A quick update to my post about the fee for express scoring of the TOEFL test. I mentioned a few days ago that the fee was increased to $149. There is an exception, however. For tests taken in India, the fee is about $75.
This is the sort of thing that drives test takers bonkers. Though they all understand the concept of regional pricing, it does stick in the proverbial craw.
As I’ve mentioned here many times, a student who takes the TOEFL from his bedroom in Palestine pays $270 to ETS. Meanwhile, a student here in Korea is charged $220 to take the test at home. Some other kid, taking the test from his bedroom in Switzerland, will pay $470. Though the tests are the same and the delivery method is the same, the prices are quite different.
Test takers are bright enough to know why it has to be that way… but some find it unfair. In earlier posts I’ve explored how newer tests have increased their popularity by instituting a single global price for at-home administrations (or something very close to a single price).
Right now, it seems like Pearson is somewhat disinterested in at-home testing for the PTE. Meanwhile, the at-home IELTS remains limited to a relatively small handful of countries. I certainly admire ETS’s continued commitment to this delivery method… but I think they could do a bit better.
