PTE Academic brings English test to India

CHENNAI, INDIA: In line with TOEFL and IELTS, Pearson, a provider in technology and assessment for education, announced Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic), the company’s new computer-based academic test of English language proficiency, in India.

The test, which will be available to test takers in India from November 2009, measures the English language skills of non-native English speakers who are seeking admission to institutions where English is the language of instruction.

Pearson has chosen Chennai to be the pilot centre and it would be opened on November 2, 2009.

PTE Academic is endorsed by and is the preferred English language test for Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), owner of the Graduate Management Admission test (GMAT).

Announcing the launch, Joseph Rospars, vice president, Pearson Language Tests, said the test uses Pearson’s automated scoring technologies to provide a test that accurately measures the English-language listening, reading, speaking and writing abilities of non-native speakers.

“The test, has been already recognized, or is in the process of being recognized, by more than 800 programmes around the globe,” he said. “We will deliver results online within 5 days and results would be sent to many universities unlike the TOEFEL and IELTS”.

Joseph Rospars pointed out that students can log on to Pearson website and practice the test material for three hours a day and the final examination would be held at the Pearson centre.

The new test will serve the growing need of universities to measure the English-language proficiency of students from countries around the world seeking to study at English-speaking institutions, including a mounting number of test takers from India. The fee for India has been set at $160.