Make sure you are preparing the required documentation
Start with your application requirements. For example, the ESSEC MiM degree-admission route lists the TAGE MAGE among management tests and TOEIC Listening and Reading among English tests. This is one possible combination, not a recommendation for every applicant. If your route requires all four skills, you will need to supplement the language plan below.
Put the exams, result-release timelines to verify, and application deadline on one calendar. Add your classes, work, and other fixed commitments. The time left is your actual capacity for preparation; starting with an ambitious daily-hours target and then trying to fit it in often leads to an unsustainable schedule.
Measure different areas of difficulty
For the TAGE MAGE, identify the subtests and reasoning tasks that slow you down. For TOEIC Listening and Reading, distinguish difficulty understanding audio, vocabulary gaps, reading, and time management. Use official examples and instructions to understand what you are observing. A general impression such as “my English is average” is not enough to allocate your sessions.
Write down two concrete priorities for the week: for example, correctly translating a percentage change and identifying the requested information in a short spoken exchange. Keep the goals distinct. You can temporarily give one more attention as its deadline approaches while staying in regular practice with the other.
A starting week to adapt to your availability
This six-hour schedule is an organizational example proposed by Upsilar; it does not guarantee a score or establish a universal preparation timeline. Review and corrections are included in each session. If you have less time, reduce the number of exercises before cutting error analysis.
| Day | Time | Specific task |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 60 minutes | TAGE MAGE: one quantitative concept, practice, then review. |
| Tuesday | 45 minutes | TOEIC Listening: listen without pausing, review with the transcript, then listen again. |
| Wednesday | 60 minutes | TAGE MAGE: reading or reasoning, with justifications for your choices. |
| Thursday | 45 minutes | TOEIC Reading: reading comprehension and focused review. |
| Friday | Rest or buffer | Make up a session only if you actually missed it. |
| Saturday | 120 minutes | Two 60-minute blocks: focused practice for each test, including review. |
| Sunday | 30 minutes | Review errors and choose priorities for the following week. |
The pitfall
The pitfall would be adding together two already-full schedules
A ten-hour TAGE MAGE schedule plus a ten-hour TOEIC schedule adds up to twenty hours, even if each was presented as reasonable on its own. Add the workloads together before committing. Also leave time for application administration and a buffer for less available weeks.
Avoid mixing goals in the middle of an exercise: listening to an English recording while working through a calculation set does not prepare you well for either task. If you alternate in one evening, finish the block, record what you learned, and take a break before switching. The aim is a completed and reviewed session, not constant activity.
Plan the following week based on your results
At the end of the week, ask what changed in each priority area. Getting a set right when you already know the answers is not a sufficient check; try a few new exercises. If a difficulty persists, add one focused session instead of extending every session indiscriminately.
A test with an approaching deadline can temporarily get more time, as long as you plan for it. After taking it, reassign those sessions to the other test and remaining application requirements. Upsilar’s TOEIC guides and practice sheets help you distinguish which Listening and Reading tasks to work on in each session.
Key takeaways
- Confirm which TOEIC version is required before building your schedule.
- Assess and review your performance on the two tests separately.
- Allocate the actual workload, including review and application tasks.