Shares of IDP Education finished the day at $12.29 a piece. That’s the lowest they’ve been since March of 2020. They’re down 43% in the past 12 months, and down 68% since their pandemic high of $38.88.
IDP’s ticker price has always been my personal canary in the coal mine when it comes to legacy English tests. A few things are worth noting:
- Given the most recent regulatory changes in Canada, I feel pretty certain that Duolingo will come to dominate testing for that country in the very near future. I’ve written about this topic at length in recent weeks. To me, this seems like a “break glass in case of emergency” moment for the legacy test makers (and anyone else who depends on Canada-bound students to keep up their volumes). And yet it appears that the glass remains unbroken. Tellingly, I still get messages along the lines of “so what do you think of this Duolingo offering?” from people who ought to be better informed.
- The defeat of the caps in Australia has led to increased uncertainty. Test watchers outside of that country might not understand that the opposition, responsible for the defeat, has argued that the government is not going far enough on this file. Check out ICEF Monitor’s current lead story for more on this.
Tough times for some testers. Good times for others. I’m happy to have something to write about every day.