Category: PTE

IDP and Pearson Compared

Posted on by TOEFL Resources

Between June 2021 and June 2022, IDP Education administered about 1,900,000 IELTS tests. During that same period, Pearson administered about 591,000 PTE tests.

Between June 2024 and June 2025 IDP administered about 1,293,800 IELTS tests (a 600k drop). During that same period, Pearson administered about 993,000 PTE tests (a 400k increase).

This according to the annual reports published by each firm.

Apples and oranges, I suppose. But one is left to wonder when the number of tests administered by Pearson will surpass the number administered by IDP education. One is also left wondering if Pearson (which seems to focus on a narrower range of markets) already does more tests in India than IDP.

(By my crude calculations, DET jumped from 494k to 684k in the same time frame)

Updated Print Guides for PTE Academic Test

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I was happy to discover that Pearson has published updated print guides to the PTE Academic test (one for students, one for teachers). They cost $86 AUD a piece and only seem to be sold from Pearson’s Australian web store. But they do exist. Apparently.

I am still a big believer in print books because they can be stocked by libraries around the world. Libraries remain a major source of free test prep – the long reservation queues for prep books at many libraries speak to that.

Pearson Launches “English Express Test”

Posted on by TOEFL Resources

I saw that Pearson has launched the new “Pearson English Express Test” in select markets. According to my notes, this launch is about one month earlier than expected.

The test may be available in my market. If so, I’ll do my best to take it in the weeks ahead. I gotta send my passport to the shop pretty soon, so that might slow me down a bit.

Pearson’s express test seems to represent an effort to compete in the same space that Duolingo currently has all to itself. It is a one-hour test, is remote-only and costs $70. I believe that scoring is mostly AI and that proctoring is asynchronous.

A short list of accepting schools is available here. 

More on this test in the days ahead.

HOELT Shocker: Mostly Remote?

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The UK Home Office has published a fifth request for information regarding the Home Office English Language Test (HOELT). This one is a shocker.  It notes that “the Home Office is exploring a ‘Digital by Default’ service, with remote proctoring as the primary mode of delivery and physical test centres available where remote solutions are not feasible.”

This could explain the curiously low number of test centers mentioned in the fourth RFI, which is again listed as just 268 in 142 countries.

A Home Office choice to go with remote proctoring by default might favor a smaller test provider – like LANGUAGECERT, Duolingo or ETS – heretofore considered an underdog in the race to win the tender.  All three of those providers are well known for offering robust remote-testing options to test takers around the world.

On the other hand, the IELTS partnership (widely considered a front-runner to win the HOELT tender) currently offers remote tests only in select markets, while Pearson (another favorite) pulled the plug on its remote options back in 2024 shortly after stories broke about widespread cheating on the at-home PTE Test.

Of course this doesn’t mean remote testing is a sure thing. But it is worth paying careful attention to the possibility.

How Testing Works in China (NEEA, etc)

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The Oxford Test of English will soon be offered at test centers in China and Thailand. Congratulations to the team at OUP! That’s one step closer to my backyard!

China is an interesting case. Regular readers know that the two big English tests in that country – IELTS and TOEFL – are administered in partnership with the NEEA, a public agency associated with the Chinese Ministry of Education.  Test registration is done through an NEEA portal. The NEEA collects registration fees and later passes them along to ETS and the British Council… after pocketing an unspecified amount.

This is probably good for test takers as the NEEA is known for blocking price hikes and upselling. It also mandates that registration fees be charged in RMB. It probably isn’t great for testing firms, as the NEEA is known for blocking price hikes and upselling. It also mandates that registration fees be charged in RMB.

Not all language tests are required to operate in partnership with the NEEA. This is because there are two types of language tests in the eyes of the Chinese regime – we might translate them as “educational tests” and “commercial language proficiency exams.” The former must be administered in partnership with the NEEA, while the latter can be administered with any local partner.

The biggest English test to operate without NEEA partnership is the PTE. Pearson partners with an on-shore company called Beijing Ensi (d/b/a Pearson VUE China).

In the case of Oxford, that partner will be a group called GEC.

A funny case is that of Prometric. They run the CELPIP with local partners, but run the CAEL with the NEEA. Which makes sense, as the CAEL is used for educational purposes, while the CELPIP is not.

There is a point to all of this. Anyone who cares enough to still be reading already knows that the IELTS test is run in China through a partnership between the British Council and the NEEA. IDP Education is not involved, but traditionally the British Council paid them a per-test royalty as a sort of booby prize in recognition of their partial ownership of IELTS.

Last year, IDP gave up that royalty and began administering the IELTS themselves. It is my understanding that their strategy was to brand themselves as a provider of a commercial language proficiency exam. This was done with an unnamed local partner referred to by CEO Tennealle O’Shannessy as “a respected professional examination service provider.” Someone once told me the name of that partner, but I’ve long forgotten. I could look it up, if anyone cares.

That went well for a few months. But by December, testing had ceased. IDP is now in negotiations to resume testing. I don’t know how those negotiations are going.

I’ve always wondered how Pearson managed to skirt the NEEA requirement. I know that it is used for both educational and non-educational purposes.  Maybe that’s enough. But so are the IELTS and TOEFL tests, to some extent.  And, surely, they would like to be free of the NEEA.

Pearson H1 Interim Results, 2025

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I missed Pearson’s interim results, which were published August 1. They reported that PTE Volumes were down in H1 by about 10% compared to H1 of last year. That likely represents a total of about 491,000 tests for H1 2025.

Volumes of all the big tests are down this year, which is not a surprise.

IDP Education is scheduled to publish full year results at the end of this month. ETS will likely file a 990 form next week. That’ll be available to the public whenever the Internal Revenue Service gets around to processing it.

New Australian Visa Requirements!

Posted on by TOEFL Resources

The Australian Department of Home Affairs has finally released new English test score requirements for visa applicants.  As most readers know already, CELPIP General, MET and LanguageCert have been added to the list of acceptable tests.

Additionally, many of the section score requirements have been adjusted.  I won’t list them all here, but a few examples might be useful.

For instance, “proficient English” was formerly achieved by earning 65 points in each of the four sections of the PTE test.  Now, that requires the following scores:  listening 58, reading 59, writing 69, speaking 76.

Indeed, applicants submitting PTE scores will need higher speaking results across the board (with one exception, see below).  Some have speculated that this might make the test less attractive moving forward.  As has been discussed in this space many times, perceived easiness is always at top of mind when students pick a test.

Applicants submitting TOEFL scores will also need better speaking results than before, though the increase isn’t as dramatic as for Pearson’s test.

Interestingly, requirements for subclass 485 visas (Temporary Graduate Visa) have been lowered slightly (but not for IELTS).  Also, TOEFl and PTE requirements for “functional” English have been lowered slightly.

Changes apply to tests taken on or after August 7.  I’m not sure how long old test results can be used.

I can’t find any word about what will become of TOEFL iBT when that test changes in January of next year.

TOEFL and PTE: A Tale of Two Tests

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I snagged the following images from a recent presentation about the PTE changes given by Jarrad Merlo.  One highlights the changes to the test structure, another the changes to scoring and one describes some strategies for the new “summarize group discussion” task.

I’ve already gone over the changes so I won’t repeat myself.  But let me know if there is anything I can possibly clarify.

A comparison of the upcoming PTE changes with the upcoming TOEFL changes highlights how challenging it can be for test makers to balance the needs, desires and demands of their various stakeholders.  These are two tests that are going in completely opposing directions. Pearson will add human raters to the PTE while ETS appears ready to remove human raters from the TOEFL.  Pearson will add complicated integrated tasks, while ETS will remove integrated tasks.  Pearson will add additional constructed speaking tasks, while ETS will remove constructed speaking tasks.  Pearson will increase the overall length of the PTE, while ETS will reduce the overall length of the TOEFL.

 

 

Re: the new IELTS/PTE Concordance Study

Posted on by TOEFL Resources

Okay, so here’s the key thing about the new IELTS/PTE concordance study.

Note that the 2020 IELTS/PTE concordance study didn’t include concordance tables for the four skills.  It only included a table to convert between overall PTE and IELTS scores. The new concordance study has tables for all four skills.

It is perhaps for this reason that while the Australian Department of Home Affairs currently requires minimum section scores for visa applications, for the PTE the score is the same for every section.  For instance, the DHA defines “proficient English” as reaching 65 in each section of the PTE.  “Competent English” is defined as reaching 50 in each section.  And so on.

(In comparison, note how applicants who use TOEFL scores much achieve a somewhat confusing 12/13/21/18 line to reach “competent” proficiency)

If the DHA adjusts required scores based on the new concordance study, some requirements could go up.  Especially if IELTS is used as a sort of anchor.

For instance, “Proficient English” can currently be achieved by reaching 7 in each section of the IELTS or 65 in each section of the PTE.  If PTE requirements are adjusted based on the new concordances and IELTS is used as an anchor, PTE users might need to submit section scores of:  Listening 58, Reading 59, Speaking 76, Writing 69.

A higher speaking score requirement could impact the number of people who opt for Pearson’s test when pursuing an Australian visa.  As has been pointed out many times, “perceived easiness” is often at top of mind when it comes to test choice.

The new concordance could impact other levels as well.  Currently, “Competent English” can be met with an IELTS score of 6 in every band, or a PTE score of 50 in each section.  The new concordance could push the PTE requirement to L 47, R 48, S 54, W 51.

The PTE numbers I’ve cited are the absolute lowest end of the range that compares to each IELTS band.  If the DHA decided to pick a requirement from the middle of each range, the requirements could be set even higher than what I’ve suggested.

Preliminary Notes on New IELTS/PTE Concordance

Posted on by TOEFL Resources

I dug into the new IELTS/PTE concordance study.  A few things are worth highlighting:

  1. As far as Australian visa requirements go, the score requirements for each proficiency level may be adjusted due to availability of sectional score concordances. Right now Aus officials require, conveniently, the same score minimum in each PTE section. In the future, that may no longer be the case. I missed this in an earlier version of this post as the overall concordance is somewhat similar to the old one. More on this in a big post tomorrow.
  2. I learned that 36.9% of PTE test takers were Indian in 2024.  That’s pretty high.  China, Nepal, Philippines and Pakistan round out the rest of the top five countries of origin.
  3. Here we have 1500 test takers, and not a single one reported a writing score of 9.0 on the IELTS.  Only two reported a score of 8.5.  Across all of concordance studies, we now have about 6000 test takers, and not a single 9.0 in IELTS writing.
  4. How many tests would we need to examine in order to find a perfect IELTS writing score? If anyone has a stack of IELTS vouchers, I will take the test every weekend until I earn a 9.0 in writing, or the health of my marriage is negatively impacted.  This is a serious offer!

Pearson Holds Nursing Summit

Posted on by TOEFL Resources

I saw that Pearson recently wrapped up the first “PTE Global Nursing Pathway Expo” in the Philippines.  I stole the below picture from LinkedIn. 

One of the strengths of Pearson is its ability to identify and foster niche(ish) use cases where the PTE has room to grow (and quickly). 

They do this, partially, by going to the people.  Meeting them where they are, and all that.  Other testing firms could follow their lead.

As I’ve written a few times here, from 2022 to 2024 the percentage of nurses submitting PTE scores to the CGFNS (which does visa screening for nurses who wish to head to the USA) increased from 7% to 50%. The percentage submitting IELTS scores decreased from 84% to 35% in the same period.