Lao Dong Newspaper has just published a series of 2 articles reflecting on the fraudulent situation of foreign language certificate taking services. According to the records, the services of taking English language certificates with commitments of "guaranteed pass" or "retake if not passed" that have exploded on social networks with prices ranging from 6-8 million VND/certificate, depending on the type, in recent times are actually just scams.
Speaking directly with Lao Dong Newspaper reporters after this series of articles, Ms. Nguyen Thanh Thuy - Communications Manager of the British Council - said that the British Council has recorded thousands of Aptis ESOL and IELTS candidates achieving high scores, reflecting the true ability of the candidates in recent years.
However, there is still a small percentage of candidates who intentionally cheat by finding someone to “take the test for them” or using various cheating methods or becoming victims of scammers who take the candidates’ money and disappear. This fraudulent information is advertised on social networking sites (Facebook, Zalo…), on forums or websites, sent to candidates via email or via messaging applications.
The British Council has advanced systems in place to detect any attempts to cheat or circumvent security barriers from within and outside the organisation. Test centres also have a range of security measures in place to support candidates; protect the interests of educational institutions and schools that currently recognise and use IELTS and Aptis ESOL results.
The British Council has also introduced a series of measures within the strict procedures applied to the organization of the exam. This includes the registration system and biometric verification of candidates such as: Professional training for staff in identifying impostors, detecting cheating and preventing cheating; Building a strict exam environment; CCTV system on the exam day; analyzing exam papers and results before announcing scores...
"We are also working closely with other agencies, departments and sectors around the world, including Immigration and legal units to detect, prevent and take appropriate legal action against fraudulent or deceptive acts in accordance with the laws of each country" - Ms. Nguyen Thanh Thuy - Communications Manager of the British Council - informed.
The British Council also wants candidates to be vigilant when receiving this fraudulent information. IELTS and Aptis ESOL exams are strictly confidential through many stages before, during and after the exam to ensure the accuracy and reliability of an international standard foreign language proficiency test.
Serious cases of cheating may result in cancellation of test results, a 2-year ban for IELTS and 1-year ban for Aptis ESOL, and a refusal to be considered for a period of time by global certificate recognition organizations.
