To be clear, I intend to rock this table and rip this piece of neo-colonialism apart. I wanted to wait until I had more facts, more information, and I had made a lot of research to write a more academic-sounding article but that would be washing out my spice too much, yet I intend to serve this hot. Also quite frankly, I do not care. I intend to grow rich in this land, prosper here, and only move out of this country either by choice or on invitation but not on selling out.
IELTS tests are a scam.
The first time I saw the cost of an IELTS test in Uganda, I was shocked. An IELTS test certificate, which is basically a piece of paper that supposedly verifies your ability to comprehend English, costs a whopping 950,000/- or more. Yes, you read that right, and here is the link to website of the British Council in Uganda, the providers of this test in Uganda, to prove it.
https://www.britishcouncil.ug/exam/ielts/dates-fees-locations?gclid=CjwKCAjw0On8BRAgEiwAincsHFr4YJd9-O_mBsSwfimN5tftVAW4jkfazkbb4DL7YKHVbrjYzSnkKRoCjfYQAvD_BwE
https://www.britishcouncil.ug/exam/ielts/dates-fees-locations?gclid=CjwKCAjw0On8BRAgEiwAincsHFr4YJd9-O_mBsSwfimN5tftVAW4jkfazkbb4DL7YKHVbrjYzSnkKRoCjfYQAvD_BwE
And that is not all. This IELTS certificate is valid for only a maximum of three years, after which your English comprehension supposedly disappears and you have to do the test again. The most painful part of this already incredulous situation is that you hardly ever need this certificate for anything else besides applying for either a scholarship, a visa, or some other thing in that bracket.
For the people who require this certificate, the fact that you live in a country whose official language is English is not enough. That you attended school where you were instructed in English is not enough. That you attended an institution of higher learning where you were instructed and examined in English is not enough. That your school certificates and transcripts are written in English is still, not enough. Most importantly, that you speak and write English, is not valid until you have this very expensive and tri-annually amnesic certificate. Shady, isn’t it? Imagine believing the lie that you have to pay almost a million shillings just to get a piece of paper whose only role is to prove your ability to speak English, which is already a fact.
If my current means of communication cannot portray that I comprehend English, if my school certificates and transcripts cannot prove the same, if the fact that I live in this country where the official language is English and that I am formally employed in it, cannot prove that I comprehend English, then clearly someone has got a problem, and that someone is definitely not me. Most importantly, it is not I who should fix anything, but that someone who has a problem.
If you were born, raised and schooled here in Uganda which is a supposedly English-speaking African Country, why should you be subjected to an IELTS test? African. Oops, did I just drop a hint? Never mind, let’s continue. How did you manage to attend an institution of higher learning and graduate while not being able to comprehend English? How did you write a whole final year school research/project without comprehending English? In what language are you reading this post? Your mother tongue? Chinese?
If you have not yet figured it out, I am saying that IELTS tests are an irrelevant, money-making, neo-colonialist scam. It is just another road block that is set up to fail you from getting that scholarship, school admission or visa that you are applying for. Either that, or somebody is being condescending. This somebody probably suffers from superiority complex too.
Either way, I detest both options.
Yours truly,
Anna Grace
Update (31/10/2020): I have filed a petition to have IELTS testing scrapped. Help me sign it here Stop IELTS testing for English Speakers Petition so that we can put and end to this mockery. Your signature will help us pursue this matter at a higher level. Thank you
0 thoughts on “IELTS TESTS FOR ENGLISH SPEAKERS IS A SCAM”
I’m glad you’ve finally spoken for some of us. IELTS tests Sincerely doesn’t deserve to be tested on Ugandans and if so, it should be free.
Yes, I completely agree with you, Oscar. They should either be scrapped completely or not cost that ridiculous amount.
Imagine the number of people who cannot advance to get a master’s degree just because of an irrelevant piece of paper?
Hi, a scam it is but a requirement for not only ugandans but for almost anyone joining uni in the U.K.
I took the test myself and thought it was surprisingly tough even for a graduate like myself. But easily beatable if one is well prepared.
The fees are also on the high side.
The best way to bring about change in this, could be advocating for lower fees for the best and much clearer infor on what would be candidates for the test should expect.
Blessings.
Thank you Christopher for your comment and for taking the time to read. These are all considerations we are making for the final appeal. Have you signed the petition yet?
Our petition is to have it waived for countries where English language is a first language.
*official language, not first language
Ooh my Ooh my so true. I wish this could be an online campaign to force British Council to denounce IELTS. Great intelligent piece my friend
Thank you, This is exactly what I want. Do you how we can do this?
We can start an online petition asking people to sign the petition and when we have enough signatures we can take lead and hand it over or we can ask one leader to join us and we Han dit over to British council after creating enough media awareness of our intention
This is so true…..am in support of @La’Gulu this should indeed be an online campaign for those guys.Its so unfair.Well spoken Anna💪🏾
Okay! Honestie, I’m up for this!
Thank you Ann, so I took this test in 2018 and by then it costed 0.73m applied for a masters degree which didn’t come through, since then this shit hasn’t been useful, can u imagine plus an extra fee while sending the results to the institution of like 50$ per institution receiving the results. After a year you have to pay again to access these results. This is some business not necessarily wanting their post colonial states like Uganda benefit from these so called academic offers . I am strongly against these IELTS and the like.
What?! You have to pay to get the results of the same test again? And then a sending fee to every institution? This IELTS thing smells worse the more information I get about it. Kindly share this link with other people who have suffered a similar situation and let us build momentum. We are petitioning the British Council on this matter.
We must take this up. Even the mere fact that we are complaining from different regions in Uganda is important. Let’s be the first to sign the potion and mobilize our own audiences to sign up. We create online awareness for like 3 months and officially schedule and appointment with whoever has influence over the decision(we can inquire) and then petition their office.
I sat for it twice before my M.A then there is GRE too.This things are unbearably expensive. Ht let’s focus on test of English language sufficiency. Now after succeeding and studying in America which guarantees that my English is sufficient, they still require it.This is a good online cause. We bend the justification on the new colonial tendency in view of recent BLM campaigns and we stand a chance for them to listen
I’m in. Let me contact you
Friends, as earlier suggested, I have filed an online petition to have the IELTS test scrapped. You can sign it here : Stop IELTS testing for English Speakers Petition.
Hi, a scam it is but a requirement for not only ugandans but for almost anyone joining uni in the U.K.
I took the test myself and thought it was surprisingly tough even for a graduate like myself. But easily beatable if one is well prepared.
The fees are also on the high side.
The best way to bring about change in this, could be advocating for lower fees for the test and much clearer information on what would be candidates for the test should expect.
I think it’s a test that applies to all international students/ or anyone seeking a study visa to the U.K especially. So it cuts across Africa, Asia, Australia or Europe….
I have noticed that many U.K universities are making it a requirement for all their international student applicants and indirect entrants for courses.
Blessings.