The new English testing - how it works

Philippa Fox of Unitec explains the international English language test to ANDREW LAXON.

The Government has described the old English test passmark of 5 as equivalent to secondary school level. Is that right?

No. A student with only level 5 would have great difficulty coping with the New Zealand education system. You need level 6 to get into tertiary education but this is a bare minimum level for a student, who would need extra assistance. Postgraduate students need a 6.5 average and a 7 in two of the four modules (reading, writing, speaking, listening).

What would you expect a native English speaker to get?


All native speakers wouldn't score a 9 (the top mark). To achieve this, they would have to be well educated and familiar with the academic genre. New Zealand doctors have to pass the test to work in Britain. They don't like doing it - but they don't necessarily get a 9.

Is the new English passmark for immigrants a good idea?


There's no doubt that they need a good level of English, because otherwise they're not going to be able to cope. But someone could do very well in an academic test like this and still communicate badly, while someone who can communicate well might not do well in the test. English language is also only one of the factors that need to be considered.

Are many immigrants taking the tests?


There are more international students than immigrants. There has been an explosion in numbers because of the increase in Chinese students. At Unitec we run the test every fortnight. It costs $245. We normally have about 350 students but we had 700 last Saturday. Two years ago there would have been about 40.

Further reading
Feature: Immigration