British Council’s IELTS business is being sold to IDP
The British Council has released news on selling its IELTS business in India to IDP.
Both partners were co-owning the IELTS business, but IDP will now acquire 100 % of the British Council’s India IELTS business. As per the agreement, the business is being sold for £130 million on a debt-free, cash-free basis and the completion is expected in August. The terms stipulate that British Council employees working on IELTS in India will become part of the IDP and the new ownership will result in the IELTS test being delivered by IDP.
IDP is a leader in international education services helping students to study English language. The benefit of this sale is that the customers undertaking the IELTS test can be confident that they will be delivered the best possible experience.
The British Council has faced significant financial difficulties as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and received a grant of £179 million from the UK government in 2021/22.
Kate Ewart-Biggs, Interim CEO of British Council, ensured its commitment to the services of the British Council in India and stated that the sale will allow the improvement of the British Council’s financial position.
‘Distributing IELTS solely through IDP in India will simplify and improve the customer experience for IELTS test takers. As IDP already delivers IELTS in India, the high-quality service provided to IELTS customers will remain the same.’
The British Council in India will keep their goals of building partnerships and understanding between the two countries through arts, education and the English language.
Ms Ewart-Biggs acknowledged the hard work of the staff across India for many years and especially during the pandemic and who enabled the delivery of the test that is trusted globally by many organizations.
IELTS (the International English Language Testing System) is one of the world’s most popular English language tests for work, study and migration and stands as a reliable indicator of English language abilities. Candidates are tested in listening, reading, writing and speaking to obtain results that are accepted by many higher education institutions and other organizations.
