Welcome to our final News Tracker of 2022! It’s been an eventful 12 months in the IELTS world, and in this final News Tracker, we’re bringing you the last round of updates in IELTS and migration news for 2022.
The Latest IELTS News
The past 30 days have been positive, if not a little chaotic, regarding IELTS news across the globe! From tests being indefinitely suspended and then once again allowed to continue in Vietnam to the launch of a 5-star premium IELTS testing service in the Middle East–one thing’s for sure, the end of 2022 has been anything but quiet for IELTS candidates.
IELTS Tests Suspended & Then Resumed In Vietnam
For the past few months in Vietnam, there had been growing concern over the shortcomings of having so many different foreign language exams available in the country.
Reviews into the security of tests and an increased amount of exam fraud in Vietnam, driven by companies hiring people to take the language tests on behalf of their workforce, highlighted the need for government intervention.
This culminated in the Vietnamese Government suspending many foreign language tests, including IELTS, on November 10th, indefinitely, claiming that test providers in the country were not meeting current regulations.
They alleged that organisations responsible for providing exams in the country needed to supply documentation to local authorities that met existing regulations in Vietnam.
Many Vietnamese IELTS candidates who had already purchased and booked tests with the British Council then travelled to neighbouring Thailand to still take their test on time.
You can read some of their stories in this article published by Vietnam’s national newspaper, VN Express.
After careful due diligence and by supplying all of the relevant documentation requested to the Vietnamese Government, the British Council has now been approved to resume IELTS testing in the country. The agreement, which was reached on November 18th, is valid for five years, which means that there should be no more disruption to IELTS testing in Vietnam.
A Premium IELTS Testing Service Is Launched In The United Arab Emirates
IELTS candidates in Dubai are now being offered a luxury option when it comes to IELTS testing. The tests will take place at the 5-star Marriott hotel, with test takers able to benefit from IELTS preparation support, an on-the-day relationship manager.
Test takers will be provided with valet parking upon arrival and welcomed into a private lounge for refreshments alongside fellow IELTS candidates. Their relationship manager will then handle their sign-in with the British Council and escort them to the rooms for their tests.
Once the tests have finished, the test takers can then dine in the Marriott’s Michelin-star restaurant.
Currently, this IELTS premium service is only available for the traditional paper testing with the British Council, and pricing for this exclusive IELTS experience starts at Dh1,700.
Read more about the launch of the UAE’s premium IELTS service here.
International Migration News
Keeping up with migration news is something that many IELTS candidates will already be doing. By staying informed about the migration news in IELTS countries like the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, those looking to migrate will know what else they need in order to secure work or student visas.
New Zealand Net Migration Set To Increase Early Next Year
Economists from New Zealand’s largest bank, Kiwibank, have forecast a 76% increase in net migration in the first few months of 2023. A large proportion of this increase has been put down to the lifting of New Zealand’s covid-19 lockdown policies, which lead to the country closing borders for much longer than the rest of the world.
As these restrictions have been lifted, record numbers of people who have been planning to migrate but couldn’t are now entering the island nation at once.
However, increases in migration are also thought to be loosely connected with the NZ Government’s decision last month to increase migrant worker wages from 2023. This policy has certainly made New Zealand a much more attractive option for migration in 2023.
Further Reading
If you want to keep abreast of the latest developments, follow Our Blog, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts for up-to-the-minute news.
See you in January 2023!