We are pleased to announce that the following organisations are sponsoring the Partnership Conference and will also be exhibiting at the Conference on 2 and 3 December 2009.
Since we introduced it in 1989, IELTS has been widely regarded by both academics and students as the model of English language testing.
In four central areas — experience, authenticity, quality and global reach — it has proved itself time again. For thousands of colleges and universities around the world it is seen as the best way to gauge the English skills of international students.
IELTS is tried and tested: over the past 20 years, more than six million candidates have taken the test. Yet its development goes back to a decade before when a group of academics asked themselves how they could create a fair, accessible and effective test of English.
Today’s test, then, is the product of 30 years of our investment in development and fundamental research. Ours is the test that is always innovating but — crucially — it is the test that is always trusted.
IELTS tests authentic skills for success. We recognise the central skill our stakeholders are looking for: the ability to communicate in real-life situations.
IELTS has always used face-to-face interaction in the speaking test because it’s by far the most realistic option. It generates the most natural performance from the candidate and, not least, the candidate feels more comfortable speaking to a real person rather than a computer.
This attention to authenticity extends to all four parts of the IELTS test: listening, speaking, reading and writing. IELTS tasks reflect real language proficiency for academic use and everyday experiences.
We pride ourselves on being the best at what we do. Each IELTS test is based on an exhaustive, ISO-compliant development process ensuring that the test material is of world-leading quality. We take every possible measure to guard against fraudulent test-takers and documentation and all IELTS test centres meet strictly audited standards of security and customer service.
This expertise has not gone unnoticed: IELTS test scores are trusted and recognised by more than 6,000 universities and colleges around the globe. The rigorous way in which we recruit and train our examiners very much contributes to this. All of our examiners mark to the highest quality and are constantly monitored by electronic systems and chief examiners.
IELTS is the international test for international mobility. In the past 12 months, the test has been taken by 1.4 million candidates in over 125 countries.
This global reach means that IELTS understands both its clients and its clients’ markets: real-life questions are sourced by writers based in the UK, Australia, Canada, the United States and New Zealand. This internationalism also applies to the managing partnership of IELTS, which combines the missions of four international organisations; British Council, University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations and IDP IELTS Australia, dedicated to academic excellence, cultural understanding, student recruitment and creating success worldwide.
www.ielts.org
The TOEFL® test (Test of English as a Foreign Language™) has been the world’s leading English-language assessment since it was introduced by ETS in 1964.
It is the most accepted test in the world, recognised by more than 7,000 higher education institutions in 130 countries. In the UK, the TOEFL test has been recognised by almost all higher education institutions, including Oxford and Cambridge University. It is also recognised by most Australian universities, more than 700 European universities and 5,000 colleges and universities in the US and Canada.
The TOEFL test is also the most accessible exam, with 4,500 test centres serving nearly one million candidates in 180 countries.
The TOEFL iBT™ (Internet-based Test) test measures the four essential language skills: listening, reading, speaking and writing. It uniquely simulates the university experience and ensures that students are well prepared to use these skills in combination to communicate effectively and succeed at your institution.
The TOEFL score report provides institutions with a comprehensive profile of an applicant’s ability, including section scores and total scores, and now an Online Speech Sample Service that enables you to hear representative samples of your applicant’s speaking abilities.
The TOEFL test is the only English-language assessment that uses a combination of human and automated rating methods to provide a complete and accurate picture of an applicant’s English-language proficiency and ensure unbiased results.
The TOEFL Program also offers an Online Score Verification System for institutions in the UK that receive copies of score reports from students. To sign up, please contact: Sandy Bhangal, Client Relations Associate Director, United Kingdom: sbhangal@etsglobal.org.
How a test is scored makes a difference in the quality of your candidates — and the TOEFL test uses scoring procedures that are unmatched by any other English-language assessment. TOEFL test scoring is governed by quality-control assurance standards that ensure fairness and mean every test taker has the same chance to succeed. Not all tests can make this claim. The TOEFL test is scored using methods and a centralised scoring network that ensure unbiased results.
Unlike other assessments, the TOEFL test uses multiple, rigorously trained raters to score tests anonymously. And even though raters must pass a certification test at the end of their training, they must also pass calibration tests each day they score the test. Their work is continuously checked for accuracy by ETS scoring leaders.
All raters routinely score examinee responses from around the world to remove any risk of cultural bias, making the TOEFL test the most reliable and accurate measurement of English-language proficiency.
Visit the TOEFL® website – www.ets.org/toefl – to find out more about the TOEFL test.
Voted the number one interactive marketing agency in New Media Age Top 100 rankings 2009, Sapient is an established agency with a proven track record.
A combination of creative, technology, marketing and consulting expertise enables Sapient to offer holistic solutions to any digital requirement. This unique position means we can help clients reach their audience across multi-channels such as the web, mobile applications and social networking.
Sapient has successfully delivered business process and online service solutions across the higher education sector in both the UK and the US. Our clients include Harvard, Yale, Stanford and UCLA. We are also engaged with Kings College London to create a new online admissions system and have been working with MIT on an online OpenCourseWare service since 2001. In particular, we are proud to be working alongside Education UK to help redesign and revitalise the online service.
We also have a number of clients from the wider UK public sector, including amongst others, the Department of Health, NHS Blood and Transplant and Royal Mail.
In the private sector, our combination of skills has helped clients such as Coca Cola and Toyota engage with their audience through online games, Facebook applications, mobile applications and even interactive vending machines.
We are continually evolving and pushing boundaries to combine interactive marketing with emerging technologies, such as Microsoft Surface. The recent acquisition of Nitro Group, now branded SapientNitro, has brought a new dimension to our marketing capability. We are pleased to now offer more traditional above the line marketing services alongside our digital offering.
By staying at the forefront of new technologies, we are able to realise new ways to reach the global youth audience – which is of immense benefit to Education UK.
In particular, we champion initiatives for creating truly interactive online communities. This includes building a Virtual Campus that reproduces the spirit and culture of institutions online, as well as offering e-learning and administration tools. These type of ‘all encompassing’ Virtual Campus extends an institution’s reach to a much wider community. They are essential in today’s digital age to attract and retain students who are as comfortable engaging online as they are in person.
To learn more about our approach to Virtual Campuses or about our capabilities in the digital marketing and solutions space, visit our team on stand 5. Come and collect a copy of our white paper, 'Virtual Campuses – As Important as Bricks and Mortar', or talk to one of our experts about how our skills can help you reach your potential students locally and globally.
We welcome the opportunity to give you the benefit of out experiences. Please e-mail us at education@sapient.com or visit us at www.sapient.co.uk.
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