Vietnamese people have IELTS score from 6.0

Although the average IELTS score of Vietnamese people has not changed, the rate of achieving high scores is decreasing compared to the previous statistics.

More than 1/5 of candidates achieved IELTS 7.0 or higher

After a year of unexplained interruption, the IELTS co-organizers recently announced data related to the IELTS exam globally in 2023 - 2024. Accordingly, for the Academic exam alone, the average IELTS score of Vietnamese people is 6.2, similar to 2022 and ranked 28th out of 39 countries that hold the IELTS exam. However, this position has decreased by 5 places compared to before (ranked 23rd in 2022).

In 2023 - 2024, the IELTS scores of Vietnamese people in listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills are 6.3, 6.4, 6.0, and 5.7, respectively. Compared to 2022, the IELTS listening and speaking skills of candidates in Vietnam decreased slightly by 0.1 points, while the IELTS reading and writing skills remained the same. Compared to the world average, the listening and speaking scores of Vietnamese candidates are lower (6.6 and 6.3), while the remaining two skills are equal.

However, according to experts, this result does not represent the average ability of Vietnamese people because a candidate can retake the IELTS test an unlimited number of times. Among them, some candidates who achieved the maximum score of IELTS 9.0 shared with Thanh Nien that they took the test from several times to dozens of times for work, such as Mr. Luyen Quang Kien, Mr. Nguyen Trung Duc, Mr. Tran Duc Hoa...

In terms of score ratio, 23% of candidates in Vietnam achieved an IELTS score of 7.0 or higher, or more than 1/5, and only 1% of candidates achieved an 8.5. The most common score for Vietnamese people is 6.0 (accounting for 21%), followed by 5.5 and 6.5 (both accounting for 18%). In addition, data from IELTS also shows that 0% of Vietnamese candidates achieved the maximum score of 9.0, perhaps because the number of people achieving this mark is too small to be statistically significant.

A notable point of the score ratio in 2023 - 2024 compared to 2022 is that there are more and more low scores and fewer and fewer high scores. Specifically, in 2023 - 2024, 34% of candidates scored from 4.0 - 5.5, while in 2022 only 29%. Meanwhile, with the level of 6.0 - 7.5, in 2023 - 2024, 61% of candidates achieved, 4% lower than in 2022 (65%). And at the level of 8.0 - 8.5, both measurement times gave the same result of 5% of candidates.

Candidates take a mock test with foreign experts at the IELTS festival held in March.

What is the IELTS picture like in the world?

Internationally, the average IELTS score of Vietnamese people is behind some Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia (7.1), Philippines (6.8), Indonesia (6.7), Myanmar (6.6) and higher than Thailand (6.1), Cambodia (6.0). Vietnam's score is also higher than China and Japan (both 5.9). Overall, the average IELTS score in the world ranges from 5.4 (Oman) to 7.1 (Malaysia and Spain) in 2023 - 2024.

This year, Vietnam is on par with Nepal. In 2022, Vietnam will be in the same position as South Korea, India and Pakistan. All three countries have an average score of 6.3 this year, one place higher than Vietnam.

In addition, only 79.08% of candidates worldwide registered for the Academic test, the rest chose the General Training test (general, often used for settlement purposes or applying for a work permit abroad). Particularly for the Academic test, female candidates (6.23) had a higher average score than male candidates (6.18). This trend is similar for the General Training test (6.2 compared to 6.11).

Previously, the report on foreign language teaching and learning in Vietnam in 2023 conducted by the Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences and the National Foreign Language Project Management Board pointed out that the age of IELTS test takers in Vietnam is getting younger and younger. In 2018, only nearly 1.5% of IELTS test takers were aged 16-18, more than 13% in the 19-22 age group. After 5 years, the proportion of candidates aged 16-18 accounted for 30%, a 20-fold increase, while the 19-22 age group increased more than 2-fold.

Currently, IELTS is accepted by more than 100 higher education institutions in Vietnam to convert test results into English scores for admission purposes. The Ministry of Education and Training also allows candidates with IELTS scores of 4.0 or higher to be exempted from the foreign language high school graduation exam. In 2022, both IDP and the British Council in Vietnam issued 124,567 IELTS certificates.

IELTS (International English Language Testing System) is an international English language testing system widely recognized by thousands of universities, governments and businesses worldwide. The exam was launched in 1989 and is currently jointly owned by IDP, the British Council and Cambridge University Press and Examinations (UK). According to statistics from the exam organizers, every year there are over 2 million candidates taking the IELTS exam worldwide.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nguoi-viet-co-diem-ielts-tu-60-75-it-hon-truoc-chi-1-dat-85-185241014015344056.htm