Volume 8, 2008, Paper 3
Paper 3: The use of IELTS for university selection in
Australia: A case study
Author
Kieran O’Loughlin
The University of Melbourne
This study examines the use of IELTS in selecting international,
full fee-paying students to a large faculty at a major Australian
university.
ABSTRACT
In recent years there has been growing interest in how
high-stakes language test scores are interpreted and used in
specific contexts. This report describes a study which examined the
use of IELTS in selecting international, full fee-paying students
for a large faculty at a major Australian university. Using
institutional documents, questionnaires and interviews the study
attempted to, firstly, map how IELTS was used in the selection
process and, secondly, explore the knowledge and beliefs which
staff (both administrative and academic) and students had about the
Test. Key findings included:
- a well-articulated, if somewhat inflexible, selection policy
and clear guidelines about minimum English language requirements
including IELTS
- a generally high level of procedural compliance with university
policy and procedures on the part of staff directly involved in
selection
- variable levels of knowledge about the IELTS (both of the Test
and the scores it produces) among staff and students including a
lack of understanding among both groups as to what different IELTS
scores imply about a student’s language ability, their readiness
for university study and their need for further English
development
- the prevalence of “folkloric” beliefs particularly
amongst staff about English language proficiency and the IELTS
Test, some with a firmer basis in reality than others. Such beliefs
include a scepticism about the validity, reliability and
“trustworthiness” of IELTS scores and an unrealistic expectation
about their power to predict academic success
- a lack of clearly established equivalence between the IELTS
Test and other acceptable evidence of English proficiency in
university selection policy.
These findings and their implications are discussed in detail in
this report.
