Volume 4, 2003, Paper 1
Paper 1: An impact study of two IELTS user groups: candidates
who sit the test for immigration purposes and candidates who sit
the test for secondary education purposes
Since the launch of the IELTS test in 1989, the number of
candidates taking the IELTS test has continued to grow with an
increasing number sitting the test for reasons other than it was
originally designed for. The test in its original format was
designed to assess whether candidates were ready to study or train
in the medium of English and increasingly candidates who intend to
complete Secondary School studies or need proof of English Language
proficiency for immigration purposes are sitting the test.
Brent Merrylees
In 1995, the New Zealand Immigration Service adopted the test as
the preferred English Language test and in 1998 the Australian
government decided to use the IELTS test for immigration purposes
after withdrawing funding for the access:[1] test. As a
result of these two policy decisions, the incidence of candidates
presenting for the IELTS test in Australia and New Zealand for
immigration reasons has increased significantly. Also in
Australia, the number of students coming to the country to complete
their Secondary School studies has been slowly increasing and a
number of secondary schools have approached IELTS centres to
discuss the appropriacy of the IELTS tests for candidates in the
age range of 15 to17.
With the increase in candidature of both user groups, there is
an increasing need to investigate and analyse how each group is
performing on the test in terms of nationality, age, gender and
other factors. At the time this research project was
proposed, impact studies were being carried out to investigate the
views and attitudes of IELTS user groups and also to establish a
profile of the IELTS test taking population. Given these
impact studies were under way and the fact that the two user groups
in this project had the potential of becoming a significant
presence in the IELTS test taking population, a study into the
particular groups was considered important.
