IELTS: Why we’ve not exempted Nigerians from writing English proficiency test – UK Home Office

The UK Home Office has responded to the over 60,000 signatures to a petition on change.org calling on foreign universities to stop requesting English proficiency tests from Nigerians seeking to migrate to their domain.

However, responding to the petition initiated by Ebenezar Wikina, founder of Policy Shapers, an open-source policy platform, the UK Home Office hinted that the clamour for changes will not be implemented soon.

Wikina had in his petition requested the UK Home Office to provide its criteria for exempting countries from taking the International English Language Testing System (IELTS).

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Foreign universities demand the IELTS as a requirement for admitting international students.

While the IELTS tests are expensive, and fees more than double the minimum wage in Nigeria, the test results are valid only for two years, ICIR reported.

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“To be included on the Majority English Speaking Country (MESC) list, we must have evidence that most people in the country (more than half) speak English as a first language,” the UK Home Office said in its response.

The UK Home Office does not officially recognise 27 Anglophone countries in Africa as English-speaking countries.

However, the UK Home Office exempts citizens of Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St Kitts, and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, and 10 other countries from taking the test.

“We rely on publicly available evidence such as official censuses to make this determination along with other academic sources. We may also consult the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office where additional evidence is required.

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“Currently, on the information available to us, Nigeria does not meet the requirement. This list is periodically reviewed and updated, and new countries are added if they are found to meet the requirements,” the letter read.

Speaking with The ICIR, Wikina said that the campaign would continue but stakeholders would meet to decide the next course of action to the UK Home Office response.

“Policy Shapers will be hosting a stakeholders strategy session next week to plan for next steps with the campaign and bringing together all parties concerned,” he said.

The #ReformIELTSPolicy campaign on Twitter, also initiated by Policy Shapers, received the endorsement of the Vice President of Nigeria Yemi Osinbajo, who believes Nigerians deserve an exemption from the test as former British colonies.