TOEFL organisers will let Russians take exams remotely or outside of Russia

The Educational Testing Service (ETS) company, which conducts the international English language exam TOEFL, will let citizens of Russia and Belarus take the exam in a remote format starting from 4 August or outside of Russia, reports news outlet Mediazona, citing an ETS representative Stephanie Winters.

“Starting from 4 August, ETS will introduce changes into its rules dated March 2022 and let examinees from Russia and Belarus register to take [the remote version of the exam] TOEFL iBT Home Edition, TOEFL Essentials, and the home version of GRE if they don’t have financial obstacles stopping them,” the organisation said.

Due to the prolonged conflict in Ukraine, examinees from Russia still cannot take the exam in the test centres located in Russia, the company noted. “Examinees that prefer personal testing will be able to take the exam in other countries if they don’t have financial obstacles or issues with the required trip,” ETS added.

Previously, when a Russian resident tried to register on the website of the exam, a message appeared stating that the user’s data did not fit the ETS criteria due to ETS' “compliance with the requirements of the Office of Foreign Assets Control [of the United States Department of the Treasury]”.

Back in March, TOEFL and IELTS organisers stopped conducting exams on the territory of Russia and Belarus because of the war in Ukraine. Still, Russians could take the exams in other countries.