I think, in the case where English test scores are used as a criteria for admitting students into a university, there is something seriously wrong with that. The language skills of a student learned over many years can not be evaluated during a short exam from a few topics of discussion, and judgment passed on whether or not the student is able to use the language. There are several factors that affect the performance of the student during the exam. I would agree more with a system where the student is admitted into the university and required to take on-campus language remedial lessons. This will allow the student to learn the language and put it in use at the same time. Moreover, the language lessons would directly be related to the student's main course. I have a student who has taken the IELTS exam more than four times each time missing the 6.5 required score for one or two sections. She has moved from one teacher to another, from one training centre to another until she is really discouraged now both with the language and even the main course she intended to study abroad.
A lot of people now see the exams more as money-making mechanisms than a genuine assessment of language skills.
