The Educational Testing Service (ETS) stated that the TOEFL iBT exam has been approved by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for use in the country’s Student Direct Stream (SDS) programme, which is a significant milestone for foreign students wanting to study in Canada. The SDS programme is intended to speed up the processing of study permits for overseas students enrolled in specified learning institutions in Canada.
According to the IRCC, the majority of SDS applications are handled within 20 calendar days if all eligibility requirements are met. This streamlined approach allows students to receive their study permits and begin their education in Canada more quickly.
Starting from August 10, 2023, students applying through the SDS programme can now submit their TOEFL iBT scores as part of their application. The ETS expressed their satisfaction with the approval, emphasizing that the TOEFL iBT test is already accepted by all Canadian universities and is globally recognized, being utilized by over 12,000 institutions in more than 160 countries.
In addition to the TOEFL iBT, the Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic), an English-language competence test, has been approved for use in Canada’s SDS programme. This expands the choices for overseas students who want to demonstrate their language competency as part of their study permit applications.
This development follows ETS’s recent updates to improve the TOEFL iBT exam experience. The updated format now has a shorter duration of less than two hours, as opposed to the former three-hour duration. In addition, the test includes a new Writing for an Academic Discussion activity, which replaces the prior independent writing work. To guarantee a more focused and efficient evaluation, the reading part has also been reduced, with unscored test questions removed.
Updated versions of the TOEFL iBT free practise exam and practise sets are now available on the official TOEFL website to help students prepare for the revised test format. These tools are intended to familiarize test takers with the new structure and to offer them with important practise materials to help them perform better.
International students may expect a faster application procedure and an enhanced testing experience now that the TOEFL iBT exam has been approved, as well as decreased test time and changed question forms.
“We are thrilled to be unlocking more opportunities for students to access one of the world’s most desirable study abroad destinations,” said Rohit Sharma, Senior Vice President of Global Higher Education and Workskills at ETS. “Not only will the addition of TOEFL benefit the hundreds of thousands of students who take advantage of the SDS route each year, but institutions can feel confident knowing that they can access a wider pool of applicants who can demonstrate their skills with the premier test of English-language proficiency,” he added.
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