TOEFL prep: a guide for pros
What customers ask, how to win the job, and what to put on your profile.
Offering toefl prep
You prepare students for an English proficiency exam, with reading, listening, speaking and writing strategies, timed practice and feedback. Your listing should show your experience with exam candidates and how you use timed practice.
What customers ask
- I need a good score for a university application. Where should I start?
- How many practice tests will we do, and how will you score them?
- I always run out of time on the reading. Can you help?
- Do you give feedback on speaking and writing, and how quickly?
- Do you prepare teens, and how do you handle a parent who wants to sit in?
How to win the job
- On the first call, ask the student's test date, target and the section they fear most.
- Offer a starting practice test with timed scoring, and explain how the results will shape the plan.
- Show a sample strategy for one section, such as a reading passage with a time plan.
- Share an example of structured feedback on a speaking or writing answer, with the reason for each point.
- Put the sections covered, session count, practice tests and re-check date in the quote.
- Be clear that no tutor can guarantee a score, and describe what improvement realistically looks like.
What to put on your profile
- Your experience preparing exam candidates, such as years of tutoring and the exams you have covered.
- Your training, such as a degree in English, a teaching certificate or test preparation certification.
- Photos of your tutoring space or online set-up, with no student faces unless they agree.
- The students you work with, such as university applicants, students for a school program or adults planning a move.
- Reviews that name the test and the goal, without promising a score, once students agree to share them.
Follow-up that helps the customer
- After a practice test, suggest a short plan for the sections that need the most work and a date for the next test.
- Send a list of the strategies and timed tasks covered in each lesson so the student can practice them.
- Recommend a writing workshop or a speaking practice group when the student's goal fits, and let them decide.
Licenses and permits
No license is usually required to tutor for an English proficiency exam privately. Keep your degree, certificate or references ready, and check your state and local rules for any business registration you need. Do not imply that you are an official test administrator unless you are one.
Questions
Can I say my students will get a certain score?
No. Describe your method and your experience, and do not promise a score. Students and parents look for honest expectations.
Can I teach online and in person?
Yes. Say which options you offer so students know what to expect before they choose you.
Do I pay to join?
Joining is free. You pay only for leads you accept, you can decline any lead for free, and every profile is reviewed before it goes live.
Pro reviewers
Pros who offer toefl prep remotely can improve this guide, like Wikipedia. We check every edit before it goes live. Every approved edit is credited in the edit history and on the pro's profile.
Edit history
- Oct 29, 2026: Drafted by infinibell to our content guidelines.
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