9x Viet's educational technology platform helps Vietnamese people confidently go out into the world

In 2016, the market for studying abroad and settling in Australia was very active. According to Australian Government regulations, international students who want to settle down must achieve a fairly high English score, for example IELTS must be 6.0 or 7.0.

In addition to traditional certificates such as IELTS, the Australian Government also accepts the PTE certificate. Many people quickly switched to the PTE test because they found it a bit easier than IELTS; the test time was faster, scores were available immediately after the test; and the test was very practical.

Peter Pham – a young Vietnamese of the 9x generation studying in Australia decided to try his hand at the new test. Surprisingly achieving a score of 90/90, he and some other 9x friends (who also achieved perfect scores) came up with the idea of establishing a small facility specializing in tutoring people who want to take the PTE exam.

“In the group, there were some students who had failed the traditional exams 10 or even 20 times, but when they took the PTE exam, they always got high scores. That result was like a miracle. Therefore, we named PTE Magic with the symbol of a lucky star,” Peter Pham, Co-founder and CEO of PTE Magic happily told the story of the company’s founding.

The EdTech market for international students and migrants in Australia was still relatively new. PTE Magic was one of the first companies to jump into this market, starting with a website that updated questions for students to familiarize themselves with the PTE test structure.

During the 3 years 2016 - 2019, the EdTech "playground" for Australian international students who wanted to prepare for the PTE exam only had a few "players" from Vietnam, China, and India.

From 2016 to 2019, PTE Magic operated on a model of opening test preparation centers in major cities. There were 6 facilities established in Vietnam and Australia.

At the end of 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic created a strong "push" when all facilities had to close, students studied online more. PTE Magic decided to change its online learning platform from just a place for students to practice exercises to an interactive platform. Artificial Intelligence (AI) was applied, starting with scoring the test with all 4 skills of listening - speaking - reading - writing.

From 2019 - 2020, the EdTech market gradually developed, with some more representatives from the Philippines and some European and American countries... However, the "coverage" of PTE is still not high.

“Around 2016-2017, when we started to establish training centers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the coverage of traditional exams such as IELTS, Cambridge, TOEFL was quite popular, while PTE was almost unknown, except for those who had really researched the Australian market and wanted to study abroad and settle in Australia. In 2019, a foreign language training unit of a university accepted the PTE certificate, using the PTE Magic platform for students to try out. After that, some international schools such as RMIT also accepted PTE. Gradually, PTE became more known to more people,” Peter Pham recalled the early days of exploring the market.

Until now, Thay To - the affectionate name of Peter Pham's students - still remembers clearly the first people who trusted PTE Magic. After experiencing the test on the AI-based educational technology platform, they were very surprised when they received the results.

In particular, there was a student from the Central region who diligently practiced every day on the PTE Magic platform. The life of a person who both studies and works is very difficult, but every morning around 5-7am, she submitted her test once, and from 9-11am she submitted her test again. This went on for 6 months. When she reached the score required to apply for permanent residency, she burst into tears.

“We admire this small woman with great determination. Her story has inspired many others who are also busy making a living and are still lacking confidence in their own abilities. We feel very happy and proud to have helped many people find a new direction, even change their lives,” Peter Pham emotionally recalled.

Objectively, one of the important factors contributing to the success of students is the companionship of a team of dedicated lecturers such as: Tran Khanh Hoang, Peter Pham, Moni Vuong, Jake Pham, Banh Yen, Nguyen Gia Thang... Not only providing guidance on test-taking skills, the lecturers also act as psychological experts, helping students overcome obstacles and exam pressures.

In Vietnam, by 2022, it is estimated that there will be about 24 million people of school age. The demand for learning on educational technology platforms is very high. Vietnamese students are also self-taught but still need companions. If they study on their own on a platform, the chance of passing the exam will not be as high as studying on a platform with additional support from instructors.

The regular passing rate of over 80% is the "sweet fruit" that the PTE Magic team receives after months of not being afraid of difficulties and hardships to "cultivate", with the motto "Taking students as the center - Taking quality as the criterion - Taking technology as the launching pad".

PTE Magic has its own IT department, taking care of everything from the most basic things like websites to more complex things like AI training.

During the period 2019 - 2022, each year, PTE Magic spends up to 30% of its budget to invest in developing technology platforms. However, failure is a common occurrence.

“Like many other startups, we failed 8-9 out of 10. The process of developing AI is not simple or easy. There are errors that, after being discovered, cannot be resolved, gradually accumulate, until one day the whole platform collapses, causing me a lot of stress. There are also times when I almost feel heartbroken because the AI does not work as I want, I have to abandon 100%, wasting nearly 2 years of work, and investing more than 200,000 AUD. Fortunately, the second time, rebuilding is faster and more effective,” the 9x CEO confided.

Failures have brought valuable experiences. Now, technology is effectively applied in all educational activities, from logging in to the platform to download document content, to practicing on the platform, then taking exams and grading exams also on the platform. With the support of technology, lecturers point out each point that needs to be fixed so that students can achieve higher results. For example, when practicing speaking, AI will immediately point out mispronunciations, speed that is too fast or too slow, whether the content deviates from the requirements of the test or not, etc. From there, lecturers can give suggestions on how to correct errors, how much speed to increase, etc.

In early 2023, the cooperation with ELSA - an experienced AI company - helps PTE Magic further improve English pronunciation practice tests thanks to the most advanced technology.

PTE Magic is also planning to digitize all traditional tests including TOEIC, TOEFL, IELTS... to support test preparation on its educational technology platform.

The PTE market is very potential, but is only popular in some markets such as Australia, the US, New Zealand, Singapore... This October, Canada will also accept PTE.

Currently, PTE Magic's educational technology platform system has more than 170,000 users worldwide, of which the largest number are Indians (23%), followed by Vietnam (15%), followed by a number of other countries such as Nepal, Philippines, Australia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia...

From the current 8 branches, PTE Magic aims to have 15 branches in Vietnam by 2025, and will be able to expand operations to many other countries.

Several investment funds have expressed interest in partnering, but PTE Magic is still looking for like-minded individuals to expand the market together.

“Many times the whole team sat and thought: If a “big guy” enters the market now, with nothing but technology and financial capabilities, how will we compete with them? A startup like us certainly cannot compete with them financially, and we may also lose in technology, but there is one factor that will definitely make us better than them, which is our experienced team,” Peter Pham confidently shared.

The founders and leaders of PTE Magic are all students who achieved very high PTE scores, some of whom still regularly take the test to keep up to date with changes in the test structure in order to provide close advice to students. This team is all in the 9x generation, ready to "fight" and "fight hard" in any market.

Personally, the CEO of PTE Magic always feels very lucky to have had colleagues who have accompanied him since the beginning: “In the most depressed moments, I always had people to encourage me to continue. During the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak, when we had to close our operations, we helped each other get up to get through the difficult period. Without teammates, it would be difficult for me to go far alone.”

“Success only comes to those who work hard”, a quote from a rugby coach that CEO Peter Pham really likes, has spread positive energy to the entire PTE Magic team.

“In 2022, participating in a major technology exhibition in Singapore, we were surprised to be mentioned by many major technology forums. The recognition of people in the same field of operation is something we did not dare to dream of when we were first established. Last April, when we learned that our name was in the Top 20 Vietnamese brands, the whole group celebrated. Recently, PTE Magic was also invited to be a founding member of the Vietnam - Australia Technology Alliance. These are great honors,” the 9x CEO proudly boasted.

With the desire to contribute more to the country, the PTE Magic co-founders decided to return to Vietnam to focus on developing their careers.

“PTE has helped many Vietnamese people to go to Australia, the US, Canada, the UK… Hopefully, in the near future, PTE Magic's educational technology platform will continue to be a tool to help Vietnamese people confidently step out into the world, helping Vietnam develop more strongly in the context of global integration,” CEO Peter Pham emphasized before ending the story.