The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) was originally intended and designed as
a set of international benchmarks to assess an individual’s proficiency for academic study in Englishspeaking
teaching contexts. This test, in addition to other international tests designed for a similar
purpose, has now been adopted by a number of professional associations throughout the Englishspeaking
world as a reliable means of assessing the quality of communication in English language for
the professional workplace. The growing trend for IELTS to be adopted by users outside of academia,
including governments, professional organisations and employers, may constitute a risk for the test
owners if the assessment system cannot be validated for the purposes for which it is being used.