British Council Reviews 

Extremely disappointing experience for such an expensive exam.

My IELTS test day was full of avoidable issues. The exam started 30 minutes late due to a broken registration camera, and my own start was even further delayed because the headphones I was given didn’t work. I had to ask for a replacement myself no one checked the equipment in advance and this all happened just minutes before the test began.
The mouse was also unresponsive during the test, and I was interrupted during the Reading section by a staff member asking for my ID even though we were never told it had to be kept visible on the desk.

The room was freezing during the Writing section because I was seated directly in front of an air conditioner. I had asked at registration if I could bring a hoody and was told no — only to find out inside that it was actually allowed. Staff seemed confused about their own rules, and several people received different instructions.

I was also asked to remove a hygiene product from my pocket, despite being on my period — handled with no discretion at all. On top of that, there was only one toilet for over a dozen people, and no hand soap available.

To make matters worse, when I arrived on time for the Speaking section (13:35, exactly as instructed), I wasn’t let in. I was told to come back later and only after I said I would file a complaint did they finally allow me in.

Honestly, for the price of this exam, the level of professionalism was shocking. Candidates deserve better.

There is no good staff for speaking. Even high performance and efforts in other modules they did not increase half band after eor. It just wastage of money. I would not recommend. Instead of wastage money go with idp linient marking in speaking and writing.

More like Indian Council.

No offense to Indians out there, but having a name like British Council gives people expectations that they will be exposed to British accents.

Instead, the company says that you should be exposed to "all kinds of accents" as English is widely spoken throughout the world. Bullshit. All we ever got were teachers with heavy Indian accents that we could hardly understand.

Classes were expensive, provided little content, and obviously weren't catered to "all levels" as claimed. We found much better language companies out there and won't ever recommend British Council to others.

I recently took the IELTS Online exam through the British Council and, unfortunately, encountered a series of persistent technical problems that made the process extremely stressful and prevented me from fully demonstrating my language abilities.

Despite following all instructions and system requirements, my first attempt on April 10th was blocked by repeated "Not Enough Free Memory" errors. I appreciated the quick response from the support team, who rescheduled my exam; their professionalism and kindness stood out.

However, my second attempt on April 18th was also disrupted. Although the new laptop I used passed all pre-checks, I could not log in due to a PIN error, and the exam was cancelled again. During the speaking test later that day, I couldn't hear the examiner because of audio issues, which led to another automatic cancellation. While I eventually completed the speaking section, the audio remained unstable, making communication difficult.

On the following day, I faced problems with ID verification before the listening, reading, and writing parts. Despite being in identical lighting conditions, my ID photo was rejected repeatedly. During the listening section, the audio cut out every few seconds due to poor connectivity, which made it impossible to finish the final part of the test. Although I reported the issue immediately, I was only advised to proceed as best I could.

The reading and writing sections were slightly more stable, though I still faced delays due to the instruction video not loading. I had to exit and re-enter the portal to proceed.

While I understand technical issues can occur, the recurring failures of the platform — even after successful system and connection checks — were unacceptable. A platform that claims to verify internet stability should not allow users to proceed if the connection is likely to fail during the exam. The fact that support staff acknowledged the technical issues only highlights the need for better reliability and fairness in the system.

While I understand technical issues can occur, the recurring failures of the platform, even after successful system and connection checks were unacceptable. A platform that claims to verify internet stability should not allow users to proceed if the connection is likely to fail during the exam. Although the support team acknowledged the audio problems during my test, I was told that nothing could be done and was offered no form of compensation, resit, or solution. This has been incredibly disappointing, especially considering the time, effort, and cost involved.

I strongly advise others to think carefully before choosing the online format of the IELTS exam. If you value a fair testing environment and reliable conditions, consider taking the exam in person at a test center instead.

Rude staff, unreliable services, pathetic excuses and employees. Test given 5/04/25 but told due to technical issues results had not been issued to anyone but the person I took my test with had his results 5 days after taking the test. When I emailed them regarding this I received an email a month later that I had passed and not needed to resit the exam. They keep pushing me from one pillar to another and not helpful staff is stressing me out. I would never recommend their services to anyone. When they answer the phone they are very rude and will not help with anything but tell you to wait. When clearly on the website it says the results are issued within 13 working days and not more than two weeks but I have been waiting for a full month. With multiple phone calls & emails still I have not been helped or my results given. I’m only told I passed but they not issuing me my certificate

Only gave a star to do a review. Minus stars more apt. I cannot recommend BC Tunis for UKVisa English tests. Very poor information provided about payment facilities by customer service. Only accepts an expensive international bank transfer (which they can not refund to if test cancelled) or person must do a 8hr round trip within Tunisia to pay in cash and then another 8hr round trip to do test. If you ever tried before to do a bank transfer to Tunisia you will understand why I caution against this. Customer service will say you can pay by credit card but this is not true. Look on the UK government website for other test providers in Tunis. Some allow creditcard payments for the tests. The UK Gov website has a document to confirm approved companies & approved test centres. You must check both are approved before booking. We booked now with Language Cert. Will review them after the test.

The IELTS exam, in my experience, seems less like a fair assessment of English proficiency and more like a system designed to capitalise on non-EU expats. While the scoring is said to be banded based on specific behavioural criteria, the process lacks genuine transparency and ultimately becomes unreliable as a true measure of language ability.

It feels like the system manipulates scores just enough to keep you coming back. For example, I have consistently scored an 8 in Listening and Speaking, and 7.5 in Writing. I’ve needed just 0.5 more in Reading to meet requirements—only to see bizarre fluctuations. In my most recent attempt, I was awarded an 8 in Reading, but my Speaking dropped to 6.0. This is puzzling, especially considering I use English daily in my profession. It raises serious questions about the consistency and integrity of the scoring.

To make matters worse, the Enquiry on Results (EOR) process is not only expensive but seems completely automated. Responses arrive almost instantly and are clearly generic, offering no evidence that any human examiner has actually re-evaluated the work.

When you raise concerns, you're assigned a representative—but their replies are equally dismissive and scripted, offering no real engagement with the issues raised. The entire process lacks accountability.

Frankly, an investigative journalist needs to look into this. I’m certain many test takers have experienced similar inconsistencies and frustrations, and a deeper examination of the British Council’s practices could uncover systemic issues in how this test is administered and evaluated.

Do not book through British Council.
I want to receive an IELTS certification for educational and professional purposes. I've paid for IELTS preparation classes through British Council.

They gave me X- amount of credits which would be valid for 3 months. They are not valid for 3 months. I booked 5 lessons in 3 weeks and my credits where gone. If you wanted more classes, you had to pay again.

The classes itself, weren't helpful at all. Each class was 50 minutes, of which 10 - 15 minutes have gone to introducing yourself, and a lot of small talk. Even if it was a group session. I'm ok with it for one lesson, but not every lesson!

I tried to book a date for the actual exam. I couldn't get into my account, so I've mailed several times. They've responded with ' you should try loging in through a different browser'. I've done everything what they advised me to do, several times. It still didn't work. Eventually I called them in Brussels. The site mentioned that the workers only spoke English... OK no problem. The worker spoke very poor English for British Council. I've explained my problem, and that I had contact with them via mail. Rather then looking into my account, she told me to do the exact same thing as the mail said, witch clearly didn't work. She told me she would look into it again ( 5th time already) and that I would have priority, since I wanted to do the exam in March.

Since then, I haven't heard anything. I've thrown hundreds of euros through the drain.
I've booked my exam through the official IELTS site. Everything went smoothly without any problems.

Simply the system was made, with money in mind, they don't care about customers, they made their system in a way that makes you pay full price, in a way that no person with brain would choose anything other than to pay full price.
Don't go with them, if you have other option then go with other, but never the BC.

SCAM. SCAM. SCAM.

My daughter has done her oral exam on Friday and had her other test planned last (Saturday) at 15:00.
Upon starting one of your team members told her to change rooms (because it was not totally empty) and to start over the elaborate log-in procedure.
However, when she wanted to log-in again it was impossible and she could neither start nor re-schedule the test.
No one can be reached by phone…
It’s very frustrating.
My daughter is a serious, diligent and hard-working pupil. She made the required efforts and has basically been sent off for no reason and without assistance.
She needs this certificate to apply for her bachelor in university by the end of March.
Since Saturday we've been trying to get the test rescheduled by calling in vain to the exam team phone number +32 2 899 75 20
All without succes, always looping around with the same AUTOMATED reply messages.
I noticed just now the score on Google for their service is 1,9/5 with only bad reviews. Wish I would have seen this earlier.
Totally unprofessional.

Do not take the IELTS exam. They are unreliable. They will delay your results for months and don’t care about how this impacts your plans. They won’t release your results for months and won’t provide a reason.

Please avoid to subscribe this website. I emailed it them many times. They ignored my emails!!!!

SON UNOS SACADINEROS, NO LES IMPORTAMOS, SOLO LES IMPORTA QUE TE PRESENTES 90000 VECES PARA SACARTE EL DINERO.

I think is a good platform to learn english it costs a little but it is really good.

Horrible experience altogether.

Their Online test crashed multiple times, and their customer service was slow and unhelpful.
Due to British Council’s incompetence I wasn’t able to take the test before my academic deadline (had to wait over a month, and I have still not got any decent help).

Mr. Sayed Ali at reception gave a very comprehensive and detailed explanation about the course, requirements and prices along with guidance points which made me feel at home with the British Council.
Way to go!

I had a very disappointing experience with the British Council. I was speaking to one of the staff members over the phone, and they abruptly hung up without any prior notice or explanation. This kind of unprofessional behavior is unacceptable, especially from an institution that prides itself on high standards. I expected better communication and respect for clients. Very dissatisfied.

Horrible platform, they don't make money from education, they make money from deceiving their customers into paying subscriptions, avoid dealing with them if possible.

I've had a horrible experience. They are very unprofessional. For the listening/reading/writing part, their software did not work. Even though I had prepared for the test and put all my energy into it, their lack of professionalism ruined everything. I had to wake up at 3 am and I had taken a day off from work to make sure the exam went well for me. Hours before, I had prepared the room they paranoically checked, including the ceiling and the floor. They have you take down all your paintings from the wall, and all books from the shelves, as if someone can instantly learn English by looking at a painting or the ceiling or from a book. They promised to make the refund in 3 weeks, even though I paid instantly. There is no damage repayment or reduction coupon for the glitch in their system, not even an apology e-mail. I hope people read this before they book an exam with them. The problem is that all Universities require this exam and this is why the organizers treat people with a lack of respect, they know we have no other choice. What a shameful lack of professionalism for the era we live in. They take so much money from people but are not able to invest in good software that can offer a good exam experience. I am traumatized by this experience. The examiners for the reading, listening and writing were so rude and were treating me as if I was under arrest, especially the first lady that showed up. I will need therapy after this!