Further PTE centres approved to deliver secure English language testing for people wanting to work, live or study in the UK
Pearson has announced a second wave of locations, including India and the UK, where people can now take PTE as a Secure English Language Test (SELT) for UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) purposes.
Today the UK Government approved Pearson to open bookings for SELTs in a further 72 locations. This includes the first 8 centres in the UK and 15 centres in India as well as centres in Japan, Egypt, Philippines, South Africa, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia and Singapore, amongst others.
Bookings can be taken at all locations, with 57 of these locations open now to deliver testing, and the remaining 15 to open once individual COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.
The tests will be delivered through the Pearson VUE test centre network. Pearson VUE test centres follow health and safety guidance provided by global health organizations and local governments. Amid COVID-19, the test centres operate with increased disinfecting and hygienic procedures and additional social distancing measures to support the safety of testing candidates and staff.
Pearson’s SELT tests are as follows:
PTE Academic (UKVI) - a four skills language test accepted for work and study visas. It tests speaking, listening, reading and writing skills.
PTE Home - a two skills language test accepted for family, settlement, citizenship applications as well as Sportsperson and Representative of an Overseas Business applications. It tests speaking and listening skills.
Today’s news follows our announcement last month of the first wave of locations to start delivering SELT. It is expected that all remaining SELT testing locations will become operational this summer.
As we are all sitting at home in the midst of a lockdown, we can not help but wonder what a post-COVID world would look like. It is clear that this pandemic has the power to completely transform the way we look at almost every aspect of our lives, including our professional careers.
It’s a no-brainer that in the changed scenario, the expectations of employers would also change. The pandemic has brought a wide range of possibilities to the surface and employers are now looking for people who can fill in these need-gaps and meet the requirements of a post-COVID professional world.
The good news, however, is that we have enough time to make ourselves suitable for these new roles and responsibilities. Working from home saves our commute time and this time can productively be invested in upskilling ourselves and polishing ourselves to be suitable candidates for post-COVID employment.
But what are these skills and how would they be relevant? Let’s discuss.
Data Science and Machine Learning
If you are in the field of Science, Data Science is an excellent skill to have in the post-COVID world. In fact, anyone with an interest in data science can learn and practice it.
This science has already proved to be extremely useful for tracking and tracing COVID cases all across the globe and forming clusters to provide updated information to healthcare professionals and others working on tackling the outbreak.
With organisations already looking at plans to consider a robust working mechanism, which involves minimal office space and more elaborate and structured online working mechanisms, the focus on Machine Learning is bound to go up.
Management Skills
Considering the remote working culture that is prevalent (and is likely to be for a long time), organisations require managers that can manage remote teams efficiently. This requires excellent communication and management skills.
The post-COVID world would expect managers to be able to communicate with their teams effectively and ensure their productivity even as they work remotely. This is obviously an added responsibility on the shoulders of the managers.
Professionals with strong leadership skills and an ability to bring out the best in their teams by encouraging collaboration will be in demand.
Multitasking
As the competition is getting fiercer and companies are willing to operate on a lighter work-force, it would become a necessity for professionals to multitask. This would mean that no matter what your core field of expertise is, you would be required to take up diverse roles and functions.
Needless to say, those professions that have a diverse skill set will be given preference over those who are able to serve a singular function.
This is the time when you can recognise our shortcomings and upskill ourselves to meet the requirements of the post-COVID world. By adding diverse skills to your arsenal, you can strengthen your competencies in the areas that will be relevant as we get past the turbulence. This includes understanding and identifying the domains in which businesses will heavily invest in the near future.
An effective way to do so is by taking up online courses. Pearson Professional Program offers an extensive range of executive courses that are designed to provide you with the perfect platform to upskill yourself as a professional and be relevant.
Horace Mann pioneered the promotion of Public Education. His father being a farmer he realized the need for public education way back in 1820s. As he gained public prominence he promoted formal education to provide knowledge and to establish mind sets.
With the growth of the system of Education it soon became a means of transmitting accumulated knowledge, skills & values from one generation to another.
Now the new age teacher with changing times has become a facilitator helping students to acquire skills, values, beliefs and also help in habit formation.
Education was never static .It grew with the growing needs of the global education systems- adopting new techniques and adapting to the new age requirements. Opening the mind, and generating new ideas has now become the focus of this new system of education.
Now with the shadow of COVID 19 once again education system seems to be challenged.
Change management is essentially important and the digital world has already made its foray into the field of education, so we are quite equipped to face the COVID challenge.
The new problems faced by the Education system are:
Transmitting knowledge virtually, managing and gauging attention span of the students. So from transmitting information to getting feedback COVID19 seems to have challenged us.
Understanding, studying and analyzing the situation we can say that COACHING & FEEDBACK methodology needs to change as per the changing need.
So we need to look at:
Provision of virtual training equipment like Laptops, Tabs making it as imperative as the curriculum text.
As for their usage the new age Facilitators & students are very well versed with these techniques .In case of using Zoom , Team or any other such facility it is easy to understand / follow /learn.
Now comes the main task of understanding how to virtually connect effectively
Pedagogical changes are required. Thus old lesson planning needs to change.
Feed back in the form of questionnaires have to be constantly interspersed with every information given.
Road ahead:-
Students need to constantly make presentations & do Voice Communication
The entire lesson plans need to be revised and updated
Lesson planning and teaching prep needs to change as per the requirement.
Teachers here can also grade the written material as per the students need
Seminars can now become Webinars
Now comes the part of meeting the students and directly training them / I am sure calling them just twice a week in batches could be equally effective.
The above has its advantages, like one can group children in a manner that the class is highly effective at the same time they can be divided into batches to maintain the social distancing norm.
Seminars can be in the form of tutorials and speeches and debates can be done virtually.
This will lead to participative Education. Virtual classes can be made very interesting with Storytelling, quizzing and other such activities.
So let us positively move ahead facing the challenges, this is what education is all about.
NEET 2020 is hitting around the corner and less than 50 days left for the D day. You are not left with much time to go through with whole syllabus. So, how smartly can you prepare in this time to maximize your scores in upcoming NEET exam by putting less effort?
The first thing to know is that NTA does not allocate any weightage to any chapter and you should try to learn and understand all chapters of all subjects. So if you know clearly which chapter will be important and fetch you maximum marks in the exam, then it will be easier for you to take the right route in completing whole syllabus smartly.
Well our team of subject experts has analysed the pattern of the past years’ papers of NEET, to give you clear idea of syllabus by breaking chapters into 4 groups based on the efforts required to learn and score in the exam as well as the weightage of each chapter.
As professionals, we all feel stuck at some point in our careers. This can be overwhelming and can make us feel unworthy or unproductive.
If you have landed at this piece, chances are that you too are going through the same feeling, probably at different degrees of intensity. And if it is intense enough, deep down somewhere you know you are ready to #AccelerateYourCareer.
But, what can we do to kickstart this acceleration? Let’s talk about a 3-step process you must fulfil before you take the leap of faith.
Declutter Your Thoughts
The period that falls between realising the need to accelerate your career and actually taking a step towards it can be defined by overbearing thoughts and emotions. One moment you are ready to give in your papers and the next moment you are doubting your decisions.
These thoughts and emotions can get tangled in your head leading to confusion and doubt. This is why the first step towards a more fulfilling career is to declutter your thoughts.
You need to identify the exact things that are bothering you about your professional situation. Are you concerned about your slow career growth? Are monetary factors upsetting you? Are there specific people or processes that you are unable to deal with? Or are you simply seeking a more fulfilling and rewarding career opportunity? Ask yourself these questions and try to find the missing pieces of the puzzle. After all, the first step towards finding anything is to know exactly what you’re looking for.
Find A New Goal
With your issues set clear in front of you, it’s time to set a new goal. Try to identify what would provide you with all that you need. For instance, if you were worried about your slow growth in your previous work setting, where would you want to be in order to accelerate your growth?
Having a goal motivates you and puts a clear reward in front of you. It shows you where you would reach if you are dedicated. This should be accompanied by extensive research about your industry. Find out about the most in-demand skills in your industry, discover the latest industry trends, talk to experts and discuss your career plans. Once you have conducted your research, you’ll be able to identify your goals.
Set attainable goals but do not be complacent while doing so. Remember being complacent is just one step away from feeling stuck again. So, don’t be afraid to dream big.
Upskill Yourself
Now that you know where you want to be, it’s time to identify your shortcomings and work towards filling those gaps. This would require upskilling yourself and picking up newer, more advanced skillsets.
Another advantage of upskilling is that it opens up a wider range of opportunities for you and allows you to push yourself to the best of your abilities.
A great way to do this is to take up online courses relevant to your requirements. Pearson provides an extensive range of executive education programs that are thoughtfully crafted to provide you with the perfect platform to enhance your skills as a professional and upskill yourself to be able to reach your goals. Know more about these courses here.
Feeling stuck in the professional front can be incredibly overwhelming and can also take a toll on your personal life. It is important to tackle this problem at the right time and take appropriate measures to make sure you are reaching your true potential. With this 3-step process, you will be able to increase your productivity while dealing with this problem.
NEET 2020 is now going to be conducted on 26th July. Considering the current scenario, it is easy to give in to the distractions and lose focus. But, on the bright side, since schools are now letting students to study from home, it has bought you some extra time to focus on your bigger goal and take your preparations up a notch. The current health emergency has made it clear that the country (and the world) needs as many medical practitioners as possible, making it more important for NEET aspirants to showcase their A-game and sail through these tough times with confidence.
However, it cannot be ignored that amid this lockdown, it has become impossible for you to attend our regular coaching sessions and interact with our teachers on a regular basis. That does not mean that your preparations need to slow down or face any kind of backlog. Here are a few tips and tricks that you must keep in mind while preparing for NEET, especially in 2020.
We are constantly on the look-out for innovation! This is why, we are proud to share that we have smoothened your journey based on your feedback and are happy to share the changes here.
What’s New?
My PTE is a new and improved digital experience designed to streamline the way you book, manage, and track your testing and learning experience. All customers will transition to the new experience with effects from May 19, 2020. Keep reading to learn more about what’s better and what’s changing.
What's better?
A new way to search for a test date
PTE test-takers will now be able to search for seats without having to sign in or register.
With just a few clicks, you can check the availability as per your preferred location and time.
A fresh look for your Score Reports
The PTE Academic Score Report has been updated - all the important information is still there, just in a great new format.
As the world around us is making advancements to adapt to the new ways of normalcy after COVID-19, it’s also time for students to also get back on track for their university applications. Many institutions worldwide are going ahead with their academic sessions, with minor delays. Enabling students to resume their study abroad plans, testing facilities for PTE Academic are being resumed at many test centers in India & Hub countries.
City
State
Testing Status
Bangalore
Karnataka
Testing is live
Chandigarh
Punjab
Testing is live
Cochin
Kerala
Testing is live
New Delhi
Delhi
Testing is live
Rajkot
Gujarat
Testing is live
Vadodara
Gujarat
Testing is live
Amritsar
Punjab
Testing is live
Jalandhar
Punjab
Testing is live
Vijayawada
Andhra Pradesh
Testing is live
Hyderabad
Telangana
Testing is live
Noida
Delhi
Testing is live
Surat
Gujarat
Testing is live
Gurugram
Haryana
Testing is live
Ahmedabad
Gujarat
Testing is live
Kolkata
West Bengal
Testing is live
Patiala
Punjab
Testing is live
Ludhiana
Punjab
Testing is live
Chennai
Tamil Nadu
Testing is live
Mumbai
Maharashtra
Testing is live
Coimbatore
Tamil Nadu
Testing is live
Pune
Maharashtra
Testing is live
Nagpur
Maharashtra
Will Begin Soon
Please note: This list will continue being updated with status of more test centers across India & hub countries. Keep checking this page for more updates.
Health and Safety mandates to be followed :
While test centers are resuming operation to help students get back on track for their college admissions, the following health and safety practices enforced by the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) will be strictly followed:
Hand sanitizers will be available in the waiting area and each individual must use the sanitizer before entering the testing room.
Candidates must wear a mask and are allowed to use disposable gloves if they choose to.
Regular reminders will be given to candidates to make sure they are sanitizing their hands.
We have deployed an effective plan of action to enhance our cleaning and disinfecting regimens in between all testing appointments.
Every candidate will be required to acknowledge that he/she meets the above health requirements and will comply with the health and safety guidelines while testing.
Candidates must carry and wear a face mask throughout the duration of their exam. Please note that candidates failing to produce a face mask will be denied testing services.
All individuals including candidates are required to stay at least 6 feet away from other people in the waiting area and during the admissions process.
We have permitted candidates to use disposable gloves during the testing. However, test administrators will inspect the gloves before and after the exam, and the gloves will be disposed of in front of the proctor upon completion of the test. Candidates are requested to kindly cooperate.
Candidates must ensure there are no travel restrictions in place for their test location.
Please find the current status of the test centers in your city here. Note that the status of test centers will be constantly updated.
In addition to this, the following precautions will be taken to screen test takers before they enter any test venue:
Test takers will not be allowed to enter the test center if they had been tested positive for COVID-19 unless they have been symptom-free for over 72 hours and have been tested negative at least twice in a gap of 24 hours.
Test takers will not be allowed to enter the test center if they have been experiencing any of the associated symptoms of COVID-19 such as shortness of breath, fever, sore throat, loss of smell, or chills.
Anyone who has had close contact with someone who a confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patient will not be permitted inside the test center unless at least 14 days have passed since the last exposure.
Anyone who has been instructed to be under home quarantine or centralized observation by government or healthcare authorities will not be permitted inside the test centers, unless at least 14 days have passed since your last exposure.
We urge candidates to work together as a community to ensure none of the above-mentioned safety norms are flouted at the test centers to ensure complete safety of everyone involved. Let’s emerge out of these trying times stronger together.
Book your Pearson PTE test here. Stay safe and keep chasing your dreams!
E-Commerce is eating the world… or at least it seems poised to. In the last 7 years, the share of total retail sales by e-commerce players has doubled from 5.6% to 11.2%. Further, it appears poised to grow much faster still in the post-COVID era of social distancing.
What is the secret behind such rapid growth in a sector many considered to be “mature”? Much of the answer lies in the heavy use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to recommend products, serve the right advertisements to the right audiences, predict delivery timelines, and more.
This article explores six critical AI use cases that are fueling the success of e-commerce today and in the future.
Search & Recommendation Engine
The original AI use case in e-commerce is to provide buyers with customized search results and product recommendations, resulting in enhanced customer experience, higher sales, and greater customer loyalty.
Predictive variables can include a wide variety of factors such as current and historical searches, demographics, past purchasing behavior, cookie trails from other web sites, and many others. Traditional analytics is limited by the number of factors and significant human effort to crunch large volumes of data. This results in slower query results and far less customize product recommendations.
But AI-powered neural engines can make speedy recommendations based on thousands of such data points without the need for human intervention whatsoever. The best part is, the predictive power of such recommendations continues to improve over time. Each time a customer interacts with the e-commerce platform, the AI algorithms continue to learn and evolve even further…
Customer behavior has changed significantly in recent years. As they become increasingly conscious about their buying decisions and base their decisions on a wider variety of factors apart from just price, efficient product search and recommendation engines will play an ever-increasing role in drive e-commerce sales.
Sales & Customer Services
Successful e-commerce relies on efficient response to customer queries, from addressing pre-purchasing inquiries to tracking packages to taking care of product returns. Furthermore, customers demand quick replies, with more than 63% expecting an instant response. Fully 65% of shoppers indicate that they are likely to switch brands in the event of disappointing customer service at any point from buying to receiving their orders.
Yet dealing with such a large number of customer inquiries can be tedious, and customers are rarely willing to pay a premium for expedited customer service. AI can be used to automate labor-intensive parts of the customer service journey through the use of chatbots and robotic process automation.
Integrating AI chatbots on the site can help organizations respond to the simplest ~60% of inquiries immediately, route another ~20% of discussions to sales/customer service representatives, and refer the most complex inquiries to specialists. By developing and training a custom neural network, the chatbot comprehends explicit client requests to quickly take care of most issues. Similarly, call bots can be used for handling inbound customer calls.
Product Pricing
In today’s competitive world, customers are bound to check prices against competitors both online and sometimes even offline. AI models help e-commerce sellers determine the best prices to maximize profits and market share by analyzing factors such as inventory levels, competitor’s pricing, customer price sensitivity, and seasonality.
Buyer Segmentation
Traditionally, customer attributes are labeled manually which can be an immense task. With the help of AI, this process can be automated. Also, many labels can be broken down further to provide more accurate tagging. AI helps by creating attribute clusters and assigning them to the right customers in a way that might not be possible for humans to achieve.
Voice Interface
Alexa and other AI-powered voice assistants are increasingly being used as an interface for placing orders online and powering a more seamless user interface for customers.
Demand Forecasting
Accurate demand forecasting is essential for a cost-effective supply chain and inventory management. Accurate forecasts improve the efficiency of the manufacturing, operations, and the overall supply chain of the organization, leading to higher availability and lower unit costs on goods.
In Summary
Technological advancements have allowed retailers to acquire large amounts of data and leverage AI-based solutions to provide a customized experience to their customers. AI has become an integral part of the entire supply chain and is fueling the product and service cycle across the e-retail sector. In other words, AI has the potential to influence the purchasing decisions of buyers and help sellers predict future purchases as well!
In today’s world, AI is becoming an inseparable part of many of the leading industries globally. This is why there’s an ever-increasing demand for professionals skilled in this field. The HarvardX Data Science program helps you acquire the required knowledge base and skills to tackle data analysis challenges and excel in the field of AI and Data Science.
Congratulations! You have been selected to pitch to a VC!
As exciting as this news might seem, pitching online presents new challenges for entrepreneurs during these challenging times of remote pitching to maintain social distance.
VCs carry super-high expectations. If most entrepreneurs find it difficult to connect when pitching face to face, imagine the difficulty when pitching remotely….
It is tough to monitor their reactions even if they switch on their webcam
You might get interrupted with signal disturbances that break your flow
It is easy to get trapped in self-doubt about how you are coming across
Fortunately, many entrepreneurs are able to succeed despite these challenges. Here are 5 Tips to Ace Your Virtual Investor Pitch:
1. Master the Platform
Investors expect investible founders to be digital natives. This means that you must come across completely comfortable and “in your element” while interacting online.
Be sure to use the VCs’ preferred videoconferencing platform to ensure that they feel comfortable and at home (MS Teams, Zoom, WebEx, GoToMeeting, Google Hangouts, etc.). This means that you might need to conduct a few practice runs to get entirely familiar with the interface, controls and functionality.
Of course, you need to have good lighting and sound (e.g. USB earphones) as well as a professional background to come across well on any platform. You only get a few minutes to make the right impression. Make them count!
2. Ensure High-speed Internet Connectivity
An interrupted internet connection can cause your call to drop repeatedly. This is distracting, time-consuming and breaks the chain of thought. These days it really does not cost that much to get a speedy and stable internet connection. You can conduct an online speed test such as Ookla to ensure that you upload speed is at least 4 MB per second and a download speed of least 8 MB per second. The higher the better!
In areas with inconsistent connections, create a backup plan such as creating a wireless hotspot with your cell phone. In areas with fluctuating power supply, be sure to keep your computing device and wi-fi router on UPS to allow you to present smoothly without any disturbance.
3. Keep it Crisp
It is always advisable to keep your deck lean and mean (experts generally recommend a maximum of 10-12 slides). But this is ever so much more important when presenting online, where you are competing for the VCs attention against urgent emails, social media and every other manner of compelling distractions.
The idea is to string together a series of punchy sound bites around each topic that the VC is interested in e.g. value proposition, addressable market size, product-market fit, team composition, competitor analysis, sustainable advantage, unit economics, financial projections and assumptions, etc.
When answering their questions, it is even more important to answer the exact question asked in the minimum number of words. Practice makes perfect!
4. Bring it Alive
Do away with heavy text and long bulleted lists in favour of hard-hitting facts, compelling photographs, videos, etc. that underscore your key messages. For example, if your product ensures driver safety, contract photos of wreckage with and without your product, to showcase the difference that it can make in the lives of consumers. You as the presenter should always be sharing the details of the narrative, rather than the text on your slide.
5. Speak to the Camera
Remember how important it is to maintain eye contact with your audience? The same thing that engages an audience in real life also holds true online. However, instead of looking at your screen where you can see your audience, look into the camera so that your audience to maintain eye contact with you. This will subconsciously encourage them to focus on what you are saying and help them develop an interest in your presentation.
To conclude, a bonus tip would be to keep reminding yourself that the ultimate goal of this meeting is to discuss as much about your customers, your organization, your team and the idea as possible. Try to avoid anything that directs your listener’s attention away from you and what you’re selling. While you can learn how to pitch to VCs the hard way through experience, there are learning resources that can give you a significant head start. One such course is the London Business School’s Entrepreneurial Edge. This course is targeted towards helping students understand the kind of challenges they may face as new-age entrepreneurs and provide innovative solutions to these challenges.
