IELTS scores on regional demand
Clarity over travel and classes plus online version of English test helped, official says
Regional demand, including from the UAE, helped the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) test for university entrance survive the Covid-19 disruption, a senior official from IDP Education has said.
Universities in English-speaking countries require foreign students to take the IELTS test. Some employers and western governments also require expat workers and migrants to take it.
Students have started applying to universities in Englishspeaking countries for the Fall of 2020, Imad Chaoui, a regional director at IDP, which co-owns IELTS, told Gulf News.
Dubai-based Chaoui, who looks after the MEA and CIS region, said increasing clarity on travel and the format of classes — as well as the recent reopening of IELTS test centres — has seen the return of examinees. “In the UAE, the majority of examinees are going abroad to study. The most common destination from our region is the UK and almost all universities there have informed students whether they will start purely online, or blended with a faceto-face programme,” he added.
The months of closure had seen “flexibility” from universities and “innovation” from IDP combine to assist test takers by avoiding delays in admissions, Chaoui said.
“Universities acknowledged the fact that examinees could not take the test at our premises, so they started allowing for tests taken online,” he said.
“At IDP, we developed the ‘IELTS Indicator’ test, which is exactly the same test done online at home. And universities accepted the test results.”