Terms and Conditions

1) IELTS Prize

IELTS Prize is a free prize scheme operated by the British Council to help more people access international education experience and networks. IELTS Prize is for people planning to attend an undergraduate or postgraduate programme. In each participating country there will be three winners*:

  • £5,000 (1 winner)
  • £2,000 (1 winner)
  • £1,000 (1 winner)

* Except in Sri Lanka [£5,000 (1 winner), £2,000 (3 winners), £1,000 (5 winners)] and Bangladesh [£5,000 (1 winner), £2,000 (2 winners), £1,000 (4 winners)].

2) Territory and eligibility

IELTS Prize is open to residents of Bangladesh, Colombia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines,
Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam who are 18 or above who, in submitting the entry, agree to and accept these IELTS Prize Rules.

Each applicant should:

  • Be 18 years or above
  • Be a resident of the country you’re applying from
  • Have taken IELTS with the British Council between 1 April 2022 and 31 August 2023 and be able to produce a valid IELTS score in the application
  • Book an IELTS test
  • Have a minimum overall IELTS band score of 5.5 or above
  • Be applying to an educational institution, anywhere in the world, that requires IELTS as part of its admission process
  • Be able to provide the letter of acceptance from your university latest by 31 October 2023 (Except for Colombia: 30 November 2023)
  • Begin undergraduate or postgraduate studies in the academic year from January 2023 to March 2024.

Only one application per person is allowed. No applicant may win more than one prize.

Entry to IELTS Prize is free of charge although applicants are responsible for their own costs of connecting to the Internet.

Please note that you are not eligible to apply for IELTS Prize, if you are awarded a full tuition scholarship for 2023 after you have applied for the British Council IELTS Prize. Please inform us and we will no longer consider your application.

We will shortlist all applicants with special requirements provided they meet the essential eligibility criteria. This includes specific learning difficulties, hearing difficulties and visual difficulties or medical conditions.

3) IELTS Prize dates*

The opening date of IELTS Prize is 11:59 pm BST on 15 June 2023 and the closing date is at 11:59 pm BST on 15 September 2023 for phase one and at 11:59 pm BST on 15 October 2023 for phase two. Any entry received before the opening date or after the closing date will not be included in the selection process. The British Council accepts no responsibility whatsoever for any technical failure or malfunction or any other problem with any system, server, provider or otherwise that may result in any entry being lost, delayed or not properly registered.

Each IELTS Prize winner will be notified in November 2023. This notification will be made to the email address provided by the winning applicant when registering for IELTS Prize in accordance with section 4 of these Rules. In this notification, the British Council will inform each IELTS Prize winner of how to claim their prize and of any additional information or steps required to enable the British Council to provide them with the prize. The British Council reserves the right to award the relevant prize to another IELTS Prize applicant if the prize is not claimed within three weeks after such notification.

*Except for Colombia – dates are as follows:

  • Closing date – Phase One: 31 October 2023, 11:59 pm GMT.
  • Closing date – Phase Two: 15 November 2023, 11:59 pm GMT.
  • Prize winners will be notified in December 2023.

4) How to enter

IELTS Prize will be promoted through TakeIELTS website: https://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/take-ielts/study-work-abroad/ielts-prize
To enter applicants must access IELTS Prize portal: https://ieltsprize.takeielts.britishcouncil.org/about/ and then follow these steps:

1. Sign up to create an account on the portal by entering their first name, last name, email address and password where indicated.

2.Fill in the application form, and uploaded copies of:

  • British Council IELTS Test Report Form
  • Recent photograph
  • Passport or identification document proving your residency in one of the eligible countries and
  • Special requirements certificate (if applicable).

3.Accept these IELTS Prize Rules by clicking the “I Accept” button.

4.Click on the “Submit” button.

5) Prizes and selection of winning entries

The selection will take place in each individual country within these timings*:

  • Launch: 15 June 2023
  • The IELTS prize applies for people that have taken the exam between: 1 April 2022 and 31 August 2023
  • Begin academic year from: January 2023 to March 2024
  • Phase one – Applications are open till 15 September 2023
  • Winners shortlisted and final selected: 30 September 2023
  • Phase two – Applications open till 15 October 2023
  • Winners shortlisted and final selected: 31 October 2023
  • Winners announced: November 2023
  • Provide acceptance letter: October 2023
  • Payment: Until the end of December 2023.

*Except for Colombia, the timings are as follows:

  • Phase one – Applications are open till 31 October 2023
  • Winners shortlisted and final selected: 7 November 2023
  • Phase two – Applications open till 15 November 2023
  • Winners shortlisted and final selected: 30 November 2023
  • Winners announced: December 2023
  • Provide acceptance letter: November 2023
  • Payment: Until the end of January 2024.

The entries will be judged by a panel of judges appointed by the British Council. The judges’ decision is final and binding.
Applications will be reviewed against the British Council IELTS Prize eligibility criteria, the personal statement, and the IELTS test overall score.

No correspondence will be entered with the unsuccessful applicants.

IELTS Prize consists of three prizes per country*, £5,000 (1 winner), £2,000 (1 winner) and £1,000 (1 winner)*. Applications will only be considered if the chosen colleges/universities require IELTS as part of their admission process.

IELTS Prize is personal to the winners and cannot be transferred to any third party. IELTS Prize cannot be exchanged for money or any other goods or services.

* Except in Sri Lanka [£5,000 (1 winner), £2,000 (3 winners), £1,000 (5 winners)] and Bangladesh [£5,000 (1 winner), £2,000 (2 winners), £1,000 (4 winners)].

The British Council accepts no responsibility for failure to notify winning applicants or failure to deliver prizes where such failure results from the provision of inaccurate contact details by the applicants or from the acts or omissions of any third party (including, without limitation, any internet or postal service provider) and shall have no liability to any entrant if it is prevented from or delayed in delivering any aspect of the prize by acts, events, omissions or accidents beyond its reasonable control.

The British Council does not offer any insurance in connection with the prize. Each prize winner may arrange their own insurance in respect of the prize, if applicable.

People who applied for and won the award in 2022 cannot apply again this year.

Employees of British Council or their relatives are not eligible to apply.

If you need to postpone your studies/programme, the prize money will be transferred to the runner up. To receive the prize money, you will need to provide proof of deposit to your university, official letter of acceptance from the university, along with your IELTS score.

Winners will have the prize money paid into their personal bank account. The prize money amount as stated above is before tax.
The exchange rate is calculated using the British Council’s monthly rate.

6) Personal data

The British Council will collect and store the names and email addresses of all applicants and the additional contact details of winners as anticipated by sections 4 and 5 above. The British Council will use this personal data for the following purposes:

  • managing the relationship between the applicants and the British Council;
  • communicating with applicants to answer their queries about IELTS Prize;
  • communicating with winners and arranging delivery of their prizes;
  • marketing and publicity in accordance with section 7 below.

Where an applicant has consented to the British Council doing so, the British Council may contact the applicant using the personal data collected to provide information about goods, services, courses or promotions that the British Council offers.

By applying to IELTS Prize, applicants consent to their personal data being processed by the British Council in accordance with, and for the purposes set out in, this section 6.

Applicants can exercise their rights to access their personal data held by the British Council and withdraw their consent to the processing of their personal data by sending an email, accompanied by a scanned photocopy of their valid passport or to: ielts.marketing@britishcouncil.org.

7) Publicity and rights

The British Council intends to publish the names, videos and photographs of the winners on the British Council’s websites, Facebook pages, Twitter pages, press releases and in other promotional and marketing material. In addition, the British Council may write and publish articles about the winners’ enjoyment of their prize. By applying for IELTS Prize, each applicant agrees to the use of their name and image and agrees to co-operate with any such publicity or marketing if they win the prize.

Applicants will retain copyright in the entry material that they submit to the British Council. By applying to IELTS Prize each applicant grants the British Council, free of charge, permission to use the entry material (including, without limitation, modifying and adapting it for operational and editorial reasons) in any media worldwide for purposes connected with IELTS Prize. Applicants who win the prize grant the British Council further permission to publish and exhibit their entry material (including, without limitation, modifying and adapting it for operational and editorial reasons) in print and any media worldwide for any British Council purpose. Each applicant confirms that the entry material is their original work, is not defamatory and does not infringe any English laws, that they have the right to give the British Council permission to use it for the purposes specified above, and that all necessary consents for the submission of the entry material have been obtained.

All rights in the British Council’s name and logo, websites, Facebook pages, Twitter pages, press releases and other promotional and marketing material and all course and examination content and materials (together the “Council’s Materials”) shall vest in and remain with the British Council (or its licensors). By applying to IELTS Prize, applicants agree that they will not use, broadcast, publish, export, exploit, reproduce nor copy part or all of the Council’s Materials.

The British Council will have legal rights to video content for two (2) years.

8) General

The British Council may disqualify or refuse to accept the entry of any applicant which does not meet the eligibility criteria in section 2 or does not otherwise comply with these IELTS Prize Rules.

These IELTS Prize Rules shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of England and Wales and the courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any disputes or claims (including, without limitation, non-contractual disputes or claims) arising out of or in connection with IELTS Prize.