Eastman Immigrant Services, a program of the Steinbach Chamber of Commerce, has announced that for the first time ever, Heartland International English School (Heartland) will be conducting an official International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test in Steinbach.
The IELTS is the most popular English proficiency test and is used to measure English language proficiency for academic, employment and general purposes. There are two options for test takers; the Academic IELTS, which will assess English language skills for people entering a post-secondary institution and the General Training IELTS, which is ideal for immigrants entering an English-speaking community or job. This test is used extensively by post-secondary institutions, employers, professional organizations and government agencies, such as Citizenship and Immigration Canada. IELTS is jointly owned by British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia and the Cambridge English Language Assessment through locations in over 130 countries.
Heartland, Manitoba’s only accredited private ESL (English as a second language) school, has partnered with the IDP: IELTS Australia as an official testing centre to administer the IELTS in Winnipeg. Heartland administers the test twice per month at the Winnipeg campus on William Avenue. As an official test centre, Heartland can administer the test in venues outside of Winnipeg and will be administering the test in Steinbach on January 29 in partnership with Eastman Immigrant Services.
“The IELTS test is a difficult and stressful undertaking for most people; we want to make the registration and test taking experience as simple as possible,” says Gary Gervais, President of Heartland.
“By offering the test in Steinbach, we hope to make the test more accessible for people living in south-eastern Manitoba. Our hope is that we will be successful with this first off-site testing in Steinbach and we can administer the test there on a regular basis.”
The IELTS is administered over the course of the day and will be offered at Grace Mennonite Church on Thursday, January 29, 2015 starting at 9am. The cost of the test is $303. To register for the IELTS, please contact Eastman Immigrant Services at D4- 284 Reimer Avenue, Steinbach. Phone: 204 346-6609.
