Annual Review 2011 - ielts

IELTS is jointly owned by British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia and University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations(Cambridge ESOL). The IELTS test is designed and set by some of the world’s leading experts in languageassessment to give a true picture of a candidate’s language skills.

IELTS Annual Review 2011ContentsNews highlights 4Conferences and events 6Stakeholder engagement 8IELTS research 9Band score information 10

IELTS Annual Review 2011Successful Facebook launchWe launched our IELTS Facebook page in Novemberand by the end of the year over 15,000 candidates hadjoined this lively community. They enjoy sharing tips,trying activities and quizzes, joining in discussions andmaking friends with other people preparing forthe test.Increased IELTS availabilityWith demand for IELTS at an all-time high, in 2011 weopened 19 new test centres in:• Australia• Azerbaijan• Canada• Indonesia• Jamaica• Japan• Jordan• Kazakhstan• NigeriaIELTS sets the standardfor migration• Accepted as a preferred test by the AustralianDepartment for Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC)for all categories of visa.• Chosen as one of two tests accepted by Citizenshipand Immigration Canada (CIC) as proof of languageproficiency for skilled migrant workers.• Saudi Arabia• Trinidad and Tobago• Turkey• Ukraine• United Arab Emirates• United Kingdom• United States of America.• The only test accepted by Immigration New Zealandfor migration.IELTS Online ResultsFollowing the launch of the IELTS online score resultspreview, test takers can view their IELTS scores13 days after taking the test, and before receiving theirofficial Test Report Form.5

IELTS Annual Review 2011Conferencesand eventsInternational educationeventsThis year we have been busy meetingdelegates and supporting a variety ofinternational education events across theworld, including:• Going Global (Hong Kong)• NAFSA Annual Conference andExpo (Canada)• ICEF Dubai Workshop(United Arab Emirates)• ICEF North America Workshop (Canada)• CamTESOL (Cambodia)each band score represents. The events arealso an invaluable opportunity for us to getfeedback from our stakeholders.Going Global conferenceThis year’s event was the first British CouncilGoing Global conference to take placeoutside the United Kingdom. Hosted in HongKong, the conference attracted around1,000 delegates from 70 countries, andconsiderable press attention.IELTS was a platinum sponsor at the eventand led a panel discussion on differingperceptions towards English languagerequirements and tests for admissionspurposes in the US and Hong Kong.• Asia Pacific Association for InternationalEducation (Taiwan)• English Australia (Australia)• Australian International EducationConference (Australia)• QS-MAPLE (United Arab Emirates)• IATEFL, UK• ALTE, Poland• EAIE, Denmark• UKNARIC, UK• EducationUSA.These events offer an opportunity fororganisations that accept IELTS to gain adeeper understanding of the assessmentprocess, including what level of English6

IELTS Annual Review 2011Australian InternationalEducation Conference (AIEC)This IDP event marked the 25th anniversary of boththe first AIEC conference and the introduction of thefull fee-paying international student programme inAustralia. It was a great opportunity for us to meetand reconnect with higher education staff fromall over the world, and give them the latest IELTSsupport tools.NAFSA Conference & ExpoIELTS again supported this key annual event forinternational educators in North America as platinumsponsor and exhibitor. With record-breakingattendance of more than 8,000 participants, we wereable to engage with colleagues on all aspects ofinternational education.EducationUSA eventsWe were privileged to sponsor, present andparticipate in the EducationUSA Triennial Workshopin Qatar, at this critical time of transformation in theMiddle East and North Africa region. We providedcolleagues and US-bound students with vitalinformation on language proficiency requirements forUS admissions and academic success.We also participated in the EducationUSA Connectswebinar series, which gave international students theopportunity to learn more about US study and interactdirectly with educational experts, from the comfort oftheir own homes.EAIE CopenhagenIELTS was platinum sponsor of this very importantevent in Europe. More than 4,200 international highereducation professionals from 87 countries met inCopenhagen to exchange ideas and discover newtrends and best practices. During the Newcomers’Reception and from the exhibition stand, IELTSrepresentatives spoke with nearly 50% ofthe audience.7

IELTS Annual Review 2011Stakeholder engagementAs well as maintaining contact throughregular newsletters, we have met face toface with hundreds of teachers, highereducation professionals, immigrationauthorities, professional registration bodiesand other test users.Information sessions inAustralia, New Zealandand CanadaThis year, we held 22 information sessionsacross 16 cities in Australia, New Zealandand Canada with close to 700 participantsattending. They included staff from highereducation (in admissions, teachingand learning, and academic support),professional associations, employers,language teachers and secondary schools.Regular government meetings werealso held, as well as group sessions formembers of the Migration Instituteof Australia.Face-to-face meetings inthe UKIn 2011 we held two large seminars inLondon to give universities, colleges,professional registration bodies andimmigration authorities informationabout IELTS. We also met with keystakeholders throughout the year includingrepresentatives from the Australian,Canadian, New Zealand and UKimmigration authorities, the medical andlegal professional registration bodies, anduniversities and colleges throughoutthe UK.8

IELTS Annual Review 2011GenderCandidates receive an overall band score as well as individual scores for each testcomponent (Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking).These figures show the mean overall and individual band scores achieved in 2011 byAcademic and General Training candidates according to their gender.Note that actual test scores are reported in whole and half bands only (e.g. 6 or 6.5).Mean band scores for female candidatesListening Reading Writing Speaking OverallAcademic 6.1 6.1 5.6 5.9 6.0General Training 6.2 5.7 5.9 6.2 6.1Mean band scores for male candidatesListening Reading Writing Speaking OverallAcademic 5.9 5.8 5.4 5.7 5.8General Training 6.3 5.7 5.8 6.3 6.111

IELTS Annual Review 2011Reason for taking IELTSThe following tables show the distribution of scores achieved by various groups ofcandidates, which may be of interest as an indication of how an individual candidate hasperformed relative to other members of a grouping to which he or she belongs, though thecategories reported here are necessarily very broad.Academic candidates: Reason for taking IELTSOverall band score and candidates in %AcademicBelow44 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9For employment 1% 1% 3% 6% 11% 19% 22% 20% 11% 4% 1% 0%For higher educationextended course (threemonths or more)2% 3% 8% 15% 21% 20% 15% 9% 5% 2% 1% 0%For higher educationshort course (threemonths or less)2% 4% 10% 17% 20% 17% 13% 9% 5% 2% 0% 0%For immigration 1% 1% 2% 5% 11% 17% 20% 18% 13% 7% 3% 1%For other educationpurposes2% 4% 10% 16% 20% 19% 14% 9% 5% 2% 0% 0%For personal reasons 2% 4% 8% 15% 20% 20% 16% 10% 5% 2% 0% 0%For professionalregistration (notmedical)1% 1% 2% 4% 7% 13% 21% 22% 16% 8% 3% 0%For registration asa dentist1% 1% 2% 4% 6% 13% 21% 23% 16% 9% 3% 0%For registration asa doctor0% 1% 1% 2% 5% 11% 20% 24% 19% 11% 4% 1%For registration asa nurse (includingCGFNS)0% 0% 1% 2% 7% 17% 27% 24% 13% 5% 2% 0%Other 2% 3% 8% 13% 17% 19% 16% 12% 7% 3% 1% 0%12

IELTS Annual Review 2011General Training candidates: Reason for taking IELTSOverall band score and candidates in %General TrainingBelow44 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9For employment 4% 4% 7% 12% 17% 19% 15% 11% 7% 3% 1% 0%For higher educationextended course (threemonths or more)5% 7% 11% 14% 18% 19% 13% 7% 3% 1% 0% 0%For higher educationshort course (threemonths or less)4% 4% 7% 13% 21% 23% 15% 8% 3% 1% 0% 0%For immigration 2% 2% 4% 8% 14% 20% 18% 14% 9% 5% 3% 1%For other educationpurposes5% 8% 13% 14% 19% 20% 12% 6% 3% 1% 0% 0%For personal reasons 4% 3% 7% 12% 19% 22% 16% 10% 5% 2% 1% 0%For professionalregistration (notmedical)1% 1% 3% 5% 12% 24% 22% 17% 10% 5% 1% 0%For registration as adentist1% 3% 5% 7% 12% 20% 16% 18% 10% 6% 1% 1%For registration as adoctor2% 2% 5% 9% 16% 21% 16% 13% 8% 6% 2% 1%For registration asa nurse (includingCGFNS)1% 2% 4% 10% 14% 23% 22% 12% 6% 3% 2% 0%Other 5% 4% 8% 13% 19% 20% 14% 8% 4% 2% 1% 0%13

IELTS Annual Review 2011Mean band score for the most frequent countries or regions of origin (General Training)General Training Listening Reading Writing Speaking OverallBangladesh 6.1 5.4 5.8 6.2 5.9Brazil 6.4 6.3 6.1 6.7 6.4China (People’s Republic) 6.3 6.0 5.7 5.8 6.0Colombia 5.7 5.7 5.6 6.0 5.8Egypt 6.3 5.9 5.9 6.4 6.2France 6.9 6.9 6.3 6.8 6.8Germany 7.0 6.6 6.4 7.2 6.8Ghana 4.8 4.3 5.7 6.5 5.4Hong Kong SAR 6.7 6.4 5.9 6.2 6.4India 6.4 5.6 5.8 6.2 6.1Indonesia 6.6 6.3 5.9 6.3 6.4Iran 5.8 5.4 5.8 6.3 5.9Iraq 5.7 5.2 5.4 6.2 5.7Italy 6.2 6.1 5.8 6.4 6.2Japan 6.0 5.6 5.5 5.8 5.8Jordan 5.9 5.5 5.5 6.3 5.9Kenya 6.7 6.1 6.6 7.2 6.7Korea, South 5.8 5.4 5.3 5.4 5.5Lebanon 6.3 5.7 5.9 6.6 6.2Malaysia 7.3 6.9 6.5 7.0 7.0Mauritius 6.5 5.9 6.2 6.7 6.4Mexico 6.3 6.3 6.0 6.6 6.3Nepal 6.3 5.6 5.9 6.2 6.1Nigeria 5.8 5.7 6.5 7.0 6.3Pakistan 6.2 5.5 6.0 6.4 6.1Philippines 6.2 5.7 5.9 6.3 6.1Romania 6.5 6.3 5.9 6.2 6.3Russia 6.4 6.3 6.0 6.4 6.3Saudi Arabia 4.6 3.8 4.4 5.0 4.5Singapore 7.7 7.3 6.9 7.5 7.4South Africa 7.4 7.0 7.3 8.4 7.6Sri Lanka 6.3 5.7 5.8 6.3 6.1Taiwan 6.3 5.8 5.8 6.2 6.1Thailand 5.6 5.2 5.3 5.6 5.5Turkey 5.8 5.5 5.5 5.8 5.7Ukraine 5.8 5.6 5.5 6.0 5.8United Arab Emirates 4.3 3.5 4.3 4.9 4.3United States of America 8.0 7.6 7.7 8.6 8.0Venezuela 6.3 6.3 6.1 6.4 6.3Vietnam 5.8 5.6 5.7 5.7 5.815

IELTS Annual Review 2011First languageThese figures show the mean overall and individual band scores achieved in 2011 byAcademic and General Training candidates from the top 40 first language backgrounds,listed alphabetically.Mean band scores for the most common first languages (Academic)Academic Listening Reading Writing Speaking OverallArabic 5.1 5.0 4.9 5.7 5.2Bengali 6.0 5.6 5.6 6.0 5.9Bulgarian 7.1 6.8 6.1 6.8 6.8Burmese 6.4 6.3 5.7 6.0 6.1Chinese 5.9 6.0 5.3 5.4 5.7English* 7.3 6.9 6.6 7.5 7.1Farsi 5.9 5.7 5.6 6.3 5.9French 6.7 6.9 5.9 6.5 6.6German 7.5 7.3 6.5 7.2 7.2Greek 7.0 6.6 6.0 6.5 6.6Gujurati 6.1 5.6 5.5 5.8 5.8Hindi 6.6 6.0 5.8 6.2 6.2Indonesian 6.3 6.4 5.6 6.0 6.1Italian 6.5 7.0 5.8 6.3 6.5Japanese 6.0 6.0 5.3 5.6 5.8Kannada 7.1 6.5 6.3 6.8 6.7Kazakh 5.9 5.8 5.5 5.9 5.8Korean 6.2 6.1 5.4 5.6 5.9Lithuanian 7.0 6.7 5.7 6.4 6.5Malay 7.0 6.8 6.0 6.5 6.6Malayalam 6.7 6.2 6.1 6.4 6.4Marathi 6.9 6.4 6.2 6.6 6.6Nepali 6.3 5.8 5.8 6.0 6.0Other 6.3 6.0 6.1 6.8 6.4Pashto 5.4 5.3 5.5 5.9 5.6Polish 7.1 6.9 6.2 6.9 6.8Portuguese 6.8 6.8 6.1 6.8 6.7Punjabi 5.9 5.4 5.2 5.5 5.5Romanian 7.2 7.0 6.2 6.8 6.9Russian 6.5 6.5 5.8 6.5 6.4Singhalese 6.7 6.2 6.0 6.6 6.4Spanish 6.5 6.7 5.9 6.5 6.5Tagalog 7.0 6.6 6.2 6.8 6.7Tamil 6.6 6.2 5.9 6.4 6.3Telugu 6.4 5.8 5.8 6.2 6.1Thai 5.9 5.8 5.3 5.7 5.8Turkish 6.0 5.9 5.4 5.8 5.8Urdu 5.9 5.5 5.6 6.0 5.8Uzbek 5.6 5.5 4.9 5.4 5.4Vietnamese 5.9 6.1 5.6 5.7 5.916* first language as self-chosen by candidates drawn from a wide range of nationalities

IELTS Annual Review 2011Mean band scores for the most common first languages (General Training)General Training Listening Reading Writing Speaking OverallAfrikaans 7.2 6.8 6.9 8.0 7.3Akan 4.6 4.1 5.5 6.3 5.2Arabic 5.2 4.6 5.1 5.7 5.2Bengali 6.1 5.5 5.8 6.2 6.0Chinese 6.3 6.1 5.7 5.9 6.1Creole 6.4 5.7 6.1 6.6 6.2English* 7.3 6.9 7.0 7.8 7.3Farsi 5.8 5.4 5.8 6.3 5.9French 6.4 6.2 6.2 6.6 6.4German 6.9 6.6 6.4 7.1 6.8Gujurati 6.3 5.5 5.7 6.1 5.9Hindi 6.6 5.8 6.0 6.4 6.2Ibo/Igbo 5.8 5.6 6.6 7.0 6.3Indonesian 6.6 6.3 5.9 6.3 6.4Italian 6.2 6.1 5.8 6.3 6.2Japanese 6.0 5.6 5.5 5.8 5.8Kannada 6.9 6.3 6.3 6.7 6.6Korean 5.8 5.4 5.3 5.4 5.5Malay 7.1 6.7 6.4 6.9 6.9Malayalam 6.5 5.9 6.1 6.3 6.3Marathi 6.8 6.1 6.3 6.7 6.5Nepali 6.4 5.6 5.9 6.2 6.1Other 6.1 5.6 6.3 6.9 6.3Pashto 5.9 5.3 5.9 6.4 5.9Polish 6.3 6.0 5.9 6.5 6.2Portuguese 6.4 6.2 6.1 6.7 6.4Punjabi 6.1 5.2 5.6 5.9 5.7Romanian 6.5 6.2 5.9 6.2 6.3Russian 6.2 6.1 5.9 6.3 6.2Singhalese 6.4 5.7 5.8 6.4 6.1Spanish 6.0 6.0 5.8 6.3 6.1Tagalog 6.2 5.7 5.9 6.3 6.1Tamil 6.4 5.8 5.9 6.3 6.2Telugu 6.7 5.9 6.0 6.4 6.3Thai 5.6 5.2 5.3 5.6 5.5Turkish 5.8 5.5 5.5 5.8 5.7Ukrainian 5.7 5.4 5.4 5.9 5.6Urdu 6.2 5.6 6.0 6.4 6.1Vietnamese 5.8 5.6 5.7 5.7 5.8Yoruba 5.6 5.6 6.3 6.8 6.2* first language as self-chosen by candidates drawn from a wide range of nationalities17

IELTS Annual Review 2011notes18

IELTS Annual Review 2011notes19

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