British Council in Vietnam today has awarded the British Council IELTS Prize to three outstanding IELTS test-takers in Vietnam with the prize values of 180 million dong, 150 million dong and 120 million dong for the First, Second and Third Prize respectively.
The British Council IELTS Prize, since its launch in 2011, has supported more than 270 students in East Asia in pursuing their dreams of studying abroad. This year, the British Council interviewed over one hundred exceptional individuals who have excelled in their IELTS test and shown admirable aspiration in their plan to contribute to society, locally or abroad.
While it was a tough decision for the judges, the winners demonstrated an outstanding level of academic commitment and excellent communication skills. The final result reveals 33 prize winners across the region, including three excellent IELTS test-takers in Vietnam namely Nguyen Duc Thinh, Vo Tan Thuan and Truong Minh Hang. These individuals will become British Council IELTS Ambassadors.
'IELTS is the world’s most popular high-stakes English proficiency test, with over 3.5 million tests taken in 2018. Through the British Council IELTS Prize, we are pleased to subsidise high-calibre individuals who demonstrate the potential to contribute to society after their studies', said Trish Thomson, Regional Marketing Director of British Council, East Asia.
Nguyen Duc Thinh, the First Prize winner, says: 'The IELTS Prize has truly put me one step closer to achieving my dream of studying abroad. Over the past five years, studying abroad has always been the number one priority on my list since I have always wanted to learn new things in a foreign country. In addition, as a content creator on YouTube, I really want to study abroad to explore the world and learn more new things as a way to inspire my fans, who are mostly young people. The prize is going to be of great help to me financially during my first year of study so I can focus more on studying and prepare for the upcoming years.'
'To me, the IELTS is not merely some test to assess one's proficiency in English. It has helped me so much in improving my knowledge about the world since, upon preparing the test, I have done a multitude of writing and reading tests on countless different topics such as society, nature, or economy. I believe this will give me an advantage when I study in Canada', he added.
Truong Minh Hang, the Third Prize winner also shares her excitements over the Prize: 'In my opinion, IELTS Prize is the scholarship that anyone with a dream of studying abroad should apply for. The eligibility requirements are minimal compared to other programs: no certain years of work experience are needed; no specific study major is favoured over the others. So as long as you demonstrate a strong passion and a clear plan for the educational path you have chosen, everyone gets an equal chance at winning.'