New TOEFL and GRE center makes the grade

Dong Jun / SHINE

World-leading educational assessment organization Educational Testing Service (ETS) has opened a premium self-operated center in Shanghai for people to take Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL) and Graduate Record Examination (GRE) tests.

The facility is the second test center directly operated by ETS in China, and also in Asia, said Amit Sevak, president and chief executive officer of the organization, at the opening ceremony. Six months ago, a similar facility opened in Beijing.

Located on the ninth floor of the Shanghai World Trade Tower, it is approximately 500 meters from People's Square Metro Station. People can take Metro Line 1, 2 or 8 to reach the center.

Covering an area of more than 1,300 square meters with 254 test seats, it offers computer-based and paper-based tests for the TOEFL assessments (TOEFL iBT, TOEFL Primary, TOEFL Junior and TOEFL ITP), the GRE General Test, the TOEIC tests and the Praxis Series assessments.

Staff from the ETS Shanghai Test Center said it is equipped with advanced facilities to improve the overall testing experience, including high-performance computers, high-speed Internet services, noise-canceling headphones, silent keyboards and ergonomic chairs.

"This facility stands as yet another symbol of our commitment to serving Chinese learners," said Sevak.

Dong Jun / SHINE

Miranda Wang, managing director of ETS China, added: "Shanghai hosts numerous universities and international schools with students of excellent English proficiency. Shanghai, therefore, is one of the cities with the largest test volumes in China. Given the strong demand, our new center will help alleviate test seat shortages in Shanghai and provide additional testing services for test-takers."

The first TOEFL iBT (Internet-based test) and the GRE General Test at the new center are scheduled on May 6-7. Test-takers can register for tests administered in the ETS Shanghai Test Center starting from yesterday.

Earlier this week, ETS also announced a series of enhancements of its TOEFL iBT tests beginning from July 26. These include a shortened time, from three hours to less than two hours, a shorter reading section, a new writing task and the removal of all unscored test questions.

Dong Jun / SHINE

He said since ETS first introduced the TOEFL and the GRE tests into China in1981, it had seen hundreds of thousands of students in China take its assessments every year. Though there was a dip in the number of test-takers during the pandemic, it is increasing as China has adjusted its policy.

"We see the aspiration, the interest in exploring opportunities to study abroad," he said. "We are now seeing the volumes, the number of test takers starting to increase."

He pointed out that there is a growing demand for individuals to explore the possibility to have an international education, as in 2000, there were approximately 1. 5 million students who were studying outside of their home country, and in 2019 that number was more than 5 million.

"I think transnational education brings people together," he said. "It increases understanding and also can help provide stability and peace. I think these are very, very important things. So I'm a big fan of transnational education."

Dong Jun / SHINE

He encourages Chinese students to explore all of the options for higher education, including Chinese universities, international universities in China, and studying abroad, to gain exposure to different teaching methods and intercultural experiences.

"Chinese universities are getting every day more and more recognition, more and more rankings, more and more research collaboration," he said.

"There are many good Chinese universities and there are also excellent international universities in China. And when you study abroad, there are many places you can go.

"So there are lots of options. And I think that's good news. So I would say, do your homework, explore options, check out the possibilities and see what fits."