Chinese examinees have yet to receive their IELTS results amid cheating allegations. (Photo : Wikimedia)
The British Council has informed many Chinese who took the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test that their results would either be delayed or permanently withheld.
Results of many examinees in Changsha, Hunan Province, and Nanjing, Jiansu Province, have been delayed, according to a report by Beijing-based newspaper Mirror on Sunday.
A student identified with the surname Sun from Qingdao, Shandong Province, said in a statement to the Global Times on Monday that the British Council informed her on Aug. 11 that her "test results will not be released and a test report will not be issued." The student took the IELTS on July 25.
The British Council accused Sun of "breaching IELTS test rules and regulations." This was not further explained.
Sun is not the only one. She has formed an online group on WeChat made up of 130 IELTS examinees. According to the group, 110 of these students, mostly those who took the exam in August from all over the country, were told they would not get their results without further explanation.
According to the regulators of IELTS, the British Council generally issues the results 13 days after the date the test is taken.
The British Council has also delayed the release of test results to many examinees from China who took the IELTS in August due to what it says are "routine checks," according to an email the institution sent to an examinee surnamed You.
"The results of more than 70 percent of examinees taking the test in August were under investigation, most of them have not received their results yet," said You.
Routine checks are conducted each year, but the scale it is being done this time is rare, according to an IELTS trainer at Global Education, an anonymous English training center based in Beijing.
"The exams may have been leaked," added the anonymous trainer.
According to the report by the Mirror, the British Council claims to have concrete proof that the withheld results are not consistent with the actual language competence of the examinees.
For some, the investigation is already taking too long.
"I cannot get the results before the application deadline of British universities," said an examinee surnamed Liu from Changsha.
