A new article from Vientnam.vn touches on the issue of “foreign currency loss” stemming from widespread use of international English tests for domestic university admissions in Vietnam. It estimates that in 2025 over 300,000 IELTS tests will be taken in that country. Each administration of the IELTS costs VND4,664,000 (about $177 USD), the majority of which is said to flow outside of the country. The author also touches on how the cost of test preparation exacerbates this issue.
A domestically developed alternative to the IELTS, known as the VSTEP, is available but not widely accepted or used. Vietnam is one of a few markets where IELTS testing volumes are still increasing year after year.
In earlier posts I’ve written about how Seoul National University in Korea developed the TEPS Test partially due to concerns that overuse of the TOEFL and TOEIC tests for domestic admissions were leading to currency outflows at a particularly sensitive time (the late 1990s IMF Crisis). By all accounts, the TEPS Test successfully reduced the use of foreign tests for domestic purposes. Eventually, universities were blocked from using tests in this way and this all became a non-issue.**
Interestingly, ETS has long been blocked from selling its “TPO” practice tests for the TOEFL direct to consumers in Korea. Instead, they must be purchased via a local partner. This was a big deal in the earliest days of the TOEFL iBT test before the development of a robust network of domestic prep providers.
**Let this be a warning for test providers. One day the Vietnamese gravy train might come to a halt.
