In its 2022 English Proficiency Index ranking of 111 countries and regions by English skills, the Education First English Proficiency Index (EF EPI) rated Nigeria third in Africa and 28th internationally.
Nigeria, with 564 English proficiency, ranked ahead of Switzerland, which ranked 29th, Argentina, which ranked 30th, Hong Kong, China, which rated 31st, Italy, which ranked 32nd, Spain, which ranked 33rd, and Ghana, which ranked 41st globally.
On a regional basis, Nigeria scored third out of 20 African countries in the Education First English Proficiency Index, trailing only South Africa, which ranked 12th globally and first in Africa, and Kenya, which rated 20th globally and second in Africa.
The Education First English Proficiency Index ranks countries based on the equity of English language abilities among people who took the EF test, and the 2022 edition used test data from 2.1 million test takers in 2021 to establish the rating.
According to the EF EPI ranking, a country is required to have at least 400 test takers to be included in the index.
Over 25,000 people signed a petition in 2022 to prevent foreign universities from requiring Nigerians to take the International English Language Testing System (IELTS).
The petition, which was started by Policy Shapers, a youth-led open-source forum for policy proposals that solve the world’s most important concerns, was addressed to the United Kingdom’s Home Secretary, Priti Patel.
In the meantime, the UK Home Office has exempted Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, and ten other countries from those who would require the test.
A few days ago, the British Council announced its decision to modify the costs for the Academic and General Training Modules of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) tests for Nigerian candidates, beginning in September 2023.
Whereas the present cost of the IELTS examination in Nigeria fluctuates between N80,000 and N90,000, the revised fees set by the British Council would be N107,500.
