IDP and British Council, two partners of IELTS, the world’s most popular high-stakes English language test, have announced that British Council will sell its IELTS business in India to IDP. This means that all IELTS tests in India will be delivered by IDP.
Under the terms of the agreement, IDP will acquire 100 per cent of British Council’s India IELTS business for £130 million on a debt free, cash free basis. The terms also outline that British Council employees working on IELTS in India will become part of the IDP team. The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is the world’s most popular English language test for study and migration and is trusted by more than 10,000 organisations around the world as a secure and reliable indicator of English language proficiency.
Andrew Barkla, CEO of IDP, said this agreement marks the start of a new chapter for IELTS in India. Kate Ewart-Biggs, Interim CEO of British Council, said, “Distributing IELTS solely through IDP in India will simplify and improve the customer experience for IELTS test takers. As IDP already delivers IELTS in India, the high-quality service provided to IELTS customers will remain the same.”