IELTS Exams Suspended for 4 Days: A Technical Glitch Lifts the Curtain on the Chinese Business of Global Language Tests

The IELTS test, which has been suspended for many days, is finally set to resume.

From October 10 to 13, the IELTS test was temporarily cancelled "due to a system technical failure". Some test takers reported that they were notified of the test cancellation temporarily after entering the test venue, and some were even stopped and asked to leave midway after finishing the listening or speaking test.

In accordance with the agreement, IELTS tests in Chinese mainland are jointly organized by the National Education Examinations Authority of the Ministry of Education and the British Council.

A Times Weekly reporter called the British Council (referred to as BC). The official customer service stated that the test will be fully resumed on October 14. All previously affected test takers have received full refunds of their test fees, and they will also get a free test voucher to re-register for the test later.

Subsequently, the British Council released an announcement stating that it will add two additional free exclusive test sessions for affected test takers on October 19 and 20.

"We fully understand the impact of this test cancellation on the original arrangements and preparation plans of test takers, and we sincerely apologize again to all affected test takers, their families and all relevant parties," the announcement noted.

The National Education Examinations Authority previously told the media that this test suspension was caused by a technical problem on the British Council's side, which was a unilateral cancellation by the British side, and the two sides are communicating and negotiating on follow-up issues. As of press time, the call from the Times Weekly reporter to the National Education Examinations Authority for consultation was not connected.

Experts including Chen Zhiwen, an academic member of the Chinese Society of Educational Development Strategy, pointed out in an interview with CCTV News that since IELTS entered the Chinese mainland market in 1989, there have been cases where individual test centers cancelled tests due to extreme weather, venue issues or temporary force majeure. However, a large-scale nationwide test suspension like this time, and even the situation where "the test was suddenly stopped midway", can be described as "unprecedented".

Sudden Cancellation

Around 9 p.m. on October 12, Xiao Lin received an email from the British Council notifying him that the IELTS single-subject retake scheduled for the 13th was cancelled due to technical reasons, and the test fee would be fully refunded within one working day.

"Although I had seen the news about the IELTS test suspension before, I was still stunned when I received this email late at night. I later called the official customer service and got confirmation," Xiao Lin told the Times Weekly reporter.

IELTS has four sections: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. After test takers take the full computer-delivered IELTS test and get their scores, they can register for and take one single-subject retake within 60 days from the test date.

Xiao Lin was taking the single-subject speaking test. For him, this was a very important score-improvement opportunity, and it was time-sensitive.

"I have to hurry up and finish the test," said Xiao Lin. Once the time limit passes, there will be no retake opportunity. Some test takers have reported that the IELTS single-subject test dates in recent days just fall on the deadline of their retake validity period.

Linda, a teacher from the training institution that Xiao Lin attends, said that many people came to consult and expressed their concerns during the days when IELTS tests were suspended.

"There are many statements online about the reason for the test suspension, but I believe the test will resume sooner or later. Now I can only comfort these students and let them prepare for the test with peace of mind," Linda told the Times Weekly reporter, adding that IELTS is still a highly valuable English test.

One Party Sets Questions, Two Parties Operate

IELTS is an international English proficiency test jointly managed by the British Council, Australia's IDP Education Group (International Development Program, referred to as IDP) and Cambridge Assessment English. It is widely used for overseas study, immigration, employment and professional qualification certification, and was introduced to China in the late 1980s.

Generally speaking, IELTS is jointly operated by three parties: Cambridge Assessment English is responsible for setting test questions, while the British Council and IDP Education Group are in charge of global test administration — one party produces the test papers, and the other two are responsible for operation.

In terms of the market, the British Council focuses on Europe and Asia; IDP Education is deeply rooted in Australia, New Zealand, India and Southeast Asia.

For a long time, IELTS tests in Chinese mainland have been led by the British Council.

In particular, in February 2004, the National Education Examinations Authority signed a cooperation agreement with the British Council.

According to the agreement, the National Education Examinations Authority is uniformly responsible for IELTS test registration, test taker consultation, and the establishment and management of test centers across the country. As the representative of the IELTS test network, the British Council is responsible for providing test materials, invigilating tests in mainland China and marking test papers.

However, this situation has changed in recent years.

In 2024, IDP Education Group, another major operator of IELTS, announced its entry into the Chinese mainland market, breaking the long-standing single operation pattern that was previously dominated by the British Council.

The large-scale IELTS test suspension this time only affects the IELTS tests under the British Council channel. IDP Education Group released an announcement stating that the IELTS tests organized by its side are not affected, and all test centers are operating normally as planned.

A 2.5 Billion Yuan Business

For the British Council, one of the IELTS test organizers, the loss caused by the 4-day test suspension is not small.

As a language test that "sets questions in the UK and is taken by test takers all over the world", IELTS is behind a highly profitable global business.

First of all, the test registration fee is among the most expensive for English tests.

The IELTS test registration price has risen several times in recent years: in April 2002, the IELTS test registration fee rose from 1150 yuan to 1250 yuan; in September 2004, it rose to 1450 yuan; in March 2011, the price hike was restarted, and it was adjusted to 1550 yuan.

From 2013 to 2015, the test registration fee rose almost every year, adjusted to 1680 yuan (2013), 1700 yuan (2014) and 1750 yuan (2015) successively. In 2016, the price was even adjusted twice, rising from 1850 yuan to 1960 yuan. In 2020, the IELTS test fee rose to a historical high of 2170 yuan, and remained stable in the following years.

Until the end of 2025, IELTS finally announced its first price reduction since entering the Chinese mainland. Starting from January 1, 2026, the test fees for regular IELTS and IELTS for UK Visa and Immigration are uniformly adjusted to 1990 yuan, a decrease of 180 yuan from the 2170 yuan in 2025.

Even with the price reduction, the revenue it brings is huge.

In March 2026, the British Council released its 2024/2025 annual report and accounts, showing that in the 2024/2025 fiscal year, the total revenue of the BC Group was 1.01 billion pounds (989 million pounds in the previous fiscal year), of which the revenue from teaching and test business reached 702 million pounds, accounting for nearly 70% of the group's total revenue. Chinese mainland remains a key growth market for the British Council's IELTS business.

The report from the UK's National Audit Office (NAO) confirmed this proportion, and clearly pointed out that English language teaching and test business is the largest source of revenue for the BC Group.

Morgan Stanley's report gave more specific data. The report estimates that the global IELTS market is valued at about 1 billion US dollars (about 6.7 billion yuan), and the Chinese mainland market is valued at about 380 million US dollars (about 2.5 billion yuan), accounting for about 40% of the global total. About 850,000 test takers take the test in Chinese mainland every year, making it the world's largest IELTS market.

But this 1 billion US dollar business has not always been so stable. The British Council has listed "the decline of IELTS business" as one of the top risks in its annual report, and pointed out that intensified competition has posed further threats to its commercial revenue.

In the 2024/2025 fiscal year, BC held 2.3 million IELTS tests worldwide, which was completely flat with the previous fiscal year, failing to meet the previously set target of growing to 2.4 million tests.

With IDP Education Group entering the Chinese mainland IELTS market, the competition in the IELTS sector will only become more intense in the future.

This article is from the WeChat Official Account "Times Weekly" (ID: timeweekly), written by Ma Huan, edited by Liang Li, and published with authorization from 36Kr.