Page 31 - StudyTravel Magazine September/October 2021 Issue

language

exams

dIrectIOn

The Covid-19 pandemic certainly wreaked havoc
across the international education industry,
with the language testing sector also
experiencing a period of considerable change.
Joshua Walton discovers how exam providers
around the world adapted.

lAnguAge

Photo right: Ascannio / Shutterstock.com

lthough many exam providers USA and other English-speaking desti- based English language proficiency
were able to continue with nations, notes, “The global pandemic tests, recorded “a steady 23 per cent
Atest provision throughout the has seriously impacted student mobil- annual increase in the provided tests
pandemic, with some opting to use ity and with the Australian borders in the year 2020, a similar growth as
remote testing, companies still report being closed for over a year, school in the previous pre-pandemic years”,
the significant impact of the pandemic students have been unable to enter says Brano Pokrivcak at the company.
on test delivery and the number of Australia to commence at school.” Kasia Reardon at Pearson https://
students able to take them. AEAS’s test numbers have declined www.pearson.com notes that the
by about 50 per cent over the past number of test-takers for its PTE Eng-
Tests taken year and it has continued with testing lish test was down 36 per cent in 2020,
as usual in all key markets, except with declines in all key markets except
Srikant Gopal, Executive Director of the during lockdowns in some countries China, following growth of 17 per cent
TOEFL Program at ETS https://www. from time to time. in the previous year.
ets.org/toefl, which provides a range Heidi Reid, Academic Director at In 2020, TrackTest provided more
of computer-based English language International Diagnostics and Admis- than 320,000 tests to test-takers
proficiency tests used for university sions Test (IDAT) https://student.idat. from 127 countries across all conti-
study, work and immigration around org/idat/, which provides an exam nents. Brano adds, “We recorded a
the world, says, “Just like most other that covers English (ESL and Literacy), significantly increased demand for our
sectors, the English language testing mathematics, global knowledge and optional features.”
industry was turned upside down as a a character self-evaluation, says the
result of the Covid-19 pandemic, which company has seen more schools sign Remote testing
made traditional in-person testing on to accept the IDAT over the past
limited and/or temporarily infeasible.” year, as well as an increase in schools Some language exam providers had to
Tracey O’Halloran, Managing Direc- using the test, despite an overall drop fully switch to online provision due to
tor at AEAS https://www.aeas.com. in the number of test-takers. the restrictions on in-person testing
au/, which provides English language TrackTest English Assessment and the closure of testing centres as
proficiency tests for students aged https://tracktest.eu/, an online plat- a result of the Covid-19 pandemic,
seven-to-18 years old in Australia, the form providing general-purpose CEFR- whereas others may have already

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