Parts of teachers’ language assessments replaced with IELTS and state proficiency test

The written and speaking assessments of the Language Proficiency Assessment for English and Putonghua teachers will be replaced with IELTS and the Test of Proficiency in Putonghua conducted by the State Language Commission starting in the 2024/25 school year. 

For English teachers who do not possess a relevant degree in English or haven’t received relevant specialized training, they should take the IELTS Academic Module. 

They are required to attain an overall band score of 7.5 or above with no individual band scores below 7.0, i.e. the Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking band scores. 

Starting from the new school year, teachers newly appointed or deployed as the English Panel Chair in subsidized primary and secondary schools are also required to attain an overall band score of 8.0 or above with no individual band scores below 7.5 in the IELTS exams. 

As for Putonghua teachers, they are required to take the Test of Proficiency in Putonghua conducted by the State Language Commission and attain Grade A, Level 2 or above in the test. 

All English and Putonghua teachers should also obtain the “attained” results in the Classroom Language Assessment (CLA). For English panel chairs, they should obtain the results “attained with merit”. 

Announcing the new arrangements on Wednesday, the Education Bureau said schools must verify whether the teachers to be appointed have obtained the relevant qualifications, or require them to provide valid certification of results, to confirm that they have fulfilled the requirements. 

“The Language Proficiency Requirement policy has been implemented for over 20 years, and the overall language proficiency of English and Putonghua teachers has been improving. 

“Taking into account the concerns from the education sector and stakeholders, the latest trends of education development, students’ learning needs and schools’ needs for deployment of human resources, the bureau has reviewed the arrangements of the LPR policy and formulated enhanced measures.”