By Li Xiaokun (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-11-15 07:26

Eighty percent more students can take the Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL) through the Internet at the end of this year, the US Educational Testing Service (ETS) has said.

Net-based test seats will increase from 1,950 in June to 3,550 at the end of the year, an ETS press release said on Tuesday.

The ETS and China's National Education Examinations Authority worked jointly on their network to meet the increased demand for TOEFL in China.

Further improvements and technological solutions are being implemented by the ETS to monitor the TOEFL registration website to ensure an open and fair test registration process, according to the ETS.

More than 6,000 colleges and universities in 110 countries accept TOEFL scores. The number of students who want to take the test on the mainland has grown steadily in recent years, with the average staying above 70,000 a year.

"The ETS is committed to ensuring that everyone in China who wishes to take the test gets the chance to do so," ETS's global division senior vice-president Paul Ramsey, said in the press release.

Some Chinese students see the announcement as encouragement.

"It used to be very hard to get a chance to sit for the test, and I had to ask my friends to help take online registration on other computers," said Chen Lu, a second-year postgraduate student of Renmin University of China who took the test a few months ago to apply for doctoral studies in the US.

But some say the increase is still not big enough. "More and more students are preparing for TOEFL to get a chance to study abroad or to prove their ability. So I still see a gap between supply and demand," said Wu Qi, a final year undergraduate in Peking University.