Test-takers’ experiences and perceptions of computer-delivered IELTS: a multiple-case study

Abstract

Since 2019, the computer-delivered IELTS has granted faster, more convenient, and more flexible testing experiences for Dhaka’s examinees in Bangladesh, who have benefitted from their city’s recently expanding infrastructure and high-tech digital accesses. This qualitative cross-case assessment research has been performed individually on 15 computer-delivered IELTS’ test-takers of 2025 and potential test-takers of 2026 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, by consensually interviewing and observing them – both in-person at their respective British Council- and IDP Education-authorized and partnered learning-testing centres, which are scattered across Dhaka, as well as remotely – in order to holistically gather their firsthand and vicarious experiences with, as well as their wide-ranging perspectives on the digitalized English language proficiency-testing format, which have been, in some distinct ways, different from those of the traditional paper-based IELTS’ candidates of Dhaka. It focuses mainly on the computer-based IELTS’ digital interfaces’ usability features, the test-day logistics, the examinees’ test readiness and digital competencies, the online test-registration conveniences, and on the test-results delivery speediness. The predominant consensus from the consulted miscellaneous and relevant academic journal articles and reports, as well as the former and prospective candidates’ feedback, is that although the computer-based IELTS is identical to its paper-based counterpart, the digital and online-based mode of test-delivery itself has been affecting test-takers’ experiences and test preparations in several unique ways, which are explored in greater depth within this study. Overall, this research paper’s strength lies in its potential to deliver significant insights into the Dhaka-residing IELTS’ examinees’ preferences and challenges, including their test-taking strategies and performance trends, in their computer-based IELTS within 2025, for the sake of officially implementing meaningful changes to and bettering the region’s digitalized test-administration systems altogether, as well as for the sake of structuring, improving, and guiding test-takers’ appropriate and effective examination-preparation and technology-familiarization pedagogies and approaches in the upcoming years.