Proficiency in English is essential for entry into a top international graduate program.
If English is not either your mother tongue, or the language of instruction of your first degree, then you will be asked to demonstrate that your English language ability is up to par.
Why test English? Well, the top universities around the world generally teach their graduate programs in English and although many other very well regarded institutions also teach in their local language, say for example French and German, it is English that has become the modern currency in international education. Universities offering their graduate programs in English look for excellent ability in the language to ensure that their high academic standards and intellectual and discussion based approach focus on the subject and issues at hand, rather than get caught up with the mechanics of a student’s language ability. In most cases graduate programs are so intellectually intense that there is no time to waste on improving a student’s English language ability at the same time as developing subject-specific knowledge and skills.
The most common way of demonstrating your English ability is through one of the globally recognised standardised examinations offered by either ETS, who own and administer the TOEFL and TOEIC tests or the University of Cambridge, British Council and IDP Australia consortium that administers the IELTS examination. All these tests are recognised by universities all over the world as sufficient to meet their language entry standards. Tests can be administered either entirely online or in a more face-to-face environment, depending on the country in which you are taking them. Each test is comprised of various parts to test different aspects of your language abilities, such as written, spoken and listening comprehension. Universities tend to look for balanced scores in each of the individual categories of the test to ensure that incoming students have strengths across the full range of language areas.
In very general terms, US universities still prefer the TOEFL test to any other, while Australian and UK institutions opt for the IELTS examination. However, such distinctions are now blurring and it is always best to check the individual website of the university you are interested in applying to before you decide which English test to take. The scores that universities will expect you to obtain in these tests vary from institution to institution and country to country. Arts, humanities and social science masters programs will require scores of anywhere between 6.0 and 7.5 in IELTS, 620 and above in the written TOEFL test and 260 and above in the TOEFL computer-based test. Science and engineering programs, again, depending on the institution and the country, tend to require slightly lower scores, with 6.0 and 6.5 being common in the IELTS, 550 and higher in the written TOEFL test and 213 and above in the TOEFL computer-based test. PhD and Research programs tend to require higher English scores than masters programs.
Where your test scores or other English language background is not quite at the standard that your prospective university expects, additional preparation ahead of your graduate program is often available. Universities in most countries, but in particular Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK, routinely offer pre-sessional English language programs of between one and three months, depending on your individual ability, offering you intensive English preparatory courses to help you meet the required entry standards before your graduate program admissions is confirmed. Such programs tend to offer students the opportunity to come to campus much earlier than other students and learn in the environment that they will ultimately be seeking their graduate program in.
Of course, these standardised tests can only give you an indication of your abilities with written and spoken English and universities around the world recognise this. When you arrive for your graduate program you will experience a period of adjustment, no matter how good your English ability is, from the kind of language use you are familiar with to how English is used in both a graduate academic and technical context. This is by no means an easy thing to master, but the top universities support all international students through this process by offering them tuition and additional help to overcome any of these initial problems. The best universities in the world today all offer Language Centres for their own students to improve any weakness they may have in their English language abilities – often in very small areas such as lecture note taking, dissertation preparation or research language.
There will soon be an article on www.topuniversities.com on the individual tests so keep an eye out for that.