PTE Academic launches free Online course to help test takers

Growing acceptance gives test takers more study options

Top ranking Belgian institution, Ghent University, is the latest in an increasing number of leading European institutions to accept PTE Academic. Other universities which have recently joined up to enable students to take this fast, fair, flexible, and accurate test of English include:

• Kuehne Logistics University in Germany

• Poznań University of Economics and Business in Poland

• The University of Agder in Norway

If your dream is to study in Europe, you can take PTE Academic to further your education in countries including the UK, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy.

About PTE Academic

PTE Academic is the world’s leading computer-based test of English for study abroad and immigration.

Typically, PTE Academic results are available within two business days. We run test sessions in over 117 countries around the world up to 365 days per year.

• Check out our full list of universities that accept PTE Academic.

• Find your nearest PTE test center and view exam fees.

PTE Academic is an increasingly popular English proficiency test of choice for nurses and other healthcare professionals looking to open up possibilities for career advancement and exciting migration opportunities within their chosen vocation.

At a recent RPS Migration seminar for nurses, held in Singapore, I was given the opportunity to present on PTE Academic to the audience of nurses and healthcare professionals.

It was great to meet first hand these healthcare professionals, some of whom will take our test in order to turn their dreams into reality, and heartening to see the excitement in their eyes as they speak of their migration plans and life journey ahead.

Recognition work done by PTE Academic teams in Australia and globally have opened up audiences such as these healthcare professionals; with our test now recognized as a key ingredient and viable option in the path toward working abroad and permanent residency.

Key to this success is the Australian government recognition of PTE Academic scores toward work visa and migration applications. Following this and also of considerable importance is recognition of the test from numerous healthcare professional bodies.

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council’s (ANMAC) included PTE Academic as an accepted language test for nurses and midwives applying for a migration skills assessment in July 2016.

In the years since, PTE Academic has continued to expand its recognition and acceptance with healthcare bodies both in Australia and globally.

PTE Academic is now recognized by:

• Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA)

  Encompassing, The National Boards of: Chinese Medicine, Chiropractic, Dental, Medical, Medical Radiation Practice, Nursing and Midwifery, Occupational Therapy, Optometry, Osteopathy, Paramedicine, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, Podiatry, Psychology

• A growing number of State Boards of Nursing in the USA including Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas.

• Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians Board of New Zealand

Looking to the future we will be aiming to get recognition from ever more professional bodies, so that PTE Academic can continue to play its part in facilitating great adventures and bringing to fruition life-changing events for working professionals both young and old.

Gordon Vanstone, PTE Academic – Client Relations Manager for South East Asia (Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia) writes about how nurses and the healthcare profession are choosing PTE Academic.

Learn more about PTE Academic or check test date availability near you.

Earlier this week Pearson and UCL Institute of Education hosted an event to launch their three-year research partnership looking at the role of AI in English Language assessment. The event was held at UCL and was kicked off by a lively debate on the opportunities that AI offers to the field of educational assessment – as well as some of the challenges. I was joined by leading experts in the field of assessment who all gave their own unique take on this topic. To summarise:

Dr. Mary Richardson from UCL, who will be co-leading the research collaboration, emphasized the central values of truth, equity, and trust in the assessment. These values have been a continual challenge in traditional paper-based testing, so we must also ensure that in the emerging world of Automated and AI assessments. We establish public awareness, understanding, and trust that test takers are treated fairly, irrespective of their gender, race or location.

Dr. Bryan Maddox from the University of East Anglia continued with the theme of establishing validity in a new age of assessment. Bryan is an expert in the use of micro analytics to explore and analyze student interaction with assessments, which can then be fed back for test evaluation purposes. The considerable amount of process data that automated assessment offers rich research opportunities to use Micro-analytic methods (video ethnography, eye tracking, retrospective think-aloud). All well suited to demonstrate the validity and fairness of assessments in heterogeneous global AI test-taking populations.

I described how machine learning works, particularly in the skills of speaking and writing. I emphasized the importance of ensuring that assessment is not only reliable and accurate but just as important that they represent the full knowledge and skills of a subject. AI can do this, and therefore it opens up the opportunities for authentic, fair and fast assessment- globally.