The British Council (BC), one of the IELTS test organizers, announced last Wednesday that now instead of the usual format of live conversation, video calls will be used in all the IELTS speaking tests in China mainland through mid-2022, according to dutenews.com. Candidates will have real-time two-way conversations with their examiners about various aspects of daily life, with the candidates’ English language communication skills being evaluated through this process. Although the form of the speaking section is to be changed, its content, duration, difficulty level, question types, grading criteria, and security settings will remain the same as before. The Examination Department of BC noted that this adjustment aims to adapt to the needs of pandemic normalization and create a safe test environment to guarantee the health and safety of both candidates and examiners. In addition, this change can also enhance the flexibility of the examination arrangements; organizers will increase more examination dates and sessions, providing candidates with more opportunities to take the IELTS exam. Due to the COVID-19, since July 2020 IELTS has switched the form of the speaking test from offline to online at some test sites. All the speaking sections of IELTS computer-based tests now are taken via video calls, while the paper-based ones are also scheduled to switch entirely to this form by the middle of this year. Both forms are currently available. (He Xiaolin) | 