Crisis, Collaboration, Recovery: IELTS and COVID-19

The sheer scale of the IELTS testing infrastructure and its unique position in the world of international education dictated some of the particular challenges that the IELTS Partners (British Council, IDP Education and Cambridge Assessment English) faced after the closure of test centres during the...

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Published inLanguage assessment quarterly Vol. 18; no. 1; pp. 17 - 25
Main Authors Clark, Tony, Spiby, Richard, Tasviri, Reza
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Philadelphia Routledge 01.01.2021
Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
Subjects
Collaboration
COVID-19
Decision Making
Education
English (Second Language)
English as a second language tests
Home Programs
Innovation
Language Proficiency
Language Tests
Pandemics
School Closing
Teamwork
Testing
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Summary:The sheer scale of the IELTS testing infrastructure and its unique position in the world of international education dictated some of the particular challenges that the IELTS Partners (British Council, IDP Education and Cambridge Assessment English) faced after the closure of test centres during the COVID-19 pandemic. Decisions taken would have an impact on millions of test-takers globally, and it was imperative that these decisions addressed a range of international stakeholder needs. Maintaining trust in IELTS, by involving key stakeholders at each stage of decision making and remaining transparent, was central to this. This paper explores how decisions were made around aspects including test construct, timelines, platforms, remote proctoring and the role of empirical research to support migration to an at-home test. Finally, the dedication of cross-partner teams working collaboratively under extreme pressure to construct and roll out an alternative test offering in highly unusual circumstances is described.
ISSN:1543-4303
1543-4311
DOI:10.1080/15434303.2020.1866575