IELTS test provider fined £875,000 over marking failures

An English language test provider has been fined £875,000 for issuing incorrect results on nearly 100,000 occasions.

The penalty imposed on Cambridge English by regulator the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) follows issues with the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), used by universities in international admissions, between August 2023 and September 2025.

Errors were identified in automated computer-based marking of the listening and reading components of the test.

Of the 7.7 million tests taken during the period, 93,865 responses were found to have been incorrectly marked by the system.

Of these, in around a third of cases – 30,649 – it was deemed that test results were unaffected by the errors. But two-thirds of candidates – 62,794 – were issued results for at least one of the components that had to be corrected. A third of these – 21,717 – received a corrected overall qualification score.

In the vast majority of cases, the initial overall result increased but 1,115 candidates had results lowered.

New results were generally up or down by 0.5 on a final score scale of 0 to 9, with only two cases seeing a one-point increase.

Cambridge English contacted all those affected late last year and informed them of their corrected results.

It has also offered compensation and refunds on test entry fees. Ofqual said that in total £6 million had already been spent on rectifying the issues including introducing measures to prevent it happening again.

Aggravating factors in the case included the large number of people affected, the missed opportunities to identify the issues earlier and the adverse impact on public confidence in the qualification.

It was found that the problems could be traced back to a modernisation programme begun in 2019 which had “serious deficiencies”.

Amanda Swann, Ofqual’s executive director for delivery, said: “Tens of thousands of people took these tests with the expectation of accurate results which influence important decisions.  

“Those who took these tests, as well as those who used them, were let down by systemic failures over a long period and our significant fine reflects this. 

“We will always step in to protect the integrity of tests and maintain public confidence in regulated qualifications.” 

The fine comes at a delicate time for the longstanding IELTS, which faces challenges from new entrants into English language testing such as Duolingo.

Earlier this year it withdrew from the Home Office tender process that seeks a supplier for a new “fully remote” service, citing security concerns.

Last December another test operator, Pearson, was fined £750,000 by Ofqual for allowing malpractice to occur in its English test after universities raised concerns about discrepancies between students’ test scores and their English proficiency.

A spokesperson for IELTS said: “We apologise to those affected, and we take responsibility for the error that resulted in some people receiving incorrect results.

“Once this issue was identified, we acted to rectify it, correcting results and supporting people. We offered refunds or resits to everyone affected. We addressed additional support requests, including for 19 individuals who contacted us regarding potentially missed opportunities. We worked directly with recognising organisations and relevant authorities to help mitigate any harm.

“We have conducted a thorough review of what happened and have implemented additional operational controls and safeguards to prevent a recurrence.”

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com