British Council issues 6,000 old Aptis certificates, many students are delayed in graduating

According to information from the Ministry of Education and Training , from November 11 to December 22, 2022, the British Council will organize exams and issue more than 6,000 old-model Aptis English certificates to candidates, most of whom are university students across the country.

The British Council’s issuance of the old Aptis English certificate is contrary to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training. The model approved by the Ministry is the Aptis ESOL certificate. Therefore, many universities do not accept the old Aptis certificate, putting final year students at risk of delayed graduation.

Tran Hai Nguyen, a final year student at the University of Electricity, was upset when he received the notice that he did not meet the graduation requirements. Although he completed all the subjects, Nguyen's foreign language requirement did not meet the school's regulations.

On December 18, 2022, Nguyen took the exam and passed the Aptis English certificate issued by the British Council. However, when submitting it to the school as a graduation requirement, Nguyen was informed that the certificate was not in compliance with regulations and was not recognized. The University of Electricity only recognizes the Aptis ESOL certificate as approved by the Ministry of Education and Training from November 11, 2022.

Currently, more than 100 final year students of the University of Electricity are facing this situation.

Aptis English certificate issued before November 11, 2022 (left) and Aptis certificate approved by the Ministry of Education and Training to be issued after November 11, 2022.

Many students of Hanoi National University are also confused by the announcement: "According to the request of Hanoi National University, Aptis certificates (old form) issued before November 11, 2022 will be accepted as output standards and considered for graduation. After November 11, 2022, the school will only accept Aptis ESOL certificates".

Nguyen Van Duc, a final year student at the University of Technology, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, completed the exam and received the Aptis certificate on December 15, 2022 to prepare for university graduation standards.

Up to now, the school has announced that it does not recognize this certificate. Although the British Council website affirms that the legal value of the two exams Aptis and Aptis ESOL are the same, the school still does not recognize it. "If I register to retake the exam now, it will take time and be expensive, about 2 million VND/test. This may cause me to miss my graduation. I hope the school, the British Council and the Ministry of Education and Training will agree on a plan to recognize this certificate," the male student said.

Since February, hundreds of Ton Duc Thang University students have also been struggling because their foreign language output standards with the old Aptis English certificate model of the British Council are not recognized.

The Ministry of Education and Training has twice sent documents requesting the British Council, Ton Duc Thang University and related parties to resolve this issue to ensure the rights of candidates. In particular, the Ministry of Education and Training emphasized its viewpoint that changing the name and assessing the equivalence of foreign language proficiency certificates is the responsibility and authority of the agency - organization issuing the foreign certificate.

The Department of Quality Management, Ministry of Education and Training is not responsible or authorized to determine the value of these foreign language proficiency certificates, including Aptis English Certificate and Aptis ESOL International Certificate.

Explaining the issuance of certificates that are not in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training, the British Council said that the Aptis ESOL certificate is the new name of the Aptis certificate. The phrase ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) was added to match the development trend of language testing and the need to assess the English proficiency of non-users in the world .

Aptis certificates come in three versions: General, Advanced and For Teachers. The new Aptis ESOL certificate also comes in General, Advanced and For Teachers exam versions. Therefore, Aptis and Aptis ESOL certificates have the same legal value.

During the Aptis exam, this unit still issued the old Aptis certificate form because the new certificate form had not yet arrived in Vietnam. The British Council admitted that this was an administrative error and had not reported it to the Ministry of Education and Training in a timely manner.

The unit also proposed a solution to ensure the rights of candidates by publicly posting a notice confirming that the old Aptis certificate and the Aptis ESOL International Certificate are of equal value. The unit promised to reissue certificates in the new form to candidates who have passed the exam and been recognized (if requested), within 2 years from the exam date.

Meanwhile, the British Council is adamant that the two qualifications are equivalent and requires students to work with their schools to get them recognised.

Aptis is an English proficiency assessment certificate issued by the British Council since 2012, recognized in 85 countries and territories. In Vietnam, many universities use Aptis to consider foreign language output for students such as Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Hanoi National University. The certificate exam fee ranges from 1.4 - 2 million VND/test.

Ha Cuong

Useful
Emotion
Creative
Unique
Wrath

Source: https://vtc.vn/hoi-dong-anh-cap-6-000-chung-chi-aptis-cu-nhieu-sinh-vien-bi-cham-tot-nghiep-ar749131.html