For international students, a key step in the admissions journey is proving their English language skills. Universities striving to be inclusive must make well-informed choices about which tests they accept as evidence of proficiency
What we talk about when we talk about access
Yet not everyone means the same thing when referring to access and accessibility.
Is it about test availability or location? Is it about convenience? Is it about making accommodations to meet additional needs, or offering fee waivers to disadvantaged applicants? Or is it about the ability to take an online test in one’s bedroom?
While access might be broadly understood as the opportunity to sit a test, accessibility is about the ability to take a test without being disadvantaged as part of the test experience. A test is accessible not only if test takers can easily book and take it, but if it allows them to prove their skills regardless of their individual situation.
A test is accessible not only if test takers can easily book and take it, but if it allows them to prove their skills regardless of their individual situation.
As a recent report published by the IELTS partnership tells us: “Accessibility means more than just getting to a test; it means being able to engage with it fully, with dignity and fairness […] Both matter – but only one guarantees equity.”
Accessibility by design
How, then, can providers of English language tests ensure equity?
It begins with recognition that some test takers may require adjustments due to physical, cognitive or situational challenges. From specific learning difficulties, to hearing and visual impairments, to neurodivergent traits – there are many needs that test providers must anticipate and be ready to support.
The IELTS report tells us that roughly 15% of the global population has some form of disability. Yet the needs of these test takers have not always been served by test providers. True accessibility means designing tests that allow test takers to prove their skills, regardless of their situation. It also means making this information clearly available to test takers.
At-home testing: accessibility or convenience?
Does at-home testing, often touted as synonymous with accessibility, genuinely address the full range of test takers’ needs? I would argue that we need a much more nuanced understanding of what makes a test accessible.
Despite the assertion that at-home assessment democratises access to testing, in practice it often fails to provide the reliable infrastructure that test takers need – from adequate equipment and stable internet connection to consistent test conditions and appropriate security.
In a world of persistent digital divides, a test provider’s capacity to offer in-centre support for test takers is another measure of accessibility, removing barriers from the experience of taking a test.
Balancing fairness and rigour
The key to fair testing is ensuring that access arrangements are evidence-based and carefully validated. Accessibility is not about compromising standards, but about ensuring that standards can be applied consistently.
There is a delicate balance to be struck between maintaining rigour and making the necessary accommodations for test takers who require them. By choosing test providers that prioritise accessibility in its widest form, universities can ensure they are better equipped to ensure a fair admissions system for all applicants, whatever their background.
Widening access, ensuring accessibility
English language tests are transformative. They enable test takers to pursue academic and professional paths that can change their lives and enhance their livelihoods.
Accessibility in English language testing should not, therefore, be a simple add-on. It is an essential requisite, and one that is not dependent on a single factor.
It means offering tests that are inclusive by design. It means enabling choice in the delivery method. It means making accommodations that will balance test rigour with fairness for all test takers.
It is up to test providers and higher education institutions to work together to build a system of university admissions that is fair, inclusive, and sustainable. On March 24, at The PIE Live Europe, I look forward to discussing with sector leaders how we can do that.
About the author: Pamela Baxter is managing director for IELTS at Cambridge University Press & Assessment
