Reflections on achievements and shortcomings in the IELTS exam in a technical university over an eight-year period

IELTS exam is an internationally recognized tool to measure students’ proficiency in academic English, and in anglophone countries it often plays a role of a gatekeeper to a university. At National University of Science and Technology MISiS (NUST MISiS) IELTS exam, on the contrary, completes a four-year long English course for all majors. IELTS exam was used as the unique KPI of the program effectiveness, enabling the department to monitor graduates’ proficiency throughout eight years, track its dynamics against the placement test levels, and oversee the factors which affect final results. The data obtained from 5600 engineering students revealed that no more than 50% could achieve the target B2/C1. There was a strong correlation between the entrance levels and final IELTS results, except for the COVID-19 year (KPI = 38%). Trajectories drawn for each starting level statistically confirm the primacy of this factor. The entrants with the initial A1 level could hardly achieve B2 (11%), while A2 cohort were in the zone of perspective growth (57%). Among other factors that impede setting higher KPI the authors name the nature of the university environment with the high flexibility of a student population, and their motivation to take IELTS. These findings demonstrate that actual effectiveness of a program can differ significantly from theoretical expectations, and this should be taken into account by course designers.