TOEIC is often associated with the Listening and Reading test, but TOEIC Speaking and Writing provide separate measures of productive English skills.
The question is not whether Speaking and Writing are better than Listening and Reading. The better question is whether your current goal needs spoken or written English evidence.
Which TOEIC test should come first depends on the evidence your employer, school, programme, or personal goal actually requires.
Core idea: TOEIC L&R measures listening and reading, while TOEIC Speaking and Writing more directly measure productive speaking and writing skills.
Who should consider TOEIC Speaking and Writing?
The Speaking and Writing tests are worth considering when English output is part of your real target.
International roles
Useful if your work may include meetings, calls, presentations, or overseas communication.
Customer-facing work
Useful for support, sales, training, hospitality, or service roles where spoken English matters.
High L&R score holders
May be useful if you already have Listening and Reading evidence and also need a direct measure of speaking or writing.
Resume clarity
May be useful when an employer, school, or programme accepts TOEIC Speaking or Writing as evidence of productive English skills.
What is on the TOEIC Speaking Test?
The Speaking Test measures spoken English communication in daily-life and global-workplace contexts through 11 tasks in about 20 minutes.
Read aloud
You read short texts aloud; pronunciation, intonation, and stress are evaluated.
Describe pictures
You describe what you can see and organise details quickly.
Respond to questions
You respond to spoken questions; relevance and completeness are part of the evaluation criteria.
Express an opinion
You give an opinion with reasons in a limited time.
What is on the TOEIC Writing Test?
The Writing Test measures written English communication in daily-life and global-workplace contexts through 8 tasks in about 60 minutes.
Write sentences
You write sentences based on pictures using given words or phrases.
Respond to written requests
You write email-style responses with appropriate information and organisation.
Write an opinion essay
You explain and support your opinion with reasons or examples.
Control structure
Evaluation criteria vary by task: picture sentences use grammar and relevance; written requests use sentence quality, vocabulary and organisation; the opinion essay also evaluates support with reasons or examples.
How the scores work
Speaking and Writing are reported separately on 0–200 scales, in 10-point increments. There is no combined Speaking-and-Writing score.
Speaking score
Reported from 0 to 200 in 10-point increments, with 8 Speaking skill-assessment levels.
Writing score
Reported from 0 to 200 in 10-point increments, with 9 Writing skill-assessment levels.
No simple pass/fail
There is no universal pass mark. Employers, schools, and programmes may set their own score standards for their purposes.
Avoid fake benchmarks
Do not assume one number is “strong” for every company. Check the requirement for your actual goal.
Important: Speaking and Writing scores are most useful when the organisation or programme you care about accepts them, or when you need direct feedback on productive skills. Do not add another test just because it sounds impressive.
When the tests are probably worth it
TOEIC Speaking and Writing may be worth serious consideration when they connect to a practical need.
You need active English
Your work involves speaking, writing, meetings, presentations, customers, or overseas colleagues.
Your L&R score is already solid
You have built a useful Listening and Reading base and now need to show output ability.
Your target asks for it
A company, school, programme, or role specifically values Speaking or Writing evidence.
You want productive-skill evidence
You want a direct measure of how you perform on structured speaking or writing tasks.
When they may not be necessary yet
Speaking and Writing are not automatically the right next step for every TOEIC learner.
Your goal only asks for L&R
If your company or job application only needs a Listening and Reading score, focus there first.
Your preparation time is limited
If your immediate requirement is L&R and your study time is limited, adding another test may divide your effort.
You have no output goal
If you do not need to speak or write for your target, the return may be limited.
You are close to an L&R deadline
If your next deadline requires L&R, allocate your study time accordingly unless Speaking or Writing evidence is also required.
MTC view: choose the test your goal requires
There is no general rule that TOEIC L&R should come first. ETS advises taking the test that gives you the information or feedback you need.
Speaking and Writing may be useful whenever you need direct evidence of productive skills. Differences between receptive and productive performance should be interpreted from the relevant test results, not assumed from L&R alone.
Stage 1
Confirm which TOEIC test your target requires and review repeated practice evidence before assigning a learning cause.
Stage 2
Check whether your career goal needs active speaking or writing evidence.
Stage 3
Train output skills with clear tasks, feedback, and correction.
Stage 4
Use Speaking and Writing scores only when they support your real next step.
Final takeaway
TOEIC Speaking and Writing may be worth taking when they match a career, academic, or communication requirement. They may be lower priority if your immediate goal only requires TOEIC L&R.
Do not take another test just to look busy. Choose the test that gives useful evidence for your next decision.
