US-based Educational Testing Service (ETS) has announced that they will set up test centres for TOEFL and GRE in the Kashmir valley.
ETS is a nonprofit educational assessment, research and measurement organisation and the owner of assessments such as TOEFL and GRE. The new test centre will come up at Hashtag Educational Services, located at the Regal Chowk, Srinagar. The aim of setting up the test centres in a prime location is to offer easy accessibility to the test takers. The organisation has also announced plans to further invest in partnering with agents and educational institutions in the Kashmir region, to support local students in their study abroad journeys.
Changes in exam pattern
Also, ETS had recently introduced a few changes in and modifications to the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). According to the revised regulations, the TOEFL iBT test has been shortened by an hour now. The test will now have a new, more modern ‘Writing for an Academic Discussion’ task, which will replace the previous independent writing task. The reading section has also been shortened and all unscored test questions have also been removed.
Additionally, the registration process has also been simplified. One of the biggest changes being brought in is that the test takers will see now be able to see their official score release date upon completion of the test, in addition to receiving real-time notification of changes to their score status.
Australia drops, Canada adopt
There have been several other changes and updates too, such as the Australian government announcing TOEFL iBT will no longer be offering English language tests for Australian visa purposes until further notice. While the Test of English as a Foreign Language score was acceptable earlier, the Australian government has announced that it won’t be considered, beginning from July 26.
On the other hand, Canada announced that students from select countries can include their TOEFL iBT® test scores as part of their SDS application, streamlining the process and facilitating a smoother academic journey.
TOEFL Go app
ETS also launched an application for test takers to prepare for the new and shorter version of the exam this year. The app — TOEFL Go — includes complete TOEFL iBT mock tests, additional practice sets for all four sections, artificial intelligence (AI) powered automated scoring, performance feedback for sections, personalised feedback and tops for speaking and writing responses. The app will be available on both mobile and desktop devices.
Through this app, students can expect digital practice and performance feedback for all four test sections, AI powered scoring for all sections, using the same rubrics as the TOEFL iBT test, coaching and tips to improve on the Speaking and Writing sections, and high-level sample responses for Speaking and Writing, with opportunities for comparison and reflection.