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Exam fraud: international students
Opportunistic IELTS examiner fraud is also perpetrated against future international students.
IELTS test-takers consistently report that they immediately receive higher (i.e. accurate) scores
for their reading, writing, listening and speaking skills when they abandon IELTS and switch to
other providers such as TOEFL (e.g. Expat Forum, 2015). IELTS’s clients report receiving marginal
fail scores that alternate between language skills and tests, such as the pattern in Figure 48.
IELTS encourage international students to advise them what faculty and institution they aim to
access. Using Google searches, IELTS examiners can determine test scores that an international
student requires to pass. IELTS examiners are more likely to offer fake marginal fail scores to test-
takers who fit a certain demographic. These may include those who live in wealthy post-codes
and those who live in a region where there is no Pearson, TOEFL or TOIEC test center in proximity.
Figure 49^
IELTS selective profiling: international student visa applicants