

The TOEIC Listening and Reading test is an ETS assessment of everyday business and professional English, with 200 multiple-choice questions across two sections completed in about two hours. It is widely used by employers and job seekers, especially in Asia, to certify workplace English ability, and it scores from 10 to 990. Unlike the TOEFL iBT, it focuses on general and business settings rather than academic study.

The path in brief

1. Confirm employer requirement
2. Register via a test center or employer
3. Practice workplace English
4. Sit the two-hour test
5. Receive 10 to 990 score

Before you book

Who is eligible to sit the TOEIC Listening and Reading Test?

Who it is for: Job seekers and employees needing workplace English proof

The test itself

What is the format of the TOEIC Listening and Reading Test?

The TOEIC Listening and Reading Test is administered by Administered by ETS licensees and employers and runs About 2 hours and contains 200 multiple-choice questions.

Money & time

How much does the TOEIC Listening and Reading Test cost?

For the TOEIC Listening and Reading Test, the exam fee is Set by local ETS licensee or employer; the all-in cost is typically Varies by country; most candidates spend 4 to 8 weeks typical prep preparing.

The fine print

What are the retake and renewal rules for the TOEIC Listening and Reading Test?

Proctoring & delivery

HiSET is offered in three ways: paper-based at a test centre, computer-based at a test centre and HiSET@Home under live online proctoring, with availability depending on the state. Calculators and formula sheets are supplied at test centres. The full battery in English or Spanish is permitted, and several states allow candidates to mix languages across subtests.

Retake policy

Retake rules are set per state, but a common pattern allows three attempts per subtest in a calendar year, sometimes extending to six. Several states use a favourable pricing structure in which the full fee is charged only on the first and fourth attempts while the second and third cost only the test centre or proctor fee.

Score reporting

Each of the five subtests is scored 1 to 20. To pass you must score at least 8 on every subtest, at least 2 out of 6 on the Language Arts Writing essay, and at least 45 out of 100 in total across the five. A score of 15 or higher on a subtest is treated as HiSET honours-level performance in several states.

Recertification

The credential a state issues on the strength of a passing HiSET battery is permanent and needs no renewal. Passing subtest scores are carried forward within a state-defined window while you complete the remaining subjects.

Refunds & rescheduling

Refund and reschedule windows are administered by PSI and vary by state and test centre; most centres require cancellation at least 24 hours before the appointment. Registering by phone rather than online attracts an additional fee in some states.

What it pays

How much does this credential pay?

TOEIC has no direct salary outcome — it is a workplace English-proficiency credential, and the payoff is employment access and advancement rather than a wage line.

The salary answer for TOEIC is different from certification exams: the BLS does not publish a wage for English-proficiency scores, because TOEIC is not an occupation credential but a language-assessment test used by employers, governments, and schools to verify workplace English. The real earnings story is the language premium: in global companies, English-proficient staff are consistently paid more than equally qualified non-English speakers because they can serve international clients, work in cross-border teams, and take on roles that require documentation and negotiation in English, and large employers in sectors such as banking, airlines, hospitality, and outsourcing use TOEIC scores in hiring and promotion decisions. The test is administered by ETS and scored on a 10-to-990 scale (Listening 5-495 plus Reading 5-495), with no pass/fail line — each organization sets its own cut score, commonly 600-700 for operational roles and 750-850 for managerial positions in multinational companies. The practical value of the score is its shelf life: ETS reports that TOEIC scores are typically accepted for two years, matching the hiring cycle in most industries, and the score is portable across employers, unlike an internal language test. The honest caveat is that TOEIC certifies reading and listening comprehension only — the Speaking and Writing tests cover the productive skills, and jobs that require spoken client interaction will also ask for those — so a candidate maximizing employability should treat TOEIC L&R as one component of a broader English portfolio. For a candidate asking whether TOEIC pays, the direct answer is that it does not pay directly, but it removes a filter: in the companies that use it, a strong TOEIC score is a precondition for the interview, and the wage gap between screened-in and screened-out candidates can be substantial.

Job growth.TOEIC volumes track global business English demand; the test remains one of the most-used workplace English assessments worldwide with millions of tests per year.

Source: ETS TOEIC program page

Your schedule

How long should I study for it?

60-90 hours over 6-10 weeks of focused study

An efficient TOEIC study plan is 6-10 weeks of about 60-90 total hours, because the test is a workplace-English breadth exam with a predictable format: 100 listening questions in about 45 minutes and 100 reading questions in about 75 minutes, and the score moves fastest when candidates drill the format while building the business-English vocabulary the passages assume. The first step is a diagnostic practice test to establish the current band, because the target — an employer’s cut score, commonly 600-850 — determines how much work is needed: a candidate at 550 targeting 750 has a different plan from a candidate at 750 targeting 850. The study window should split into format mastery (weeks 1-2), vocabulary and content building (weeks 3-6), and full-length timed practice (weeks 7-10). The listening section rewards daily exposure — short conversations and talks in workplace settings — and the reading section rewards speed on the passage types, so a timed full test each week is essential to build the pacing that the 75-minute reading block demands. Candidates whose English is intermediate should budget the upper end and add daily listening practice; candidates at an advanced band who are chasing a specific cut should budget the lower end and weight time toward the question formats they miss on diagnostics. The final two weeks should be pure timed practice with a miss log, because TOEIC is a speed-and-accuracy test and the score ceiling comes from eliminating format errors, not from learning new grammar rules. A weekly rhythm helps: study the same block of time each day so the listening exposure accumulates, and keep a running vocabulary list of workplace terms you meet in practice items, because the score ceiling on the listening section is set by vocabulary recognition speed as much as by grammar. Candidates who combine daily listening with weekly full tests report the steadiest score movement, and the two hours of testing time should be rehearsed at least three times before the real sitting.

1. Week 18

   Diagnostic and format

   • Take a full TOEIC practice test to establish the current band
   • Review the test structure: 100 listening + 100 reading questions
   • Identify the two or three weakest question types
2. Week 2-318

   Listening mastery

   • Drill the four listening types: photos, response, conversations, talks
   • Practice daily with workplace-English audio
   • Transcribe short conversations to build accuracy
3. Week 4-624

   Reading and vocabulary

   • Drill incomplete sentences and text completion (grammar in context)
   • Practice the passage types: single and multiple documents
   • Build business-English vocabulary by topic area
4. Week 7-816

   Timed full tests

   • Take a full 2-hour practice test each week
   • Log every miss and re-study the associated skill
   • Re-take the diagnostic to measure band movement
5. Week 9-1014

   Pacing and readiness

   • Take two more full timed tests scoring above the target band
   • Re-drill the miss log until clean
   • Confirm the test-center booking and ID requirements

What to buy

Which study resources are worth paying for?

TOEIC prep resources split into the official ETS set, general English-proficiency courses, and practice-test packages, and the buying logic is anchored by the official materials because ETS publishes the only practice sets that mirror the real test difficulty. The ETS official TOEIC practice sets and the ETS TOEIC prep books, roughly $30-60, are the standard purchase and the closest thing to the real paper. General English courses — online subscriptions or classroom programs at $50-300 — help candidates whose listening or grammar fundamentals are weak, but they are a complement, not a substitute, because TOEIC is a format-driven test and generic English study does not replicate the item types. Practice-test packages from reputable providers run $20-80 and add volume and timed simulations, which helps candidates in the final month who need pacing reps. The footnote that anchors the comparison: prices below are list prices as of mid-2026 and change frequently, and we rank nothing by commission. The test fee itself is set by the test center or country program — commonly $100-200 in most markets, and it varies by region, so candidates should confirm the local ETS-authorized fee when booking. A cheap readiness check is the free TOEIC sample questions on the ETS website before buying anything, because candidates who are close to the target band often need only the official practice sets and a pacing plan, not a course. Candidates should also check whether their target employer or school offers a discounted or sponsored test, because many global companies cover TOEIC fees for employees and applicants.

List prices as of mid-2026 and change frequently; we rank nothing by commission. Confirm the local ETS-authorized TOEIC fee when booking.

What you'll face

What question types will I see?

The TOEIC L&R test contains 200 questions — 100 listening items over about 45 minutes and 100 reading items over about 75 minutes — scored on the 10-990 scale. The listening section has four fixed types: photograph descriptions, question-response, short conversations, and short talks; the reading section has three: incomplete sentences, text completion, and single or multiple reading passages. All items are four-option multiple choice in a workplace context. The samples below illustrate three of the fixed types — a photograph item, a text-completion item, and a passage item — using the real format. The sample items are editor-written illustrations of the published format, not live test items. The listening section plays audio once, so the item types reward predicting the question shape while the audio runs — photograph items test present-tense descriptions, question-response items test choosing the appropriate reply, and the conversation and talk items test detail and inference from workplace exchanges. The reading types shift from grammar (incomplete sentences, text completion) to comprehension (single and multiple passages), and the multiple-passage items are the pacing challenge of the section. The listening section plays audio once, so the item types reward predicting the question shape while the audio runs — photograph items test present-tense descriptions, question-response items test choosing the appropriate reply, and the conversation and talk items test detail and inference from workplace exchanges. The reading types shift from grammar (incomplete sentences, text completion) to comprehension (single and multiple passages), and the multiple-passage items are the pacing challenge of the section, so candidates should rehearse the passage timing in full practice tests rather than studying the types in isolation.

Samples are editor-written illustrations of the published format, not live test items.

Reference

What are the key facts about the TOEIC Listening and Reading Test?

TOEIC Listening and Reading Test is a exam credential; awarded by ETS; the exam fee is Set by local ETS licensee or employer; typical preparation is 4 to 8 weeks typical prep; holders typically earn No direct salary outcome (workplace English proficiency; 10-990 score).

In short

Is the TOEIC Listening and Reading Test worth it?

• Workplace English test of 200 questions in about two hours
• Scored 10 to 990; used by employers not universities
• Focuses on business and everyday settings, not academia

Worth comparing

How does the TOEIC Listening and Reading Test compare with similar credentials?

• TOEFL iBT ETS

Trust

Where does this information come from?

Everything above is taken from the awarding body's own published material. Fees, question counts and domain weights are revised regularly — check the official page before you pay.

• ETS Awarding body
• Official TOEIC Listening and Reading Test exam page Exam page

Research confidence: high · Last reviewed 2026-08