“The GCC will be like an extended arm of ETS working across the board and will scale up to 500-600 employees in the next few years. It will focus on high-end research through different divisions and centres of excellence in India,” said Sachin Jain, country manager, ETS India and South Asia.
The centre, which could be established by next year, will focus on enhancing ETS’s operational capabilities across key areas such as finance, human resources, technology, business intelligence, and assessment operations.
As ETS looks to expand its presence in India, it is also collaborating with stakeholders to ensure ethical practices in overseas applications.
Twenty student counselling organisations, supported by ETS, have formed the Consortium of Foreign Education Advisors to address fraudulent test scores, incorrect education credentials, and recruitment scams from India.
The consortium, called CEFA, includes the Valmiki Group, IAEC Consultants, Global Tree Careers, IVY Overseas, and SN Global Consultants.
Despite over 1.3 million Indian students studying abroad in 2024, making India one of the largest source markets, reports of fake acceptance letters and test scores have led to concerns among universities in major study destinations.
“The core basic premise for us remains that for the validity of a TOEFL score, the fairness, compliance, and security standards have to be upto the mark,” said Jain.
“Anecdotally, what I would like to share is that when somebody presents a TOEFL score to a visa counsellor, 8 out of 10 times, there is a level of comfort that what I represent as a score versus what I speak to a counsellor is matching.”
TOEFL, a key competitor to IELTS in English proficiency testing, is popular among Indian students and professionals planning to study or work in the US and Canada.
According to ETS, Indians accounted for 12.3% of the total test takers globally in 2022, up from 7.5% the previous year.
Moreover, the percentage of Indian test-takers using TOEFL for licensure, certification, or secondary school education abroad increased from 5.83% of total aspirants in 2021 to 7.77% in 2022.
However, with changing policies in countries such as Canada and Australia, where TOEFL is accepted, the number of test takers could drop in the coming years.
“The entire industry is facing geopolitical concerns, and that will impact student test-takers in India, who would now like to take their time as this is a huge financial undertaking for them and their parents.”
Sachin Jain, ETS
“The entire industry is facing geopolitical concerns, and that will impact student test-takers in India, who would now like to take their time as this is a huge financial undertaking for them and their parents,” said Jain.
According to Jain, policy changes in study destinations, which can be attributed to changing socio-economic dynamics post-Covid, would “settle over some time”.
“Despite the policies, our strategies remain the same. We are sure that it will settle over time as skilled and highly skilled labour and workforce is required in every market,” said Jain.
“Overall the policy reaction is focused on low-skilled, certain diploma programs, rather than university education, as countries need students with those skills. The policy changes will correct post-Covid growth in the form of disguised migration, which will eventually make the countries good places for work and study.”
With Indian universities seeing more students enrolled in undergraduate courses than ever before, ETS has been collaborating with schools and higher education institutions nationwide.
“There’s a very active outreach that we do with universities, where we are not just talking about TOEFL, but acting as a bridge between the students and international universities,” said Jain.
One such example is ETS’s recent collaboration with the University of Cambridge this month, which focused on introducing students to the university’s application process, course offerings, and scholarships.
“The event, which happened on November 10 on a Sunday, saw the participation of over 200 students. That one-hour session turned into a three-hour session,” said Jain.
“Ultimately, for any student looking for a research program, we will have not only Cambridge but also Northeastern University, Illinois Institute of Technology, and other institutions come and talk to students. We do this across India with institutions from the US, UK, Germany, etc.”
ETS has partnered with certain states across India to provide customised English assessments to the students studying in state-run schools.
Recently, the government of Andhra Pradesh signed a memorandum of understanding with ETS, wherein more than 1.6 million students from grades three to nine in the state-run schools wrote their first-ever TOEFL readiness test.
According to Jain, more such agreements will be signed with other states in India in the next few years.
“This initiative, which we call TOEFL Young Students Series, is a form of global assessment where a student gets a globally valid assessment score which you can benchmark with another class of the school, another school in the district, or from district to district,” said Jain.
“This would be very relevant for policymakers and provide a general understanding of what a student’s competency should be in class 3, 5, 9, etc.”
To encourage the vibrant trainer ecosystem in India, ETS is also investing in it to help them gain confidence.
“TOEFL-certified trainers can take the TOEFL test at a designated test center, and if they score a minimum of 85 out of 120, ETS will fully reimburse their test fees. A score of 100 earns a certificate of merit, while a score of 110+ comes with a reward of 10,000 INR,” said Jain.
“This initiative reflects our investment in the ecosystem within a short span of two months.”
The testing organisation is also working on various consulting projects with the Ministry of Education, including the student learning assessment platform called ‘Parakh,’ launched by the All India Council for Technical Education.
“Our goal is to make India not just a source country for international students but a destination for graduate, postgraduate, and research programs,” said Jain.
“This shift brings added research and innovation into the Indian economy and remains our key focus area. We aim to establish India as a prominent host country for global talent.”