IELTS - The British Council's Language Business Scam review: IELTS - The British Council's Language Business Scam 2

IELTS - The British Council's Language Business Scam

When you register for the IELTS test online, they ask you all sorts of redundant information, like "why are taking the test, " and "where are you going". If you contact them by e-mail you notice that they send out e-mails with the footer, "WE BUILD TRUST!" And when you go to their office, you notice that they have built a fortress, you are required to leave your ID when entering their building and, for the exam, they collect all your person information, including fingerprints and photos (given their level of incompetence, I'm pretty sure that the data is not stored securely).

In the third-world they hire high-school dropouts (CERTIFIED BY THEM) to grade your test. These are non native English speakers earning $500/month. The staff are rude, and they harass you for every little thing. The British Council does not trust their local staff, either. They want candidates to pay for tests by depositing the funds to the local British Council back account.

The few British people who work at the British Council to grade IELTS are there because they are not good enough to teach primary school English. These British people come on a visitor's visa and are only there for a vacation (this is illegal).

When I took my speaking test, I could see the person at the other end convulsing. And when I took the remaining tests with other candidates, the person who administered the test read the instructions like an angry Taliban air-hostess. She snapped at the candidates at every opportunity she got, and went around checking IDs in the middle of the test (the implication is that the candidates switched seats).

Although the British Council sends out emails with the footer "WE BUILD TRUST!" their behavior shows that they take candidates to be impulsive monkeys and they, the British Council, will not take responsibility for anything.

The IELTS is the weakest measure of English proficiency. It is run by a bunch of racist clowns.

ALSO see:
http://dblackie.blogs.com/the_language_business/2011/07/the-ielts-ghostwriting-industry.html