- British Council Philippines debunks most common misconceptions about IELTS
- The British Council Philippines regularly conducts the IELTS test, available in paper-based and computer-based formats
The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test has been providing opportunities to people around the world for almost thirty years, taking them closer to their dreams of studying, working, or immigrating abroad. But while the test has been around for a long time, there are still a lot of misconceptions surrounding it.
Among the most common of these is the IELTS being a “pass or fail” test, which is not the case, according to British Council Philippines Head of Partnerships and New Business Ian Cortez. “The IELTS is really just an accurate indicator of an individual’s English language skills. It uses a 9-band scoring system that identifies proficiency level, from non-user through to expert, so there’s no pass or fail,” Cortez said during a media event that was held in May.
Another common misconception about the test is that if a test taker uses a British accent in the Speaking test, they will get a higher score than if they used other English accents. “The Speaking test is not marked according to the accent used. Test takers can speak in whatever accent they feel comfortable with, and the scoring is based on fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy and pronunciation,” the British Council said in a statement.
Some takers also think that if their opinion differed from that of their examiner, they might get a lower score especially in the Speaking and Writing sections of the test, which the British Council Philippines clarifies: “The IELTS is not a test of opinion…but an assessment of a person’s English language skills, so their opinion doesn’t matter. What is important is that they express that opinion fluently, coherently and accurately using the right words.”
But the biggest misconception that the council wants to debunk is the IELTS not being recognized by US organizations because it was created mostly by UK organizations. The British Council said this is false because there are over 3,000 universities, including all Ivy League institutions, as well as employers, that recognize IELTS.
In fact, the 2016 US Admissions Officers Online Survey reported that 83% of admission officers in the US recommend IELTS as an assessor of English language proficiency.
There is a full list of organizations in the US that recognize the test, which can be accessed via www.takeielts.britishcouncil.org.
The British Council Philippines regularly conducts the IELTS test, available in paper-based and computer-based formats. The paper-based test is held four times a month in 17 testing centres in the country, while the computer-based test is held once a day in selected testing centres. To learn more about the test and the British Council, visit https://www.britishcouncil.ph/.
