What did the British Council confirm?

IELTS test takers at the British Council

Speaking to Thanh Nien newspaper on the afternoon of May 11th, the British Council officially commented on the case of the improper issuance of 37,917 Aptis certificates and 52,564 IELTS certificates in 2022. "The British Council would like to affirm that the two exams and certificates we issue, IELTS and Aptis, are highly standardized international language proficiency tests recognized globally," the organization stated.

According to the British Council, all IELTS and Aptis exams held in Vietnam fully comply with international regulations and standards applied globally. The Council also cited the Ministry of Education and Training's announcement on May 9th regarding the validity of foreign language certificates issued by foreign organizations in Vietnam, which stated that certificates issued improperly "are still valid."

"Therefore, all IELTS and Aptis certificates issued by the British Council in Vietnam are fully valid for study and work purposes both domestically and internationally, as well as for immigration abroad. We are committed to maintaining the quality of our testing activities in accordance with the regulations and standards of international testing boards and the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training," the organization stated.

Previously, the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Education and Training concluded that British Council Vietnam Co., Ltd., or the British Council, had illegally issued more than 90,000 English certificates in 2022, including IELTS and Aptis. Specifically, from the beginning of 2022, the British Council and its partners organized hundreds of exams nationwide, even though at that time they had not been authorized by the Ministry of Education and Training to collaborate in organizing exams and issuing certificates.

Specifically, from January 1st to September 9th, 2022, the British Council issued 31,871 Aptis certificates and 44,345 IELTS certificates. From September 10th, 2022, until its authorization was granted, the organization continued to issue 6,046 Aptis certificates and 8,219 IELTS certificates. In total, the British Council issued 90,481 English language certificates illegally in 2022, including 37,917 Aptis certificates and 52,564 IELTS certificates.

According to the inspection report, this action violated the regulations in Circular 11/2022 of the Ministry of Education and Training and Decree 86/2018 of the Government . The Ministry of Education and Training's inspection team also recommended that the British Council review all its activities and report to the Department of Quality Management (Ministry of Education and Training) on ​​how to handle the English language certificates that were issued improperly.

Previously, the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Education and Training also issued a similar conclusion regarding IDP Vietnam Education Co., Ltd. (IDP) on May 8th. Thus, a total of more than 108,000 IELTS certificates were issued improperly in 2022.

However, candidates should not worry about this development. The Ministry of Education and Training announced on May 9th that the English certificates issued illegally can be "used normally" in examinations, admissions, and training activities, and "do not affect the rights of the certificate holders." According to the Ministry of Education and Training at that time, IDP was not the only entity being investigated regarding its activities in organizing exams and issuing foreign language certificates.

IELTS is an international English proficiency assessment system, accepted by over 100 higher education institutions in Vietnam for converting test results into English scores for admissions. The Ministry of Education and Training also allows candidates with an IELTS score of 4.0 or higher to be exempt from the high school graduation exam in a foreign language. According to IELTS statistics, the average IELTS score for Vietnamese people in 2022 was 6.2, ranking 23rd in the world .

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hon-90000-chung-chi-tieng-anh-bi-cap-sai-quy-dinh-hoi-dong-anh-khang-dinh-gi-185240511125249247.htm