Spotlight on India: ETS and its efforts to advance educational opportunities for Indian students

In 2020, when the pandemic had limited and/or completely shut down the ability for in-person testing to occur, they introduced TOEFL iBT Home Edition and GRE General Test at home
Read on | (Pic: EdexLive)
Read on | (Pic: EdexLive)

First dedicated Indian subsidiary; Business School Advisory Council of India to offer insights into the needs of students and schools; collaborations with stakeholders in the higher education sector and so much more — there is a lot that ETS, the world's largest private non-profit educational testing and assessment organisation, is doing for India and Indian students specifically.

It's like Lejo Sam Oommen, Managing Director, ETS India, a subsidiary of ETS based in Princeton, NJ USA, puts it: "India is a dominant force in the global marketplace, and as part of our commitment to the Indian market, we will continue to dedicate time and resources here to fully understand the market needs and respond to them quickly and efficiently."

Not to forget their popular TOEFL iBT Home Edition and GRE General Test at home. 

Oommen, the seasoned business leader, shed more light on the India-centric initiatives  

How do you ensure that the tests you administer keep evolving with what academia and the industry needs? Could you share an instance or two where you have adapted to their needs?
Assessments play a valuable, necessary role in measuring knowledge, skills and competencies and can be used for a variety of purposes, including progress and placement, admissions decisions, workplace readiness and everything in between. Given ETS’s 75 years of experience in the research and assessment space, we understand and have experienced firsthand the critical role that assessments play in an individual’s life. 

ETS’s assessments include the GRE® General Test and TOEFL iBT® test, which are widely respected in the industry and tout vast global acceptance and the highest levels of quality. The GRE is designed to measure the skills needed to succeed in graduate school, including verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, analytical writing and critical thinking. In addition, the TOEFL iBT test is an English proficiency test that evaluates all four English communication skills — reading, listening, speaking and writing — and demonstrates a true reflection of test takers’ communication abilities in an academic environment.

At ETS, we invest heavily in research to provide our test takers and institutions with quality assessments, user-driven educational solutions, and most importantly, to evolve swiftly to meet the needs of the fast-changing times.

In 2020, when the pandemic had limited and/or completely shut down the ability for in-person testing to occur, we introduced TOEFL iBT Home Edition and GRE General Test at home, within a matter of weeks, to serve students and institutions that rely on these tests for admissions. It provided a seamless stopgap for our stakeholders so that they could continue their applications and admissions processes. Nearly 2.5 years later, these at-home tests continue to provide institutions with valid and reliable scores and provide students with convenient, flexible and safe testing options. Given the success of these formats and the overwhelming response we’ve received from test takers, we’ve given these options official, long-standing spots in our product portfolio.

Last year, we introduced TOEFL® Essentials™, a unique test combining the quality institutions trust with the convenience and affordability that students value. As of late August 2022, more than 450 college and university programmes accept the test for admissions.

In addition, we also introduced TOEFL iBT Paper Edition last year, for those who feel more comfortable attempting a test in a conventional way with paper and pencil, to provide our test takers with a robust range of options to test in a way that suits them best. This test offers the Reading, Listening and Writing sections in person, on paper, at a test centre, followed by the Speaking section from the comfort of home.

Tell us about your efforts/initiatives directed toward India and Indian students specifically.
The higher education landscape in India has dynamically transformed over the past two years due to challenges stemming from the global pandemic and the introduction of new education policies. To understand and address the fast-changing needs of Indian test takers and to further strengthen and foster our presence in India, we established our first dedicated Indian subsidiary — ETS India — last year.

This well-equipped team is supporting our operations in-country to continue our work of advancing educational opportunities for Indian learners and helping us understand the challenges that Indian test takers are facing. Just recently, this team helped drive a new exclusive discount offer, where students avail a discount of 25% on the TOEFL iBT test when they register for the GRE General Test, a savings of approximately 3,500 INR (48 USD as per the current exchange rate).

India is a dominant force in the global marketplace, and as part of our commitment to the Indian market, we will continue to dedicate time and resources here to fully understand the market needs and respond to them quickly and efficiently. We expect our presence in India to continue expanding over the coming years. 

For example, we formed a Business School Advisory Council of India, which is composed of senior administrators and admissions leaders from business schools in India. This group provides strategic insights, perspectives and information related to the needs of both schools and students.

To contribute to the overall assessment ecosystem, we are collaborating with many stakeholders in the higher education sector. A couple of months ago, we conducted knowledge-sharing sessions with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on test development, assessment design and item analysis. 

In July, ETS TOEFL® also collaborated with the Association of Australian Education Representatives in India (AAERI) to reduce students’ visa processing times by assisting them to verify TOEFL scores before visa lodgments.

These are just a few of the initiatives we conducted recently. We look forward to sharing more in the coming months as we identify ways to positively impact our diverse set of stakeholders in the market. 

Do shed some light on the top Indian business schools that accept GRE. 
There are more than 1,300 B-schools that accept GRE scores across the globe. Many of these are located in India, including top institutions like the Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kashipur, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Raipur, Udaipur and Vishakhapatnam), Indian School of Business, Xavier Labour Relations Inst XLRI, SP Jain Institute of Management, BITS Pilani and others. 

Due to its global acceptance, this test offers Indian students the choice to travel abroad or even stay close to home to earn a degree from a premier business school. 

The GRE General Test is the one admissions test that can be used to apply to a range of master’s, MBA, law, doctoral and other graduate programmes. This means students only need to take one test to have a world of options within reach. This gives prospective test takers the option to choose from a variety of fields while not excluding other career options at the earlier stages of their education journey. With scores that are valid for five years, the GRE General Test is an excellent choice even for those who are undecided on the course they will eventually pursue.  

GRE helps applicants portray a full, evidence-based picture of themselves, providing a well-established avenue for students to demonstrate their readiness for graduate school. The test provides insightful, contextual information that cannot always be drawn from other, more subjective, elements of an admissions application. 

What can we expect next from ETS in terms of updates, initiatives and anything else? 
On June 15, 2022, Amit Sevak, an Indian-origin American, was appointed as ETS’s seventh President and Chief Executive Officer. 

He holds vast knowledge of the education sector and has many years of experience in the field. Previously, he has held leadership roles at the University of Europe in Madrid, Cambiar Education, CitiBridge and Education Design Lab and others. 

Sevak firmly believes that change is the only constant. As such, we are continuing to evolve and conduct research around the higher education landscape to match up to the ever-changing needs of all our stakeholders. One thing that is for certain — India is incredibly important to ETS and we’re excited to grow and deepen our roots here for years to come. 

Any tips to crack the tests, especially in times of COVID?
The sheer resilience that students have displayed during the black swan event has been commendable and truly inspiring. The most uncertain COVID-19 times could not distract these students from the path of achieving their goals and dreams. 

We advise students to continue working on their aspirations of getting into the college and university of choice despite the circumstances. In that pursuit, the first step is to plan well, which is the essence of success. 

Students should chart out a plan that suits their schedule and requirements. This needs to be followed by selecting the format that suits the aspirant and the right study material which guides the entire test preparation. 

For GRE, we offer a variety of free and low-cost tools that help test takers prepare to be more confident on test day. These include sample questions and answers; practice tests; the new GRE Mentor online course, and more. 

Similarly, a variety of free and low-cost options are available for TOEFL iBT test prep. Test takers can benefit from a free edX® course on getting to know the test; free practice tests; a new Official TOEFL iBT Prep Course and more.  

For more information on the TOEFL iBT test, visit https://toefltest.in. For more information on GRE, visit https://www.ets.org/gre.

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