Chinese students recently rushed to snap up spots to take an English-language test, suggesting a heightened interest in studying in the United States and other English-speaking countries. This comes despite the deteriorating relationship between Beijing and Washington.
The Educational Testing Service (ETS), the U.S. organization that administers the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), on Oct. 14 opened registration for 2021 TOEFL tests in China. Within five minutes of opening, all test spots in Beijing and Shanghai for the first eight months of 2021 had booked out.
Test places in other Chinese cities, such as Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Xi’an, Wuhan, Changsha, Nanjing, Xiamen, and Changchun, similarly booked out quickly.
ETS released more 2012 TOEFL test seats two days later. But several minutes after the release, Chinese students started complaining that those spots had been booked out too.
In response to the soaring demand, ETS said on its official Chinese social media account that it would release more seats at 10:00 a.m local time every Wednesday and Friday going forward. Following the announcement, Chinese students commented that they would set their alarms to remind them to register at each upcoming release.
TOEFL is a standardized English-language test and accepted by most American high-schools, universities, and institutions, as well as those in the UK, Australia, and other countries.
To apply for American universities or many British and Australian academies, a Chinese student must have a TOEFL score. A TOEFL score is valid for two years.
ETS released its first batch of seats for the 2021 TOEFL tests at 10:00 a.m. on Oct. 14. The seats covered the first 53 testing dates in 11 Chinese cities. However, Chinese students quickly found out that all seats for the tests were booked out, especially the seats from January to August.