Should you take the TOEIC again?

Xin chào! Last week we read the score report. This week, the question it usually raises: do I sit the test again?

Start with the requirement, not the dream

Write down the number you actually need, and who needs it: a graduation requirement, a job posting, a promotion. If your score already clears it, you are finished. Put the certificate somewhere safe and spend the money on something else. A higher number with no purpose is an expensive hobby.

When a retake is clearly worth it

1. You ran out of time, not knowledge. Blank answers at the end of Part 7 mean your score measured your pacing, and pacing is the fastest thing to fix.
2. One section is far behind the other. A large gap is a specific, trainable problem, not a general "my English is weak".
3. You sat it to see what it was like, with no timed practice beforehand. Your first real test was your first practice test.
4. You are close. Within about fifty points of the requirement, four focused weeks usually carry you over.

When to wait instead

• Nothing in your study has changed. The same preparation produces the same score, and the test does not award points for determination.
• The difference you are chasing is small. Two sittings a few weeks apart can differ by a couple of dozen points simply because of the day you had. Do not pay a fee to measure your mood.
• The next date is two weeks away. A retake deserves at least four to six weeks of genuinely different work.

What to change between attempts

Four weeks, in this order:

• Week 1: diagnose. The score report plus your mistake journal will name one part that costs you the most. Choose that one part. Only one.
• Weeks 2 and 3: drill it daily and timed, and keep the fifteen-minute listening routine every morning regardless of which part you chose.
• Week 4: one full timed test, then the taper.

Book the test date before week 1 starts. A plan with a date behaves very differently from a plan without one.

One honest line about money

A retake costs a fee and a Saturday. Four weeks of changed study costs twenty minutes a day. Do the second one first, and the first one once.

Next week, the last of this short series: keeping your English alive after the certificate. Hẹn gặp lại! 🌸