The TOEFL iBT test has recently been authorised by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for use in Canada's Student Direct Stream (SDS), as per a recent announcement made public by the Educational Testing Service (ETS). The SDS route's only approved English language proficiency testing choice up until this declaration has been the IELTS Academic exam.
With the publication of this announcement, Indian students can now start including their TOEFL iBT results in their SDS applications starting on August 10, 2023. Insofar as all qualifying criteria are satisfied, the majority of SDS Canada applications, said the ETS, will be processed within nearly 20 days of the application being submitted.
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SDS Canada is an initiative that accelerates the approval of Canadian student visas for international students who intend to get admitted to one of the approved lists of Canada’s designated learning institutions (DLI).
All universities in Canada already recognise the TOEFL iBT test, which is also the most commonly used English-language proficiency assessment worldwide, being adopted by more than 12,000 educational facilities in more than 160 nations, said ETS.
As addressed in another news, the PTE Academic is now been accepted for SDS Canada. This means that the Pearson Test of English (PTE Academic) is an addition to Canada's SDS programme along with the TOEFL iBT test.
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This modification accompanies the most recent announcement made by the ETS of introducing a handful of changes to the TOEFL iBT test. It said the TOEFL iBT test will be shortened by 1 hour from July 26, 2023, down from the previous three-hour duration, as per the revamped test format proclaimed by the ETS.
Further, keeping in line with the administrating authority, the TOEFL iBT test will also now include a brand-new, more contemporary "Writing for an Academic Discussion" task in place of the "independent writing task". Additionally, the TOEFL reading section has also been condensed, and all ungraded test questions have been eliminated.
Source: The Indian Express
Learn More About the SDS Process in Canada