Month: November 2025

HOELT Tender Finally Published. Fully Digital?

Posted on by TOEFL Resources

The HOELT Tender has been published.  And I mean the actual tender, not another “request for information.”

Here’s a link. The key takeaway is that the Home Office seeks “a fully remote language testing service.”  Says the tender:

“HOELT will move to a digital-by-default approach, while upholding the rigorous standards necessary to support our immigration decisions. The successful provider will deliver a service that combines technological innovation with security assurance, enabling customers to demonstrate their English language skills with confidence and convenience throughout their UK immigration journey.”

And:

“The Supplier shall provide a fully managed Remote Testing service.  HOELTs shall be delivered securely in any location where the Customer chooses to take the test, provided secure test conditions are met.”

Test centers aren’t even mentioned in the publicly available version of the tender, as far as I can tell. How do you like that?  The final RFI mentioned the possibility of 268 physical test centers. Note that the bidders will get a longer form of the tender, which could reference the possibility of test centers being included.

I’m not terribly familiar with the tender process, so it is absolutely fascinating to me how the document breaks down the weighting that will be given to certain criteria that make up the “Quality” of each bid.  Do check that out to learn how the winner will be selected. Just note that price is pretty important too.

A winner will be selected in November of 2026.

A few other key details:

  1. The contract will run from ’26 to ’31.  That’s the same as in the final RFI… but the start date has been pushed back about four months to December of 2026.
  2. The tender will not be divided into lots, though the possibility of collaborative bids is mentioned.
  3. As expected, the HOELT will be available in 2-skill and 4-skill versions.
  4. The estimated value remains £680,000,000 (excluding VAT) and £816,000,000 (including VAT).

Needless to say, this is good news for the team from the Duolingo English Test. They likely have the most experience with and enthusiasm for this sort of remote testing.  But it is also good news for a variety of smaller providers who also have ample experience with remote testing.  It probably isn’t great news for the IELTS partners, who have been pretty vocal in recent months regarding perceived shortcomings of certain online-only tests.

Cost of Taking IELTS in China to Drop

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The cost of taking the IELTS in China will drop by 180 RMB in a few weeks.   That’s about $25 USD.  After the drop it will cost 1990 RMB to take the test (about $280 USD).  It also seems that the UKVI version will have the same price as the standard version (a drop of 230 RMB).  Cancellation and change fees will also be lowered.

It is unclear if this is an effort by the British Council to make their product a bit more attractive as the TOEFL test kicks off a high-profile renewal process, an effort by the NEEA to make the test more consumer friendly, an impending IDP launch, or something else entirely.

Let me know if you see any price changes in your market. Here in Korea, the price was hiked in the summer.

(FYI: It currently costs 2100 RMB to take the TOEFL in China, which is about $295 USD)

You Should Read More: Part 63

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I read some pretty random things things month!

First up, I read “Our Hotel in Bali” by Louise G Koke.  This slim volume relates the author’s experience running (along with her husband) the very first hotel on Kuta Beach in Bali.  This hard-to-find book had been on my “must read” list for a couple of years, and when an affordably priced copy became available a few months ago I snapped it up (and, what do you know, it was signed by the author!).

I’ve been to Bali many times over the years (for the first time around 2006, and most recently in 2024) but I haven’t ever stayed very long.  Bali is terribly crowded now so I mostly use it as a stepping stone to quieter places in Indonesia.  That said, I’ve long had a fascination with Bali as an historically important tourist destination.  Koke’s book offers great insights into that period, as it tells about a period when there were only three or four hotels on the island.  Meanwhile, quite a few of the famous names in early Bali tourism make appearances in her story.  Highly recommended. I suspect I will spend more time exploring the history of travel to Bali through reading in the months ahead.

Next, I read the August/September 2025 issue of the “Capital Hill Citizen.”  It contained a great article about the possibility of a “cashless society.”  This paper is print only (and proudly so) so I can’t link to it, but it did inspire a new writing for an academic discussion task, which I published over on prepex.

Finally, I continued my journey through the Norton Library Podcasts, and read a modern translation of “Inferno.”  You can listen to the podcast episodes starting over here.  I do recommend that if you attempt to tackle this work that you seek out a modern translation as I did.  My first attempt, using a old public domain translation, was an abject failure.

 

 

CELPIP vs IELTS in Canada

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I’ve attached here a Google Trends chart showing search interest in Canada over the past four years for the terms “IELTS” and “CELPIP.”  I share this because it demonstrates how CELPIP seems to be steadily closing the interest gap.

(The chart begins in November 2021 as including the giant one-day spike from earlier that year makes it unviewable, but obviously the gap was even wider in the past)

I haven’t actually taken CELPIP, but it appears to be a fairly attractive product for some test takers.  Indeed, as CELPIP is not used for university admissions, interest in it might have already surpassed interest in IELTS within its category (immigration).

This is something that people who follow the business of English testing will want to keep an eye on.  We talk a lot about how IELTS faces challenges from Duolingo or Pearson but there are many other products which might grab some of their market share in the years ahead.

As regular readers know, CELPIP was recently approved for immigration to Australia.  It may become popular there as test takers notice some of the same features that are currently attractive to would-be Canadians.

Anyway, below the chart I will share a couple of images showing the long wait times for CELPIP books from some favorite public libraries in Canadaland (the first is in Halifax, the second is Toronto).

 

 

TOEFL Bypass for Some Taiwanese Students

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I read this article about a pilot program in Taiwan that will allow America-bound students to bypass traditional English proficiency testing if they complete a certain amount of coursework in English beforehand (at certain universities).  The program was developed by the Taiwanese Ministry of Education in collaboration with Fulbright Taiwan, and has already partnered with some pretty big schools in the USA:  Arizona State University, New York University, Teachers College at Columbia University, and the University of Maryland. Eight students will participate in the pilot in February, and the program is expected to fully launch later in the year.

This could end up being a pretty big deal in terms of the business of English testing.  Taiwan (like most places in East Asia) is part of the TOEFL heartland, so much so that all of the articles I’ve read about the program specifically refer to it as a way to bypass TOEFL requirements… as if other tests aren’t even considered by students. Our friends at ETS will surely be keeping an eye on the pilot.  I suppose if it goes well, universities in other markets will be champing at the bit to secure similar waivers.

According to last week’s Open Doors release, there are about 23 thousand Taiwanese nationals studying in the USA.

Open Doors 2025

Posted on by TOEFL Resources

The new Open Doors data came out earlier this week. There is a nice summary in the Pie News by Polly Nash.

The number of international students in the country increased by 5% for the year. I suppose there is room for additional growth; as Nash notes:

“Even with their continued growth, international students made up just over 6% of America’s total student population, with stakeholders emphasising their relatively small share as compared to the UK (27%), Australia (31%) and Canada (38%).”

TOEFL Listening Updates

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I’ve been uploading videos about the new TOEFL test.  Here’s one about the listening section.

Meanwhile, I’ve created a landing page for the section here on the website. To quote that page:

The TOEFL listening section will totally change on January 21, 2026.  

Starting on that date, the listening section will be divided into two modules.  First will be the “routing module.”  This will be the longest module and the difficulty will be the same for everyone.  The second module will depend on your performance in the routing module.  If you do well on the routing module, you will get the “hard module.”  If you do poorly, you will get the “easy module.” You should correctly answer about 60% of the questions in the routing module to reach the hard module.

Every test will be different, but you’ll probably have about 27 minutes to complete both of them.  A clock on the screen will display how much time is remaining in the current module.

The listening section will contain both scored and unscored questions.  You won’t know which is which.

ETS Expands Board, adds PE Influence

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Sometime last month, the Board of Trustees of the Educational Testing Service was expanded from 14 to 16 members.  New to the board are a couple of individuals with backgrounds in private equity – Philip Alphonse of Vitria Group and Victor Hu of Lumos Capital Group. Also joining is entrepreneur Pramath Raj Sinha.  Departing is James Pellegrino of the University of Illinois at Chicago.

PIE News on IELTS Situation

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I was quoted in this PIE News article  by Kimberley Martin about the ongoing IELTS hullabaloo.  Here’s my quotation, without the scaffolding of the article:

“This story highlights how important it is for test makers to identify problems as quickly as possible so that test takers have sufficient time to protect their interests.  In this case, the IELTS partners have indicated that some test takers received scores that were lower than they deserved.  As a result, many people around the world may have missed out on life-changing academic and professional opportunities for which they needed a particular IELTS score.  Others may have been left in a position where they were unable to meet requirements necessary for immigration or residence purposes. It may be too late for some of these individuals to get back on track. I feel for those people.

Conversely, those who were given scores higher than they deserved may have quickly found themselves struggling in academic environments which they were not prepared for.

Testing companies serve as gatekeepers for academia and for immigration.  When they mess up, the consequences can be far-reaching and profound.”

I think this is an important story, and I would like for it to be covered by more people (like Kim) who are better at journalism than I am.

My Questions on the IELTS Screw Up

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Here’s what I would ask the IELTS partners regarding the ongoing issues with incorrect IELTS scores:

  1. What exactly was the problem?
  2. Exactly how many tests were affected by this problem?  “Less than 1%” sounds nice on paper, but that could mean anywhere from 1 to 70,000 tests.
  3. Were any administrations from before August 2023 impacted by the problem?  IELTS has contacted test takers who must be given new score reports.  But what of test takers whose results have expired since they took the test? Did any of them receive incorrect scores?
  4. Are there any instances where a test was incorrectly scored, but a band score change was not necessary (and, by extension, the test taker was not contacted)?  If so, how many?  And if so, were these included in the “less than 1%” figure given to score users?
  5. Were any IELTS UKVI administrations (SELT) impacted by this problem?  If so, has the Home Office been informed of cases where received scores are inaccurate?

Public Transit and IELTS!

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Someone on Reddit shared this picture of an IELTS advert in one of the SkyTrain stops in Burnaby*, British Columbia. Passengers who scan the code can get a $25 discount on the IELTS when taken on paper at a particular test center. One of the fun quirks of the IELTS system is that discounts are occasionally available at the test center level.

I’m quite fond of old-school marketing that breaks free from the usual bubbles. Note also the roadside billboards used effectively by Pearson across India (or, for that matter, all the study abroad adverts stuck to the backs of rickshaws I saw while visiting Punjab last year).

If ya don’t want to scan the code, click here for the discount.

*As regular readers know, Burnaby is a suburb of Canada’s least fun city.