The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is proud to celebrate its twentieth anniversary in 2009, marking its unprecedented international growth and success in setting the standard of English language proficiency for Higher Education and migration.

Since IELTS was introduced in 1989, it has developed into a global leader, with annual candidate numbers rising to well over one million in 2008, and accepted by over 6,000 organisations worldwide. Director of British Council Sri Lanka, Gill Westaway is especially pleased with this achievement as she was part of the team that developed the test in 1989, working between colleagues in UK and Australia's IDP, who bought into the jointly owned test and made it truly international.

"IELTS is bigger and more influential than those of us involved in the development process could ever have imagined, and I remain very proud indeed to have been associated with the launch of a product that has become such a global giant. I hope it can continue to prosper despite new competitor challenges looming on the horizon," said Gill on this 20th anniversary.

Nearly 20,000 candidates sat IELTS in Sri Lanka during 2008 and they generally performed well - the average score for Sri Lankan candidates was 6.14 for the Academic module (which assesses whether a candidate is ready to study or train in English at an undergraduate or postgraduate level) and 6.04 for the General Training module.

With over 6,000 organisations worldwide accepting IELTS scores, it is opening doors for candidates throughout the English-speaking world and beyond. It has become even more international on the back of sweeping recognition throughout the US, where over 2000 institutions, including all the Ivy League colleges, now welcome IELTS scores.

Truly global and cosmopolitan in nature, IELTS is developed by an international team of writers. The test content is internationally focused, thanks to our network of test material writers in North America, Australia, New Zealand and UK. All the standard varieties of English are accepted in candidates' responses.

For more information about IELTS, visit www.britishcouncil.org/srilanka or call the Help Desk on 4521521