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Please provide me with number of IELTS test-takers in Russia and Ukraine (separately) in 2014/2015/2016
Hello and thank you for your question on the numbers of IELTS tests taken in Russia and Ukraine. The British Council and other testing organizations are extremely protective of data on the number of tests they conduct annually, both overall and by country. There is no data supplied by individual countries, but only by region. In the "Wider Europe" region, which includes both Russia and Ukraine (as well as other non-EU member states), the total number of tests given in the 2014/15 fiscal year was roughly 99,174. In the 2015/16 fiscal year, that number had increased to approximately 118,537.
I have summarized my findings, which include some extrapolated figures based on available data, on the attached spreadsheet.
METHODOLOGY
In order to answer your question, I first consulted the IELTS website. Unfortunately, while they have a significant amount of demographic data, they do not provide a breakdown of test-takers by geographical location.
Next, I studied the annual financial reports of the British Council, which give the number of tests by region, although not by country. Their data separates face-to-face learning from digital learning, but does not indicate how many of each group ended up taking the IELTS test.
Finally, when I had determined that the exact data you were seeking was not available, I took what information there was- data on interactions by region and globally, as well as the total number of tests administered annually- and did some calculations to come up with an approximate figure for the number of tests taken in the Wider Europe region.
My figures were derived through the following method:
- Number of engaged learners per year in Wider Europe vs Globally (given in British Council Annual Reports)
- Engaged learners per year in Wider Europe vs Globally expressed as a percentage (calculated directly from data on the number of learners)
- Number of tests administered per year (given in British Council Annual Reports)
- Estimated number of tests administered in Wider Europe per year, calculated by multiplying the total number of tests globally by the percentage of all learners per year in Wider Europe
FINDINGS
The International English Language Testing System is the most popular English proficiency test in the world for both higher education and immigration. Global demand for IELTS grew every year from 1990 to 2011, with a 12% increase in 2011 alone. In 2013, the British Council committed to a growth rate of 20% in English tests by 2016 in their corporate plan. Per their annual reports, they have achieved their targets in every year up to 2016.
For the purposes of the British Council's reporting, both Russia and Ukraine are grouped in the category of "Wider Europe", roughly equivalent to those European countries not included in the European Union. Although the Council categorizes relations with these countries (primarily Russia) as "difficult", interest in the IELTS has grown substantially over the last three years. While face-to-face engagement has remained stable at 400,000 annually, there was an increase of 600,000 users of digital learning and media between the 2014/15 and 2015/16 fiscal years. This increase was not only in numbers, but also as a percentage of total learners.
Nonetheless, the Wider Europe region accounts for less than 5% of IELTS business worldwide, and is not identified as a priority for the British Council.
SUMMARY
Exact data on the number of tests administered in any one country or region is not made available by the British Council. It is possible to come up with approximate numbers for the Wider European region, of which Russia and Ukraine are a large part, based on a comparison of available data on participation of that region and total global participation.
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