University of Sydney: Human Trafficking Criminal wwww.ielts.agency 82
Figure 43
IELTS Application Form: Suspected CheatingSource: IELTS (2017c)Cambridge Assessment Group research academic Chris Bell (2015, p. 31) confirms that the word
“malpractice” is synonymous to “cheating” in the context of Cambridge Assessments.
IELTS’s ‘zero band score’ assessment policy is impractical. For example, a candidate who scores
8.0 (very good user) for writing may score e.g. 4.0 for speaking (limited user) because the
demeanor of the examiner intimidated them. Alternatively, they may score 4.0 because they
were intimidated by the nature of the speaking topics put forward by the examiner.
IELTS reserve the right to award a score of zero merely because they suspect that an answer that
is relevant and technically flawless was memorized. My examination of public evidence concludes
that IELTS never provide proof that an answer was “totally memorized”.