Russians and Belarusians can no longer take TOEFL: only abroad or online

Recently, Russian citizens have found that they cannot register for the TOEFL English language exam, which is required for admission to many foreign universities. On August 3, the American Educational Testing Service (ETS) announced that they would allow Russians to take this exam, but only abroad or online, reports with the BBC.

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ETS has banned Russian citizens from registering for the TOEFL exam. It is impossible to register for the test if you indicate Russian citizenship. When you try to indicate your Russian citizenship, a message appears: “As required by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), your access to TOEFL products and services is limited.”

OFAC is the structure of the US Department of the Treasury responsible for monitoring compliance with sanctions.

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The support service, when asked about the reasons for such restrictions, answered: “Because you are from Russia. If you are a Russian living in Russia or not living in Russia, you cannot register to take the TOEFL.”

No official documents, on the basis of which the Russians were forbidden to take the exam, could not be provided in the support service.

Later it turned out that Russian citizens not only cannot register for testing, but also cannot send the results of an already passed test to universities.

Everything is not so scary

In response to questions from reporters, ETS spokeswoman Stephanie Winters said that from August 4, the service will amend its policy from March 2022 and allow Russians to take the TOEFL exam, but only abroad or online.

“Due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, students in Russia and Belarus will still not be able to take exams at exam centers in these countries. Students who prefer to take the exam in person are encouraged to do so from other countries and regions unless they have financial or other travel restrictions to do so,” she said.

Winters said the mention of OFAC requirements on the registration platform was intended to demonstrate that the agency's restrictions impacted "a portion of our in-country testing operations (including with respect to third parties such as financial institutions, courier companies, etc.) Further)".

On March 10, ETS suspended TOEFL English exams in Russia and Belarus due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. At the same time, it became known that in Russia it would no longer be possible to take the English IELTS exam.

IELTS and TOEFL are the most popular English language exams for applicants to foreign universities. After they were banned from taking them on the territory of Russia, citizens of the country began to travel to take them abroad.

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