University of Sydney: Human Trafficking Criminal wwww.ielts.agency 36
IELTS’s sponsorship regime has deeply infiltrated a global network of stakeholders who may
provide impartial advice and support to those who are required to undertake an official English
language test such as IELTS. Migration agents play an important role in offering their clients sound
impartial advice to support their visa applications. With regards to language testing, this role is
more profound in jurisdictions such as Australia and New Zealand that offer competitive options.
Numerous migration agents have publicly criticized the design and assessment of the IELTS test
in the public domain. This notably includes high IELTS’s failure rates among native and advanced
English language speakers (e.g. Suss, 2011; Coates cited in Kenny, 2015).
IELTS’s aggressive lobbying agenda corrupts the market for English language testing services. One
way that IELTS corrupts this market is by offering cash sponsorship payments to migration
stakeholders such as the Migration Institute of Australia. Figures 13 and 14 documents this claim.
Figure 13
IELTS Infiltration: Migration Institute of AustraliaSource: Migration Institute of Australia (2017a)