British Council Launches IELTS Awards for 2015

The British Council today announced the launch of the British Council IELTS (International English Language Testing System) Awards for 2015. To mark the milestone of the IELTS 25^th anniversary, this year’s awards is being extended to offer ten awards to Indian students to help fund the cost of studies abroad.

 

The British Council IELTS Awards will give a total of INR 3.9 million in educational awards to students from across South Asia—including for the first time, students in Bhutan and Nepal.

 

“The British Council IELTS Awards aim to help Indian students pursue the opportunity of a higher education abroad, once they have taken the initial step of proving their English language ability with IELTS,” said Sarah Deverall, Director Examinations India & Customer Service South Asia, British Council. “As part of the 25th anniversary celebrations for IELTS, we have increased the number of awards for Indian students from eight to ten, while for the wider SAARC region, we are now extending the awards to Nepal and Bhutan, where IELTS is also a key part of their journey to international study opportunities.”

 

Over the past five years, 40 students from across India have received British Council IELTS Awards for a diverse range of courses around the world, including dramatic arts in the United Kingdom, law in the United States and engineering in Germany, among many others.

 

Persis Mistry, a speech and drama teacher in Mumbai, won her British Council IELTS Award in 2012, and took up her place on the MA course in Applied Theatre at the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama in London, UK.

 

Persis says that the award was a confidence boost during the applications process: “The Award allows candidates to compete in a creative and exciting way and judges each candidate on his / her actual performance in each task. I found this appealing and encouraging, and on winning the award was given a great confidence boost.”

 

She found that her studies have expended her own personal and professional horizons: “When you are studying abroad, different teaching and learning methodologies make you realise how many interesting ways there are to learn and understand a concept.”

 

The British Council IELTS Award is an INR 300,000 award, which may be used toward the tuition and fees of a degree programme anywhere outside the winner’s home country. The British Council will recognise 13 winners this year: 10 from India, two from Nepal and one from Bhutan.

 

IELTS is the world’s most popular English language test for international study and employment: more than 2.2 million candidates sat the test in 2013. It is accepted by more than 9,000 institutions worldwide—including degree programmes in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and Australia, along with hundreds of other destinations around the world.

 

The British Council IELTS Awards are open to students from India, Bhutan or Nepal who have recently taken the IELTS academic test. Applicants must have an accepted place at an educational institution abroad, and plan to enrol in the course during the 2015-2016 academic year. Applications will be accepted until 30 June 2015.

 

For more information on the British Council IELTS Awards, including programme eligibility and application details, as well as details on registering and preparing for the IELTS test, please visit the British Council IELTS website.

http://www.britishcouncil.in/exam/ielts/awards   

 

About the British Council:

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and build trust between them worldwide.

 

We work in more than 100 countries and our 8,000 staff – including 2,000 teachers – work with thousands of professionals and policy makers and millions of young people every year by teaching English, sharing the arts and delivering education and society programmes.

 

We are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter. A core publicly-funded grant provides 20 per cent of our turnover which last year was £864 million. The rest of our revenues are earned from services which customers around the world pay for, such as English classes and taking UK examinations, and also through education and development contracts and from partnerships with public and private organisations. All our work is in pursuit of our charitable purpose and supports prosperity and security for the UK and globally. 

 

For more information, please visit: www.britishcouncil.org. You can also keep in touch with the British Council through http://twitter.com/britishcouncil and http://blog.britishcouncil.org/.

 

About IELTS:

With over 2.2 million tests taken each year, IELTS (International English Language Testing System) is the world’s most popular English test. Recognized by over 9,000 educational, employment and immigration organizations, IELTS is the only test accepted for immigration purposes in countries that require one. Designed by internationally renowned experts in English-language assessment, IELTS gauges English skills in the most reliable and consistent way possible.

 

Candidates are tested in listening, reading, writing and speaking. All tests are scored on a banded system from 1 (the lowest) through to 9 (the highest possible band score).

 

IELTS offers a choice of two versions, to serve both academic and non-academic purposes. IELTS Academic measures English language proficiency needed for an academic, higher learning environment. The tasks and texts are accessible to all test-takers, irrespective of their subject focus. IELTS General Training measures English language proficiency in a practical, everyday context. The tasks and texts reflect both workplace and social situations.