4 Tips for Improving Your TOEFL Reading Score

If your TOEFL Reading score isn't moving, the fix is usually less about "getting smarter" and more about a handful of habits you can build in a few weeks. The video below walks through the basics; the notes underneath cover four tips you can start applying today. They apply to all three task types in the current Reading section: Complete the Words, Read in Daily Life, and Read an Academic Passage.

1. Build vocabulary from context, not word lists alone

TOEFL Reading rewards test-takers who can work out an unfamiliar word's meaning from the sentence around it. Strong word knowledge also matters in Complete the Words, where you have to recognize and finish words that appear only partly in a short academic text. Read academic articles regularly, and when you hit a word you don't know, guess its meaning from context before you look it up. Confirming or correcting your guess afterward trains the skill you'll actually use on test day.

2. Skim before you read closely

Spend the first 20–30 seconds on a longer text getting an overview: read the first sentence of each paragraph and note what the topic and structure seem to be. For a short everyday text such as a notice or an email, a quick glance at who wrote it and why is often enough. This gives you a mental map so that when a question sends you back into the text, you already know roughly where to look instead of rereading from the top.

3. Track the main idea and supporting details as you go

After each paragraph, try to summarize its point in one short phrase. Passages are typically organized around a central idea with supporting examples or evidence, and a lot of questions test whether you followed that structure rather than whether you memorized a fact. Practicing this habit on any academic text — not just TOEFL material — builds it faster.

4. Practice under real time pressure

Untimed reading and timed reading are different skills. Once you're comfortable with a passage type, start practicing with a clock running so you learn to pace yourself, recognize when to move on from a hard question, and avoid running out of time on the last few items.

Pair this with our note-taking strategies for TOEFL success and try a full set of questions in Reading practice to see these habits in action.

For a fuller treatment of each of these tips — including how to read faster without losing accuracy — see mastering reading comprehension and speed on the TOEFL test.