Wrong Calculation of IELTS Score, Cambridge English Fined IDR 21 Billion

JAKARTA - The UK Qualifications and Examinations Regulator (Ofqual) has fined Cambridge English 875,000 pounds sterling (about Rp21 billion) for errors in the assessment of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam that affected tens of thousands of participants.

In its statement, Thursday, June 11, Ofqual said the fine was given after CambridgeEnglish published incorrect results to thousands of English Language test takers.

Ofqual - the UK's non-ministerial government department - said a computer system error in the IELTS results process caused tens of thousands of candidates around the world in the 2023-2025 period to receive inaccurate scores.

As reported by ANTARA from Sputnik, the participants affected by the system error included those who took tests for visa, relocation, and university enrollment purposes.

"A total of 62,794 participants received incorrect results for the listening and reading components, which were then corrected. About a third of them, or 21,717 participants, received changes to their overall scores," said Ofqual.

According to the statement, most of the participants had a false decrease in grades, while about 1,000 participants actually received higher grades than they should have.

All the wrong results have been corrected. Almost all cases recorded a change of 0.5 points; while two cases experienced a 1-point increase in the overall score.