English language testers fined over marking errors

The exams regulator has fined Cambridge English £875,000 after it issued incorrect results to tens of thousands of people who took English language tests.

Ofqual said computer-automated marking errors with the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) qualification led to 62,794 test takers receiving incorrect results.

More than 7.7 million of the global tests were taken in that timeframe, but the errors were not noticed until September.

Cambridge English accepted the breaches and said it spent more than £6m on correcting errors, compensating people and investing in measures to prevent a repeat.

The students, who were mainly international, received the incorrect results between August 2023 and September 2025.

IELTS is jointly owned by the British Council, IDP IELTS and Cambridge University Press and Assessment and it informed Ofqual once the errors were spotted.

Amanda Swann, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation's executive director for delivery, said: "Those who took these tests, as well as those who used them, were let down by systemic failures over a long period and our significant fine reflects this."

Test results were corrected, with more than 20,600 of the new results leading to a higher qualification score.

UK visa-related tests accounted for 1,108 of the affected exams.

Of these, there were four cases where incorrect results impacted visa eligibility, according to IELTS.

In each of the four cases, test takers have since resat and met entrance requirements.

A spokesperson for IELTS apologised for the error.

"Once this issue was identified, we acted to rectify it, correcting results and supporting people. We offered refunds or resits to everyone affected," they said.

"We have conducted a thorough review of what happened and have implemented additional operational controls and safeguards to prevent a recurrence."

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