Hong Kong students ranked third in English proficiency in Asia in 2018, IELTS rankings reveal
- On a 9-band IELTS scale, Hong Kong students scored an average of 6.53 in 2018
- Students from Malaysia and the Philippines scored an average of 6.88 and 6.81 respectively
Hong Kong students’ English proficiency continued to rank third in Asia, behind Malaysia and the Philippines, in 2018, according to a global education consultant.
Education consultancy firm IDP, which administers the IELTS test for non-native English speakers, compiled the rankings based on reports from 20 countries – including Germany, Greece, Malaysia, Spain, and Canada – from where most people took the test.
Like 2017, Hong Kong ranked 13th on the global list in 2018 too.
Takers of the test from Hong Kong scored an average of 6.53, which remained unchanged from 2017, on the 9-band IELTS scale, where 1 indicates a “non-user” of the language and 9 means an “expert user”. The test comprises four sections – reading, listening, writing and speaking – each of which is graded separately.
Malaysian test takers scored an average of 6.88, while Filipino students scored 6.81, a drop from 6.84 in 2017. The two countries remained the two top scorers from Asia, despite the Philippines dropping in the global rankings from fifth to seventh.