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Immigration Daily News Overseas students increasingly buying English outcomes to lodge onshore GSM visa applicationsAustralian Immigration Daily News
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Overseas students increasingly buying English outcomes to lodge onshore GSM visa applications
Migration Alliance is in receipt of the following information:
In the last few months, I can confirm having heard of such several incidents, directly or indirectly, where visa applicants have paid as much as $30,000 to overseas test centres to secure specific English test outcomes.
The Department is requested to consider the following factors to ascertain the genuineness of a visa applicant’s English scores:
- Past education (Medium of instruction) - English abilities are acquired and only develop after training over several years. While speaking skills can be acquired while one lives, studies or works is an English speaking country for a substantial duration, writing proficiency cannot be achieved so easily and without receiving appropriate levels of training starting from early years of one’s education.
- University, college grades achieved in Australia. Students adept at English are likely to score well and above average.
- Comparison of claimed scores with those that an applicant achieved at the time of their initial student visa application.
- Number of attempts taken to achieve claimed scores. Progessive increases after sustained attempts may be acceptable.
- Location of a test centre – Applicant travelling to an overseas location to take the test may indicate collusion.
- Other analysis that the Department may think pertinent.
Where English scores do not appear genuine based on identified factors, the Department should request applicants to prove their English abilities by taking another test in Australia. A level of predetermined or unacceptable variance will be a strong indication that the applicant never possessed the claimed English competencies.
Sincerely
Comments
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Friday, 06 November 2015It could be made much more simple than that. All that is needed is the course provider to include a compulsory English component to the course and only when the student achieves a successful result, at a level determined necessary for the course they are undertaking, should they be allowed to commence the main course.
This could be as simple as an online test provided by the university followed by a resit on arrival or take the test on arrival then if not up to standard take the course of English
Place this responsibility clearly on the course provider in Australia and then engage staff to monitor it. -
Friday, 06 November 2015
Let's not go wild blaming IELTS. Everyone has a security problem.
My company recommends the SAT for would-be overseas students. US universities rely heavily on the CEEB/SAT. But last year they had to discount and put on hold thousands of SAT papers from China and Korea. Also, they now demand passport ID for test takers in India and Pakistan.
https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/digitalServices/pdf/sat/sat-score-holds-international-admin-korea-china-oct-2014.pdf -
Saturday, 07 November 2015
Paul's suggestion would make a loophole for universities so students can be treated as cash cow. Overseas students doing hard enough by dodgy businesses in this country, making their fortune out of them, colleges, universities and ielts are some of them. IELTS centers are harsh when marking papers so they can make fortune. My relatives taken test many times in short of .5 and his IELTS teacher can not any issues with any of the test components. I'm sure most Australian will not pass IELTS requirements if they were to sit test. Watching recent tv program, Irish national failed 3 times obtaining required score. I have seen many scored 8 but hardly can speak English here in Australia. Linguistic professor think, ielts not designed to test what it is widely used for. Least makes ielts happy, making their fortune. Government should look into the integrity of ielts system other than finding easy target of overseas students. If department can prove students obtaining score illegally they should be proven and face criminal charges rather than blindly blaming everyone sitting ielts test in overseas center, they are not all rotting the system.
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Sunday, 08 November 2015
I understand what you are saying but how could the government manage the integrity of the IELTS or any other English test administered by independent organisations. We have had many IELTS tests reviewed and re assessed to much higher results, including one with Academic writing originally marked at 5.5 that was remarked to 7.5 on appeal. And an assessor who refused point blank to give more than 7 for any writing test in IELTS in Manila. Another who operated a review centre and advised her students when she would be assessing so they could book their tests at that time.
Clearly IELTS is not a clean organisation and makes a fortune off applicants re-sitting their exam. Further questions can be raised about the quality and benefits of the material they provide to guide student on how to prepare for and take the test but do not publicly divulge the assessment criteria and scoring system.
By placing this responsibility clearly on the course provider, it allows the government the opportunity to manage it here and create new jobs. The Government could approve the tests and do a regular audit to ensure quality or control the test and employ the assessors.
The big problem from the past is the Governments lack of oversight. RTO's were licensed and then left to do what ever they wanted.
I know RTO's cannot be trusted. So if the policing by regular audit was to uncover abuse the fines could be a significant deterrent. However, I can accept the weakness is the ability of the Government to do its part.
It comes down to a choice. History has shown us there is corruption in IELTS - Curtin University is one example of this where payments of $thousands were paid for fake results. If there is a way to bribe the system the students will find it.
The benefit of placing the responsibility on the course provider has merit, after all they only need general English for most courses.
The current system with lack of audits is the reason RTO's have been able to profit and cheat the system and is an indictment on our Government not the students.
Immigration blog
I have been teaching IELTS prep for 5 years, during this time I have taught hundreds of students and often hear stories where, given the opportunity, people would be very open to buying the scores. 'English' is big business and IELTS is making a fortune out of international students and those seeking PR . I believe the IELTS General test in particular is not designed to give test takers a fair chance, it seems to me IELTS, like spare parts in the car industry, makes its fortune out of people failing. I strongly believe there needs to be some serious work done on making the test valid, reliable, flexible and fair. Cheers, Fran.