China cancels all IELTS courses

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Nasty for Australian education, via Xinhua:

China’s Ministry of Education announced that English proficiency exams Chinese students take to get enrolled by foreign universities will be cancelled nationwide during February in view of the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak.

The exams include the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT).

The IELTS test scheduled for Jan. 31 was also called off, according to the ministry.

Noting the prevention and control of the epidemic is the top priority at the present time, the ministry asked for the understanding of test takers and promised to update new test plans based on the progress of epidemic control.

Yep. It’s going to hurt.

About the author
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.