Iranian Students Spend Six Months' Wages to Take English Exams Abroad
Sanctions and war have erased domestic testing centers, forcing applicants to pay for flights, visas, and tour packages to sit for exams in neighboring countries.
By Ella Cox ·
Iranian applicants now pay hundreds of dollars in travel costs to take English proficiency tests abroad because domestic exam centers have largely disappeared.
The shortage began in late December 2025 when IDP Education, which administers the IELTS test with the British Council, stopped offering the exam in Iran due to financial and regulatory issues. In late August 2026, the United States suspended a sanctions license that allowed American providers to serve Iran since 2014. This move cut off access to the TOEFL and GRE exams, which are run by the US-based Educational Testing Service, or ETS. ETS stated it cannot process registrations or payments for anyone living in Iran, even if they plan to take the test elsewhere. Access to the Duolingo English test has also been restricted.
British Council rules prevent Iran residents from taking the IELTS exam in neighboring countries like Turkey or Armenia unless they hold legal residency outside Iran. A master's student in dramatic literature who studied English full time for two years chose Armenia after the IELTS halted at home. She told Radio Farda that one of two available centers in Armenia refused her registration, leaving her with only one option. In October 2026, she paid roughly $300 in exam fees and another $300 for a travel and tour package. The total cost of about $600 equals more than six months of the average wage in Iran.
A source familiar with IELTS operations in Iran said the troubles started in 2025 when banking sanctions prevented test centers from paying IDP from within the country. Mounting debts led to registration cuts. The 12-day war with Israel in June 2025, state-imposed internet shutdowns, and UN snapback sanctions imposed in September 2025 worsened the situation. After the halt was announced, only already registered candidates could sit the exam through March 2026. A nationwide internet blackout in January slowed connections so much that capacity at one point fell to three test takers a day.
"Canceled exams, Internet cuts, and closed embassies meant many candidates missed university admissions and the start of their semesters," the source said. A computer science graduate paid around $265 for a four-day exam tour to an Arab country. He flew out on February 26, 2026, afraid the war would start again and flights would be restricted. He took the test the next day. When he prepared to fly home, the war broke out, and flights were grounded. He has since emigrated to Canada.
The market for exam preparation in Iran has slumped as rising living costs put classes out of reach. The founder of a school specializing in IELTS and TOEFL courses told Radio Farda that the number of private and semiprivate classes he offers has fallen by about 80 percent. A laboratory sciences graduate who worked part time while finishing her thesis said she could not save enough to travel and has shelved her plans to emigrate.
Travel agencies now sell IELTS tours to Doha, Istanbul, Ankara, Van in eastern Turkey, Dubai, Yerevan, and Tbilisi. These packages bundle the exam fee, flights, hotels, transport, and visa services. Duolingo does not accept test takers whose only identity documents were issued by Iran. Its support team confirmed that using an Iranian passport to take the test is not permitted, even for those with foreign residency. Immigration lawyers are steering clients toward alternative tests.
Iranian authorities have also curtailed access to other languages. In September 2026, the French Language Center in Tehran was shut down. Officials accused it of using its status as a language school to identify Iranian elites and help them leave the country. France's Foreign Ministry called the move unjustifiable and a unilateral escalation of pressure. Authorities had already shut the German language center in Tehran in 2024. Afghans living in Iran face even steeper obstacles because they need visas in advance to enter Turkey and Armenia. A 23-year-old Afghan woman said she has begun talks with a smuggler to get into Pakistan to take a language test there.
