On June 20 a concordance study comparing the IELTS and Cambridge C1 test was published. I missed this one, and haven’t seen it mentioned anywhere. It could be of interest to some readers.
I was tickled to see that the study included 605 test takers, none of whom earned a 9.0 in the IELTS writing section.
Section comparisons are now available, which means that requirements for Australian visas may be adjusted. For instance, “Proficient English” now requires 7 in each of the IELTS sections, and 185 in each of the Cambridge C1 sections. New requirements for Cambridge C1 that strictly follow the concordance (and use IELTS as an anchor) might be something like: Listening 175, Reading 179, Writing 193, Speaking 194.
The possibility of a higher speaking requirement is notable, as it mirrors what might happen to PTE and TOEFL requirements. This could make IELTS more attractive to individuals heading down under.