As more institutions and enterprises in Vietnam adopt IELTS results as an official assessment of students' and employees’ grasp of the English language, high IELTS scores have gradually become a sought-after mark of prestige.

Dân Trí quotes an announcement from IELTS test organizer IDP confirming that a candidate from Vietnam recently attained a perfect overall score of 9.0 from getting 9.0 for all four skills: listening, reading, writing, and speaking.

Luyện Quang Kiên, a 31-year-old English-language tutor living in Hanoi, became the first test-taker in Vietnam to achieve the rare feat after sitting for an online test on June 3 at the National Economics University. It’s unclear if there are other Vietnamese who have achieved this at testing centers overseas.

Kiên told the online news source that he took his first IELTS test in 2014 while still in college, achieving an overall score of 7.5. Following his graduation, he developed an interest in teaching and has been undertaking IELTS exams 5–7 times a year since 2018 to assess if his teaching methods work. The latest date in June was the sixth test he’s been through this year.

Kiên shared that his mental state was very relaxed on the date and he was particularly happy with the Speaking component. Having sat for many exams, he knew by heart the marking rubrics and could gauge the scores right after finishing the test.

“That day I spoke quite fluently and used good vocabulary. Seeing the reaction of the examiner, I felt assured,” he recounts. Kiên plans to write a book detailing his tips for achieving the 9.0 band score.

[Photo via Dân Trí]