Juliet Jacob Ochenje
Nigerians will be required to pay a fee of N139,000 for the English Language Testing System (IELTS) examinations by February 1, 2024, as announced by the British Council in Nigeria.
This represents a 29% increase for the Computer Academic and General Training Modules from the specified date.
The IELTS examination is widely recognized globally as evidence of language proficiency for non-native English speakers.
This latest fee increment comes just five months after the previous modifications in September 2023, when the fee rose from a range of N80,000 to N90,000 to the current N107,500.
The British Council attributed the change in fee to the rising costs of conducting the examination.
In a notice published on the council’s website, it stated, “The price change is a response to the increments of costs of conducting the exams, this modification is expected to support the continuation of a diversified range of services and broad support for individuals endeavouring to achieve their language competency objectives.”
Reacting to the statement on social media, an X user @African Intelligence, wrote, “In reality Nigerians who speak English as first language and have completed a primary school education with a pass/credit in English should NEVER be required to take any basic certification about that language, if I was president, I’d retrieve every fee ever paid to British Council.
Another user @markmorpys2, said, “Nigerians can boycott/snub IELTS without single patronage. They will consider and reduce it to an affordable minimal fee or revert to the old rate…. #Extortion.”
