Iranians Face Costly Travel and New Barriers as English Exams Disappear
Restrictions on language testing in Iran are forcing applicants to pay for exams abroad, while residency and identity rules leave some unable to register even outside the country.
By Larissa Bell ·
Iranians seeking education or employment abroad face mounting costs and restrictions as international English-language exams have largely disappeared from the country over the past year. Applicants who can afford it are traveling overseas to take tests, while others have postponed their plans. For Afghans living in Iran, additional visa requirements make access even harder.
The withdrawal began in late December 2025, when Australia's IDP Education, which administers IELTS jointly with the British Council, announced it would stop testing in Iran because of financial and regulatory difficulties. In late August 2026, Washington suspended a sanctions license that had permitted American educational providers to serve people in Iran since 2014. That cut off TOEFL and GRE exams offered by the US-based Educational Testing Service.
ETS says it cannot accept registrations or payments from residents of Iran, including those intending to sit exams overseas. British Council rules similarly prevent Iran residents from taking its IELTS test in countries such as Turkey and Armenia unless they have legal residency outside Iran. Duolingo also excludes applicants whose only identification documents were issued by Iran, even if they hold foreign residency or work or study permits.
A master's student in dramatic literature told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that she chose Armenia after spending two years studying English full time for a planned move to Canada. The British Council center there would not accept her, leaving one available option. In October, she spent roughly $300 on the exam and another $300 on travel and a tour package. The combined cost exceeded six months of Iran's average wage. Interviewees' names were withheld for security reasons.
A source familiar with IELTS operations in Iran traced the difficulties to an IDP requirement in 2025 that centers make payments from their own country. Banking sanctions prevented transfers, debts accumulated and registrations were reduced. The 12-day war with Israel in June 2025, government Internet shutdowns and the September 2025 restoration of UN sanctions compounded the disruption. Britain, France and Germany had accused Iran of breaching the 2015 nuclear agreement.
After the IELTS suspension was announced, testing was limited to previously registered candidates through March 2026. A nationwide Internet blackout in January reduced capacity at one point to three candidates daily, the source said. The US-Israeli war against Iran beginning in late February and further outages disrupted remaining sessions, while canceled tests and embassy closures caused applicants to miss admissions opportunities and semester starts.
One computer-science graduate paid about $265 for a four-day exam tour to an Arab country, departing February 26. He took his test the following day, but war began as he prepared to return a day later and flights were grounded. He never returned to Iran and has since emigrated to Canada.
The disruption has also weakened exam preparation businesses. One school founder said his private and semiprivate classes had declined by about 80 percent. A laboratory-sciences graduate who worked part-time while completing her thesis said she could not save enough for travel and had shelved emigration plans. Travel agencies, meanwhile, offer IELTS packages covering testing, flights, accommodation, transport and visa services in regional destinations.
Access to other languages has narrowed too. Iranian authorities closed Tehran's French Language Center in September, accusing it of identifying Iranian elites and helping them leave. France's Foreign Ministry condemned the closure. Authorities had already shut Tehran's German language center in 2024.
Afghans in Iran face another obstacle: unlike Iranians, they must obtain visas before traveling to Turkey or Armenia. A 23-year-old Afghan woman hoping to study abroad told Radio Farda she had begun discussing a journey with a smuggler to reach Pakistan for a language test, despite the risks.
