Dubai, UAE, 12th July, 2015

His Excellency Dr. Ali Rashid Al Noaimi, Vice Chancellor of the United Arab Emirates University, signed a cooperative agreement with the British Council for the accreditation of the Center for Continuing Education at UAEU to hold IELTS tests, starting in July, 2015. The aim of this agreement is to provide both students from UAEU and from other institutions with a convenient test centre on campus in Al Ain and Abu Dhabi.

The agreement was signed in the administrative building in Al Ain. His Excellency Dr. Ali Rashid Al Noaimi represented UAEU, while Mr. Marc Jessel, Country Director for the UAE, represented the British Council.

Dr. Al Noaimi said that the role of the university is to share knowledge and skills with the community. This role is evident in UAEU's mission and strategic objectives, where the university aims to provide services of quality, efficiency and excellence not only to students but to the wider community. The Continuing Education Center is one of the most important aspects of this mission as it offers training courses designed to hone the skills and abilities of individuals, especially in the field of language learning.

Dr. Al Noaimi added that cooperation with the British Council, one of the most important global institutions concerned with teaching English language, is an important move (especially where IELTS is concerned) for the university. This agreement gives the Continuing Education Center an increased international reputation.

Mr. Marc Jessel, the UAE Country Director for the British Council, praised UAEU's role. He said that, "the British Council is honoured to have signed this partnership with UAEU. It will provide the university's students and the wider community with an internationally recognised and accepted IELTS qualification. This partnership represents our continued commitment to supporting the leading higher education institutions in the UAE, by providing qualifications that recognise the ability to communicate in English. This is becoming an increasingly valuable 21st century skill that is sought by more and more international employers."

He further added, "IELTS is the world's most popular English language proficiency test for higher education and global migration, with over two million tests taken in the last year alone."

IELTS is now accepted by more than 9,000 organisations in 135 countries around the world, including educational institutions, employers, governments, immigration authorities and professional bodies.

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About the British Council
The British Council is the UK's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and build trust between them worldwide.

We work in more than 100 countries and our 8,000 staff - including 2,000 teachers - work with thousands of professionals and policy makers and millions of young people every year by teaching English, sharing the arts and delivering education and society programmes.

We are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter. A core publicly-funded grant provides 20 per cent of our turnover which last year was £864 million. The rest of our revenues are earned from services which customers around the world pay for, such as English classes and taking UK examinations, and also through education and development contracts and from partnerships with public and private organisations. All our work is in pursuit of our charitable purpose and supports prosperity and security for the UK and globally. 

For more information, please visit: www.britishcouncil.org. You can also keep in touch with the British Council through twitter.com/britishcouncil and http://blog.britishcouncil.org/.

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© Press Release 2015