Australia To Temporarily Stop Accepting TOEFL For Visas: The Test of English as a Foreign Language is commonly known as a TOEFL.
It is a standardized test for students that checks the ability of non-native English speakers wanting to study in English-speaking institutes.
TOEFL is one of the major English ability tests that accepts around the globe, including PTE, IELTS, Duolingo, CAE (Cambridge Assessment English), etc.
But, now Australia announced that they have temporary stop accepting TOEFL for visas which we will discuss in this article.
So, let us move on to Australia To Temporarily Stop Accepting TOEFL For Visas; PTE & IELTS Still Valid.
Australia To Temporarily Stop Accepting TOEFL For Visas
According to the latest news by the Australia Department of Home Affairs, Australia announced that they will temporarily stop accepting TOEFL for visas from 26 July 2023 until further notice. This pause comes from corrections made to the test by Educational Testing Service (ETS).
The Department of Home Affairs notice further said that the government of Australia is now reviewing the changes made. Also, the updated TOEFL iBT exam version was launched on 26 July.
TOEFL has been designed to enhance the test-taker experience, facilitating the registration process and reducing the time while maintaining the reliability and rigor of the test.
ETS has submitted the improved test to the (DHA) Department of Home Affairs of Australia for review as part of a standard approach the Department takes to assess English language exams.
Rohit Sharma said that we praise the DHA for this complete review, ensuring its high standards for measures of English proficiency are upheld.
But now, the Australian Department also said they accept scores from the following English proficiency exam results.
- IELTS (International English Language Testing System), including OSR (One Skill Retake)
- PTE (Pearson Test Of English)
- Cambridge English Exam (CAE), known as C1 advanced
- OET (Occupational English Test) mainly designed for healthcare professionals
For those students who have taken the TOEFL exam to get Australian visa purposes before 25 July, their exam results will remain valid.
The official notification said the Department of Australia will now accept the IELTS exam results, including OSR for Australian visas, except for applications for subclasses 476, 482, and 485, which require scores from a single or sitting attempt.
Also, the notification said that specific test takers could benefit from the IELTS OSR (One Skill Retake) option. It only allows students to retake one of the four test sections – speaking, writing, reading, and listening – once.
The previous month, ETS, the organization responsible for administering GRE and TOEFL exams, made significant improvements to improve students’ exam-taking experience.
According to the latest update, the TOEFL test will take less than 2 hours compared to the last 3 hours.
So, it is all about Australia to temporarily stop accepting TOEFL for visas.
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Source:- economictimes.indiatimes.com
