An examination conducted by the Ministry of Education and Training has uncovered that an IDP Education Company in Vietnam issued 56,000 IELTS certificates in 2022 in spite of not being authorised to do so.

The ministry has called upon the company to take appropriate actions regarding the issued certificates.

On Wednesday, the ministry revealed it had been investigating the collusion to administer exams and grant foreign language proficiency certificates by the IDP Company, which shares ownership of the IELTS exam in Vietnam.

According to the findings, between January 1 and December 31, 2022, the education company organised IELTS Test Report Form exams for 67,195 individuals and issued 66,153 IELTS certificates.

However, from January 1 to November 11, 2022, the company was not authorised to do so.

Specifically, from January 1 to September 9, 2022, the company organised 458 exams in over 30 localities, and issued around 46,600 IELTS certificates.

From September 10 to November 16, 2022, the company arranged 100 on-site exams and several other online exams in Hanoi, HCM City and Danang, issuing nearly 9,600 certificates.

The company has issued more than 56,200 IELTS certificates in total without the ministry’s approval.

At the time, the exam fee was around VNĐ4.6 million (US$180.87).

The ministry has clearly delineated this responsibility to the Director of IDP Education Company.

The inspection results also noted that on June 15, 2023, the ministry’s Department of Quality Management sent a dispatch to departments of education and training nationwide regarding the use of certificates to exempt foreign language exams in the 2023 high school graduation exam.

According to the dispatch, candidates who registered to take the 2023 high school graduation exam can use foreign language proficiency certificates issued after September 10, 2022, to qualify for exemption from the foreign language exam.

The ministry’s inspectors recommended that IDP Company review all activities related to organising exams and issuing foreign language proficiency certificates in Vietnam.

They asked for a complete review and proposed measures to the Department of Quality Management for handling the number of foreign language certificates that the company issued without the ministry’s approval.

The inspectors also suggested that the Minister of Education and Training instruct the Department of Quality Management to tighten supervision on organisations conducting training and issuing foreign language certificates in Vietnam.

In response, IDP Company said that the IELTS tests taken in this period remain accepted by more than 12,000 organisations around the world.

"We are aware of media reports around test validity during 2022. Please be aware that tests taken in this period remain accepted by more than 12,000 organisations around the world. We will continue to cooperate with MOET, as we always do, to ensure compliance with all requirements," it said.