It is interesting that most students do not reach the score level they need for two main reasons.....
The first reason is that their level of English knowledge and ability is simply not high enough for the score they need to achieve. Many of these students take part in TOEIC preparation courses, but they fail to realize that their English ability is not good enough; also that "preparation for a test" is not learning English.
Through preparation a student can increase the TOEIC score level they achieve by becoming accustomed to the TOEIC test, by planning a strategy for the test sitting, and by improving their accuracy and speed when answering questions. Indeed, preparation can allow a student to score 20% - 50% more in the TOEIC test, but this depends on each individual student.
The second reason is that students take far too long answering the first question types in the reading part of the test. Normally a student will be motivated and dedicated to answering the questions correctly; they will scrutinize the initial "incomplete sentence and text completion questions" before committing themselves to an answer; even though they may know the answer immediately. BUT what they do not realize is this....
In the reading part of the test a student must answer 100 questions in 75 minutes. This actually means that on average, a student has only 45 seconds per question!! The problem comes towards the end of the reading part; "single and double passage questions", because a student will find they may need a lot of time to read the associated texts.
So you may ask yourself how is it possible to not run out of time. The answer is simple; in the initial incomplete sentence and text completion questions, try to answer each question in under 45 seconds. You will then save “spare time” and when you come to the longer reading questions, you will have enough time to answer them all. Naturally this is where planning a good test strategy helps!
OnlineEnglish.EU is a preparation website for students sitting the TOEIC test that also includes English language and practice exercises. This means the website is suitable for simple preparation, or longer study from 350 - 990 points. OnlineEnglish.EU includes level, strength and weakness estimation and shows students whether they can achieve their goal by “simple preparation”, or whether they need to also improve their English.
OnlineEnglish will also help with timing to ensure the perfect strategy and offers students practice with specific exercises in true TOEIC test form, with a 2 hour simulation test that has over 1000 different test possibilities, and with specific exercises to develop the essential core skills. Naturally there is much, much more, but you can read that on the website.
I hope some students find this advice helpful.
