the uk is planning to introduce a new language test. will ielts be cancelled? candidates don’t need to panic
2024-09-22
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the uk government, through uk visas and immigration (ukvi), is proposing to abolish the existing secure english language tests (selts) model provided by a number of home office-approved providers, such as pearson, ielts, lens and trinity college london.
instead, the uk government will establish a new official independent examination system owned by the home office and developed by a single supplier - the home office english language test (hoelt). at present, this reform is still in the planning stage, and the uk government is actively soliciting opinions from all walks of life in order to further improve the relevant plan. therefore, the specific implementation details and implementation time are still unknown.
according to the official website of the british government, the new hoolt test will cover the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing in english, similar to ielts. the test content will assess the english proficiency of candidates based on different application channels, covering the a1 to c1 levels of the common european framework of reference for languages (cefr). this new test system is planned to be implemented globally, mainly in china, india, pakistan, nigeria, south africa and other countries and regions.
does this mean the cancellation of ielts and other exams? at present, the british government's positioning of this exam is for visas and immigration, and it does not involve studying abroad. that is to say, the ielts scores will still be recognized by universities, but on the other hand, if students want to study in the uk, they may need to take two exams in the future - hoolt is used to obtain a visa, and ielts meets the language score requirements of universities.
in addition, the medill school of journalism at northwestern university recently announced on its official website that starting this year, the school's integrated marketing communications (imc) master's program will no longer accept ielts scores, but only toefl and duolingo scores. this may also intensify the competition between ielts and toefl, and make candidates re-examine their language test plans when studying abroad. in the future, will the scope of application of the ielts test be further refined? we still need to observe further.
text | reporter sun wei, intern zhu yilinfigure | ielts official website
