The British Council organised IELTS Scholarship 2018 award ceremony at their office in Dhaka University campus area on Wednesday, 10 October 2018. The IELTS Scholarship is an award developed by the British Council to help more people access international education, experience and network. These scholarships were given to the winners after a rigorous selection process comprising of written tests, face to face presentations and interview sessions. For this year’s awards, approximately 500 students who have taken IELTS from the British Council, submitted their applications.
This year, for the first time, the British Council has also made the scholarship scheme available to students wishing to pursue higher education in Bangladesh. They offered three scholarships worth BDT 300,000 (each) to study abroad and four scholarships worth BDT 150,000 (each) to study in-country.
All partner IELTS Registration Centers (IRCs Dhaka) of the British Council were present at the event to celebrate the success of the winners. The programme gave an overview of the current IELTS market landscape and explored how the British Council and its partners can collaboratively work together to establish IELTS in Higher Education in Bangladesh.
Best Performing IRC award and Associate Appreciation award were also distributed to the British Council IELTS partners at the ceremony.
Sebastian Pearce, Director Examinations Bangladesh, British Council discussed how the IELTS test has been performing worldwide and where Bangladesh stands in comparison to other countries. He also highlighted the significance of IELTS in higher education across the world and how the test can positively contribute to higher education in Bangladesh.
Following on, Sarwat Reza, Head of Business Development, British Council Bangladesh gave the audience further insight into how the skills assessed through IELTS. She added that IELTS can help at various stages of an individual’s academic life, and how this credible and incorporable standard could aid institutions across Bangladesh regarding the quality assessment of their future graduates.
Showing his gratitude towards the British Council, one of the winners, Asif Siddique Tarafdar said: “For the British Council, I can now comfortably pursue my masters because it would have been very challenging for me to bear my tuition fees alone.”
This year, the British Council has awarded seven IELTS Scholarships to both local and international students.