I already have TOEIC L&R — do I really need to take Link?

It depends on the requirement. **If the listing says "CEFR B2 or above" or "four-skill evaluation," L&R alone will not satisfy it.** L&R covers two receptive skills only and does not include a CEFR band, so requirements that specify CEFR or speaking/writing need Link or S&W on top. If the requirement only says "TOEIC score," L&R is enough.

How is Link different from Bridge? Are both four-skill?

Bridge is for **middle/high-school students and beginners (around Eiken Grade 3 or below)**, capped at CEFR A1–B1. Link is for **adults and university students with full four-skill evaluation** across CEFR Pre-A1 through C1. Bridge is mostly two-skill receptive in practice, while Link covers all four. A working adult sitting Bridge will hit the B1 ceiling and lose evaluation headroom — Link is the standard choice in that case.

On time and cost, which is the most efficient?

**For four-skill coverage, Link standalone is dominantly the most efficient.** Stacking L&R + S&W for four skills costs 18,260 yen and takes 200 minutes; Link alone is 7,920 yen / 90 minutes — about 57% cheaper and 55% shorter. If two receptive skills are enough, L&R at 7,810 yen / 2 hours is the cheapest. Bridge is 4,950 yen but is for beginners and not suitable for working adults.

I took L&R five years ago. What should I take now?

**Depends on the use case, but if it has been five years or more, switching to Link is usually recommended.** Three reasons: (1) Link gives you four skills and CEFR in one sitting, (2) resumes often value scores from the most recent two years, (3) Link is CAT and finishes in 90 minutes, making frequent re-takes practical. You could also re-take L&R and add S&W, but that costs roughly twice the time and money of Link alone.

How should I write a Link CEFR result on a resume?

The standard format is **"test name + skill + CEFR band + acquisition month"** — e.g., "TOEIC Link Speaking B2 (April 2026)" or "TOEIC Link Reading B1 (April 2026)." Writing only "TOEIC B2" risks confusion with an L&R score. Always include "Link" explicitly and split CEFR by skill. Keep the same format across promotion forms, job applications, and study-abroad documents to avoid later consistency issues.

TOEIC LinkPublished April 29, 2026

TOEIC L&R / S&W / Bridge / Link — A Complete 4-Test Comparison and a 90-Second Decision Flow

What people call "TOEIC" in Japan is actually four different tests — L&R / S&W / Bridge / Link — and they differ sharply in purpose, time, scoring, and price. Choosing L&R for a job change or study-abroad track that requires CEFR or four-skill scores is a common, costly mismatch that follows people for years. This page lines up the four tests on the four axes that actually matter — time, score, price, intended use — and gives a four-question decision flow that resolves to one test in 90 seconds.

TOEIC is four tests — start with the full map

The ETS TOEIC family available in Japan is four tests: L&R (Listening & Reading) / S&W (Speaking & Writing) / Bridge / Link. L&R is the legacy flagship with over 40 million cumulative takers, S&W complements it on the productive side, Bridge targets middle-school to high-school beginners, and Link is the new-generation modular four-skill test with CEFR mapping. Defaulting to "TOEIC = L&R" can lock you into a four-year mismatch with your actual target.

Score scales differ: L&R is 10–990, S&W is 0–200 + 0–200, Bridge is 30–180 (L+R combined), Link is 0–25 per skill + a CEFR band (Pre-A1 through C1). Submitting the wrong scale to a requirement that asks for CEFR or speaking will get the application bounced — for example, sending L&R 850 to an "CEFR B2 required" posting still needs a separate conversion step.

L&R: receptive 2 skills, 200 items / 2 hours, 10–990 score
S&W: productive 2 skills, 20 items / 80 minutes, 0–200 each
Bridge: beginners (middle/high school), CEFR Pre-A1 through B1
Link: new-gen 4 skills, modular, 0–25 per skill + CEFR Pre-A1 through C1
Format: L&R / S&W / Bridge are fixed; Link is computer-adaptive (CAT)
Intended takers: L&R = general business / S&W = productive top-up / Bridge = beginners / Link = 4-skill evaluation

Four-axis comparison — time, score, price, intended use

The biggest split between the four is the trade-off between which skills are evaluated and how long it takes. L&R is two hours of receptive only, Link is 90 minutes of all four skills, S&W is 80 minutes of productive only. If your requirement is four skills, the choice collapses to Link alone or L&R + S&W combined, and on time alone Link is fastest while L&R is cheapest.

Prices: L&R 7,810 yen / S&W 10,450 yen / Bridge 4,950 yen / Link 7,920 yen, including tax, as of April 2026. L&R + S&W stacked is 18,260 yen for four-skill coverage; Link alone is 7,920 yen — about 57% cheaper and 55% shorter (90 minutes vs 200 minutes). For a four-skill requirement, Link standalone dominates on cost and time.

L&R: 7,810 yen / 200 items / 2 hours / receptive 2 / TOEIC 10–990
S&W: 10,450 yen / 20 items / 80 minutes / productive 2 / 0–200 each
Bridge: 4,950 yen / 100 items / 1 hour / receptive 2 (beginner) / 30–180
Link: 7,920 yen / ~60 items / 90 minutes / 4 skills / 0–25 each + CEFR
L&R + S&W stacked: 18,260 yen / 200 minutes / 4-skill coverage
Cost efficiency for 4 skills: Link 7,920 yen < L&R+S&W 18,260 yen (~57% cheaper)

A 4-question decision flow — 90 seconds to one test

Four questions in order resolve the choice. Q1: Is four-skill evaluation required? → Yes leads to Link or S&W; No leads to L&R or Bridge. Q2: Is a CEFR band required? → Yes leads to Link; No leads to the others. Q3: Are you a middle- or high-school beginner? → Yes leads to Bridge; No leads to the others. Q4: Do you already have L&R and want to top up productive skills? → Yes leads to S&W; No leads to Link.

This resolves about 90% of cases. The remaining 10% is the "L&R 850+ holder who needs CEFR B2 for a job" pattern — the L&R + Link combination. L&R as a high score still carries weight as a business-English signal, so do not retire it; add Link to attach the CEFR band on top rather than replacing.

Q1 — Four-skill evaluation required (study-abroad / multinational / TESOL)? Yes → Q2; No → L&R or Bridge
Q2 — CEFR band required (job listings / grad-school applications)? Yes → Link; No → S&W
Q3 — Middle/high-school or beginner level (under Eiken Grade 3)? Yes → Bridge; No → L&R
Q4 — Already have L&R, topping up productive skills? Yes → S&W; No → Link
L&R 850+ with CEFR requirement: keep L&R, add Link for the CEFR band
When in doubt: Link standalone dominates on cost and time for 4-skill coverage

Four common mistakes to clear before sitting

The four common failure modes are: (1) L&R only, against an "CEFR B2" job requirement; (2) S&W only with a stale L&R that is no longer accepted; (3) a working adult sitting Bridge and capping at B1; (4) writing "TOEIC B2" on a resume and getting it rejected as ambiguous between L&R and Link. All four are 100% avoidable by reading the requirement carefully and writing the test name precisely.

On (4), a Link CEFR result on a resume should always carry test name + skill + CEFR band as a three-part label. "TOEIC Link Speaking B2" is the standard form. Just "TOEIC B2" reads as ambiguous against L&R scores. Use the three-part label consistently across promotions, job applications, and study-abroad applications to prevent later inconsistencies.

Mistake 1: L&R 850 against a "CEFR B2 required" listing → no built-in conversion, application bounces
Mistake 2: S&W only, with L&R older than 5 years → receptive side not on file, requirement unmet
Mistake 3: Working adult sits Bridge → caps at CEFR B1, evaluation hits the ceiling
Mistake 4: Resume reads "TOEIC B2" → ambiguous with L&R, document fails consistency check
Correct form: "TOEIC Link Speaking B2 (April 2026)"
Fix: Standardize "test name + skill + CEFR band" across all documents

Four-axis comparison — L&R / S&W / Bridge / Link

Field	L&R	S&W	Bridge	Link
Price (incl. tax)	7,810 yen	10,450 yen	4,950 yen	7,920 yen
Time	2 hours	80 minutes	1 hour	90 minutes
Skills evaluated	Receptive 2	Productive 2	Receptive 2 (beginner)	All 4
Scoring	10–990	0–200 each	30–180	0–25 each + CEFR
CEFR band	No (convert)	No (convert)	A1 to B1	Pre-A1 to C1
Intended use	General business	Productive top-up	Middle/high school	4 skills, jobs, study abroad

* Prices are official as of April 2026. To cover four skills with L&R + S&W stacked: 18,260 yen / 200 minutes. Link standalone: 7,920 yen / 90 minutes — ~57% cheaper, ~55% shorter.

Three checks when the four-test choice stalls

Re-read your job or study-abroad requirement: how exactly are "CEFR", "four skills", and "score range" written? (Decide if L&R alone covers it)
If you already have L&R, do not retire it — adding Link on top is usually more practical than re-taking
Check your resume / application: is "test name + skill + CEFR band" written consistently across all documents?

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Frequently Asked Questions

TOEIC®, TOEIC Link™, and TOEIC Bridge® are registered trademarks of ETS. EnglishBlitz is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or associated with ETS. Prices, durations, and scoring formats above reflect publicly available information from IIBC and ETS as of April 2026 — confirm current specifications on the IIBC and ETS official sites.