Pearson is making inroads in the English language testing market via PTE Academic and developing partnerships with institutions and education agencies to ensure easy access and turnaround for its language tests. Carl Rhymer, Global Sales Director, talks to The PIE.
The PIE: When the PTE Academic test was introduced, its security was highlighted as a unique selling point. Tell us more.
CR: If we go back to why PTE Academic was conceived, one of the areas of concern that institutions had was around test security. One of the things Pearson spent a lot of time investigating and investing in the very robust security measures we have. In addition to reliably assessing the English language ability of international students, we believe PTE Academic is the most secure test on the market using biometrics such as palm vein recognition and a digital sound file that allows institutions to compare the applicant’s voice with the test taker’s voice.
The PIE: How has uptake grown since launch?
CR: We are a new test in the market; we only have been around for two years, starting from a zero base. We are really pleased with the uptake of the test and we have rapidly built up acceptance including high-level endorsement from the UK Border Agency and now DIAC [Australian immigration department] for student visa purposes.
The PIE: Is the security a key selling point?
CR: Yes, this is a key area of concern for institutions and government bodies. Test takers and agents are also interested in other aspects of the test. For test takers, it’s all about ‘can I register quickly and easily, can I take the test quickly, I want to get my results quickly’. PTE Academic is a popular choice, particularly because of the availability of our test sessions and the speed at which we return test scores. We are able to offer far more sessions and the test taker gets their results within 5 business days, versus say 13 days for similar tests, so a much faster cycle. Agents like this because at the end of the day they can process the applications far more quickly.
The PIE: Are you trying to positively reach out to more education agents as partners?
CR: We are, yes. Agents are very important in terms of student choice – students will visit an agent not only to get advice on which country or which institution to apply to, but also to find out where language testing is mandatory and which English test they may take. Similarly, each agent wants also to make sure that the test taker has the very best opportunity to get the score they need. We are working close with them, giving them the information they need and demonstrating how we can help them shorten the time it takes to process an application. We take a partnership approach with agents, working with them to ensure there are test sessions when and where they need them.
The PIE: Is that something which is new?
CR: It is new. And I think it is something we can offer that competing tests can’t. Competing tests are often based on fixed test sessions and dates through the year. We can potentially test on-demand.
“We announced our strategic partnership with New Oriental Education & Technology Group”
The PIE: What does being a Professional Partner mean?
CR: We want to create a partnership as the name suggests and we want education agents to develop their own business by working with Pearson and offer them a variety of benefits such as discounted vouchers and test preparation materials that they can offer to their clients.
The PIE: How are these business relationships developing?
CR: The landscape for providers of secure English language testing has changed drastically in the last few months. For example, we recently announced our strategic partnership with New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NOS), the largest test preparation provider in China that will see PTE Academic preparation courses offered in major cities across 2012.
The PIE: Who can become an accredited test centre?
CR: Pearson delivers the test through its global network of secure testing centres. We are extending our test centre network by partnering with leading institutions and international organisations. These test centres have been designed to meet Pearson’s stringent security measures. For example, we have recently launched new test centres with the London School of Business and Finance (LSBF) in London and Birmingham, and in Iraq, working in partnership with Britannia Educational Services – a leading British-Iraqi language training provider. We are really excited about this partnership as the test centre will be key to supporting young people applying for scholarships under Kurdistan’s Human Capacity Development Program in Higher Education (HCDP).
The PIE: Do you have regional managers that are managing the relationship with professional partners?
CR: We do, we have regional teams in a number of markets including teams in India, Pakistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Nigeria, Korea and across Europe.
The PIE: How is your ‘footprint’ in North America?
CR: PTE Academic has rapidly built up acceptance to 2,840 programs globally including 50% of Ivy League colleges in the US such as Yale University and Harvard Business School and we are continuing to invest our efforts in securing even more recognition there.
The PIE: How are your tests scored?
CR: The entire test is scored using automated scoring including writing and speaking. Automated scoring, assesses the different language skills objectively and gives more analytical, objective results than humans do. Unlike human judgment, which is prone to be influenced by a variety of factors, an automated scoring system is impartial. This means that the system is not “distracted” by language-irrelevant factors such as test takers’ appearance, personality or body language (as can sometimes happen in spoken interview tests).
“The system is not ‘distracted’ by language-irrelevant factors such as test takers’ appearance, personality or body language”
The early scepticism around machine rating is most definitely disappearing. Now, it’s just not an issue. People are seeing test results coming through, they look at the person in front of them and the results equate. If by chance the automated scoring machine finds your work so extraordinary that it is uncertain about the score it has computed, this uncertain score is flagged and human examiners have a look at your work.
The PIE: How long has auto-rating of tests existed?
CR: The Pearson automatic system is the result of years of research in speech recognition, statistical modelling, linguistics and testing theory. This is tried-and-tested technology and some of the projects it has been used for include the assessment of spoken Spanish for the US Department of Homeland Security and a test of Dutch language and culture for the Justice Ministry’s Immigration and Naturalisation Service in the Netherlands.
