Test Authenticity in Global Standardised English Testing: Voices from International Students as Test-takers in Australia

This study asks whether the IELTS Academic module authentically reflects the real academic language practices of international students in Australian universities, and finds a persistent mismatch between test design and lived language use. Drawing on in-depth interviews with ten international students, the study adopts a Critical Language Testing perspective and an adapted version of Bachman and Palmer’s task characteristics framework. The findings highlight tensions between large-scale standardised testing and the diverse, situated nature of academic communication, and raise concerns about how IELTS scores are interpreted and used as gatekeeping tools in institutional decision-making.