UK Universities Might Suffer Due to Stoppage of English Language Exam Accreditation

For the first time since the February 2014 issues, the Educational Testing Service(ETS) spoke once again, saying that UK universities might suffer as the Home Office decided to block their English language exam accreditation.

The ETS, a U.S.-based company located in Princeton, New Jersey used to have an English-language testing contract for the UK market. However, it became involved with student visa fraud that was uncovered in February 2014, causing ETS to lose their accreditation from the Home Office. In their first media interview after the February issue, ETS claimed that educational institutions in the UK might fall further behind in recruiting international students because of their decision.

Student Visa Abuse

ETS lost their Home Office accreditation to provide Secure English Language Test in February due to allegations that there was organized cheating by some students seeking entry into UK universities, which also involved some senior staff of ETS. The investigation, which was done by Panorama of BBC One, disclosed that there was a network of agents that helped students from overseas to pass the required English language tests, which also include doctoring their academic records and falsifying other vital documents. After the revelation, Theresa May, PC MP and current secretary of the UK Home Office issued a statement announcing the suspension of all English language tests given by ETS for immigration purposes. It also announced a temporary block on visa applications processed by two immigration advisers and the suspension of two test centers while an investigation is conducted.

After-effects

The vice president and chief operating officer of ETS, David Payne said that they might have made some mistakes but they have already made substantial security improvements. He refused to criticize the decision of the Home Office but reiterated that they are still committed to serve the UK market. He said that his pronouncements are not enough to regain the accreditation of their Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam for visa purposes, as the Home Office already declared that accreditation applications are based on performances in the past.

However, he said that placing restrictions on TOEFL, which he described as the widely accepted and most popular English language exam in the world, will only hurt the universities in the UK because it hampers their competitive advantage as well as give off the impression that British educational institutions do not welcome international students.

Dr. Payne said that they have boosted the security of their TOEFL exam, which includes voice recognition and biometric identification technology, which were not present in their Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) when the Panorama investigation was conducted early in the year. At that time the researcher was able to pay the immigration consultancy the sum of £500 so her passing the exam could be guaranteed. Fake sitters for the candidates were used in an East London college to take the written and oral exams. For the multiple choice test, the correct answers were read to the students by a proctor.

Dr. David Payne claimed that they were not the only victims of the organized crime as three universities were stopped from recruiting international students due to cheating allegations. Glyndwr University, which holds a highly trusted status, was suspended due to the allegations. But it was announced on November 24 that it would be reinstated provided the institution leaves its London campus and could only recruit sponsored students on a limited basis to its campus in Wrexham. A further review will be conducted in January.

Image credit: Educational Testing Service sign taken by Mduchnowski under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.