German residents can claim the honour of achieving the highest average scores in one of the world's most popular English-language tests. Country rankings from the International English Language Testing System show Germany topped the list with its residents receiving an average overall score of 7.16 across the four sections that make up the test. Germany was followed by Malaysia, the Philippines, Russia and Hong Kong. More than a million people were awarded the IELTS certification in the last 12 months, the highest number ever. Just over half of those taking the test said they did so because they wanted to pursue higher education in a foreign country.