My English skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing had been greatly improved when I prepared for IELTS. I really appreciated IELTS which brought me great opportunities and personal developments

Du Lanlan (Beijing, China); IELTS score: 7.5 Admitted by Binghamton University
Before deciding to accept the IELTS as an alternative to TOEFL, I sat for the exam myself and can attest to the genuine rigor it represents.

James F Minter
Senior Associate Director, Undergraduate Admissions
Director of International Admissions
Columbia University, New York

News

New Book Explores History of Language Testing and IELTS

The latest volume in the Studies in Language Testing (SiLT) series explores the history of English language testing for academic purposes between 1950 and 1989 including the development of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS).

In Assessing Academic English: Testing English proficiency, 1950-1989 - the IELTS solution, (2008) Alan Davies looks at the history of academic language proficiency testing in the UK. The book follows the development of language proficiency tests, from the use of the English Proficiency Test Battery (EPTB) in the 1960s through the creation of the revolutionary English Language Testing Service (ELTS) in the 1970s and 1980s, and the introduction of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) in 1989.

The book is the latest addition to the SiLT series, published by Cambridge ESOL in collaboration with Cambridge University Press and which now contains more than 25 titles. The series covers a wide range of important issues and new developments in language testing.