Free Language Proficiency Tests for Eligible WTI Postgraduate Students

Windle Trust International scholarship applicants pursuing their postgraduate studies in the UK can now take their English language proficiency tests online for free.

Thanks to a new partnership between WTI and the Oxford International Digital Institute (OIDI), which supplies the Oxford English Language Level Test (Oxford ELLT), eligible applicants will be able to fulfil UK universities’ language level requirements without having to pay the fees to take the test, or travel the long distances to find testing centres in their home countries.

Under the three-year, renewable partnership with WTI, OIDI has agreed to fully fund 50 free digital Oxford ELLT Digital tests each year, gifting them at no cost to eligible candidates. Eligible beneficiaries will be those applying for scholarships through WTI’s Postgraduate Programme who meet the programme’s eligibility criteria and require a language proficiency test as part of their application.  

The Oxford ELLT is a fully online language proficiency exam recognised by over 250 universities worldwide, including Bangor University, the University of East Anglia and many more. The digital test can be accessed from a computer anywhere in the world, even in environments with low bandwidth or limited internet speeds, at a date and time of the applicant’s choice, thereby greatly facilitating the number of students who can access the test. Some WTI scholars have been known in the past to travel up to 500 miles to reach authorised testing centres, while others had scholarship offers denied because they couldn’t reach the centres at all.

WTI’s Programme Officer Sairah Rees, who manages the Postgraduate Programme, said the collaboration between WTI and OIDI would further strengthen WTI’s strategy in supporting equitable access to educational opportunities for those affected by conflict and marginalisation in East and the Horn of Africa.

“This partnership will significantly increase access to language testing and therefore to postgraduate study for those we support, both by the remote nature of the test and by the offer of 50 free tests annually,” said Ms Rees.

“It will enable us to secure unconditional offers for our students to many universities.”

Gary Palmer, Managing Director at OIDI, added:

“At OIDI, our mission is to support students and enable learning without limits. This partnership with WTI embodies that commitment. The Oxford ELLT’s fully online, hybrid nature makes it the perfect solution as it removes the barriers of cost and geography that too often stand in the way of talented learners. We are proud to gift these tests each year to help open doors to life-changing educational opportunities."