The suspension of in‑country English proficiency exams in Iran after US sanctions has left many prospective students scrambling for costly alternatives. ETS halted TOEFL testing after the US Treasury stopped issuing licences, and local reports say Pearson PTE and the Duolingo test have also stopped operating in Iran. With the rial near 2.2 million to the dollar and inflation at 89% for the month ending August 22, most students cannot afford to travel for tests and are considering deferring or pursuing local study instead.
Sanctions Halt English Tests in Iran — Students Scramble As Study‑Abroad Dreams Fade
A motorist drives past Iranian flags installed along a street, a day before the funeral procession of Iran's slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei in the holy Iraqi city of Karbala (AHMAD AL-RUBAYE)
She had planned to study psychology in Italy, but when US sanctions led to the cancellation of an English exam she needed, Iranian student Nikki spent days in tears. Nikki, 32, works at a pastry shop in Lahijan and had been scheduled to take the TOEFL in Iran later this month — a key requirement for many foreign university applications.
The US-based Educational Testing Service (ETS) said it suspended TOEFL testing in Iran after the US Treasury stopped issuing licences for in‑country exams. ETS's website notes that Iranians can still travel abroad to sit the test, but alternative providers — including Pearson's PTE and the Duolingo English Test — have also reportedly suspended operations in Iran.
For most Iranians, travelling to neighbouring countries to take exams is prohibitively expensive. Millions have endured long-standing international sanctions, and economic strain has been intensified, officials say, by more than six months of war with the United States. The rial has plunged to about 2.2 million to the US dollar and year-on-year inflation reached 89% for the Iranian month ending August 22, sharply eroding purchasing power.
"When I found out that the exam had been cancelled... I did not leave my room for several days because I was crying," Nikki said. "The money I was supposed to spend on the health of my teeth now must go toward the exam and the trip."
In Telegram groups where students share updates and advice, thousands are discussing cheaper alternatives — including Armenia, Iraq and Turkey — while calculating mounting costs. One group with more than 24,000 members debated options; some students said Istanbul was effectively out of reach because of flight costs.
Iranian officials condemned the testing suspensions. Science Minister Hossein Simaei Saraf described the move as "Stone Age" behaviour, saying the restrictions show Washington is targeting "every Iranian citizen in every field."
For Leila, 32, who won a place in a graduate arts programme in Berlin this summer, the cancellations have been devastating. She had already deferred her offer for a year because of uncertainty surrounding the conflict and now says she cannot afford to take the test abroad; she plans instead to pursue postgraduate study inside Iran.
The suspension of in‑country English exams has forced many applicants to choose between prohibitive travel costs and abandoning or delaying international study — a setback that may reshape the plans of a generation of Iranian students.
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