“This is the first year that IELTS has reached the 1 million mark and the number of candidates taking the test has more than doubled in the last three years,” said Beryl Meiron, Executive Director of IELTS International in the US. “We believe this is a direct reflection of the fact that it gives a well-rounded picture of how well a person really knows English.”
Globally women hold a slight edge with an overall score of 5.94 across the papers compared with 5.74 for men.
Worldwide, 51 per cent of those taking the test do so because they wish to enter higher education in a foreign country. An increasing number of these candidates are taking the test for studies in the US, as more than 1,700 universities and colleges (including Harvard and Yale) accept IELTS scores.
IELTS is offered in over 500 locations in 121 countries with the greatest number of tests taken in China, India, Australia, UK and Pakistan, making IELTS the most popular international English language test of its kind in the world.
IELTS is jointly managed by British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia and University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations.