Dear @Pahlaj, both TOEFL and EILTS are quite good.  I do not at this moment have info concerning the validity and reliability.  Doing well in either exam will boost a deserving student's confidence that s/he is 'certified' to have achieved a certain proficiency in English.  But language must be used and loved to really be truly proficient, to be a master; that is just my opinion, thanks.

Each of TOEFL and EILTS are good. At the same time, there are many other English tests that can do the purpose, such as the national English test in many countries, as in Jordan.

Dear Pahlaj Moolio ,

I think both IELTS and TOFEL are the world's most popular English language tests for higher education and global migration. To the best of my knowledge, they are the two main English language tests available for prospective university students from non-English speaking countries. Because of their popularity, they are considered the most widely-accepted tests to certify the English language proficiency. To sum up, I would like to say YES for your question. Both ILETS and TOFEL can highly measure student’s real potentials or language capacity to complete their master degree program.

Regards

I think both  or any other tests to evaluate learners English knowledge for enrollment and entrance exam are essential; because they assess international students' English proficiency,  potentials or language capacity to complete master degree program or PhD and it make the students to have a good command of English to continue their studies. 

Dear Sir, TOEFL and IELTS are tests which are prerequisite to take admission in many universities around the world. And also very popular. Many other tests are also equally good but not have any prerequisite importance. Hence they may not be the best but these tests are most popular test and not less than any other test in the world. It is my perception. Thanks

TOEFL and IELTS tests are very carefully designed. They test the language proficiency level of international students seeking admission in universities in USA and Canada. Their validity and reliability are  also tested in a scientific manner so as to know whether the questions serve the purpose for which they have been designed. Therefore, one can rely of these tests for testing someone's proficiency of English. They are  also perceived by the students as fair (See the link).

http://www.ielts.org/pdf/Vol1_Report4.pdf

Dear Pahlaj Moolio,

Both tests are very good. There are other proficiency tests which are also very good and some, I would say, are even better than those two. But, one has also to consider the nationality of the students and the course he intends to take in an English speaking university. Say, if the student is going to register for journalism, he should be tested with another test, so true, that they also created the TOEIC. Rulling out some exceptions, those test are very good to measure English proficiency for a master degree candidate.

TOEFL and IELTS are very good for those who are seeking admisions in USA, Canada and England. At the same time, at the national level, I think every country  may (University level) prepare their National English Test.

Also, there are another tests examine English proficiency for graduate candidate like GRE and GMAT.

These tests are very good and proven during a time. Most of English based universities require either TOEFL or IELTS as enrollment requirement.

I don’t know much about IELTS but a lot about TOEFL. I think that TOEFL is a good test for students who want to study in the USA. Maybe also in other countries, but for sure in the USA. I took TOEFL, did well on it and then I studied in one of the American Colleges. I have no trouble with English during my study. I understood lectures, every kind of academic readings. I had no problems with writing a paper or taking exams. The only problem is that TOEFL was a test to measure student’s academic writing skills. TOEFL does not check the skills of spoken English and in some cases in may be a problem. Some of my friends did well on TOEFL but they had sometimes problems with speaking in English, especially during class discussions or giving some kind of speech.

But, in general in my opinion, based on my personal experience, TOEFL is a good test to measure student’s academic writing skills for enrollment to master degree program.

Dear Pahlaj

They will be good if native speakers are able to score well in them. In the absence of a courageous and fair experiment I will continue to think that it is as if asking serfs to be more royal than the king.

I have experience of both TOEFL & IELTS, my views are

TOEFL - More of American

IELTS (Academic & General) - More of  Australian

Some years ago, a native speaker was about to teach TOEFL and he told me his preparation was very hard considering the time constraints. 

I have taught both, TOEFL and IELTS. Today, most universities accept reasonable scores in either test. My observation is that IELTS is more for the students think in concrete concepts (in listening, for example, you have to write down exactly what you have heard), whereas TOEFL is more for the abstract thinkers (you have to look for the structure of the information in talks and reading texts and identify similar meanings). 

In contrast to a remark above, the new iBT TOEFL also asks you for speaking, though it is computer (or Internet) based. Your results will be sent to a TOEFL assessment center anywhere in the world, where trained native speakers score your responses.

So, the answer is: it depends.

My experience teaching/tutoring for college entrance exams is limited to the US "standard" tests (ACT, SAT, & GRE) as well as a few subject tests. However, I obtained some TOEFL & IELTS study material (e.g., The Official Guide to the TOEFL (4th Ed.), including a CD-ROM; the Cambridge Books IELTS study book & CD-ROMs, etc.). Much of the material is surprisingly similar to the "verbal" (writing, reading comprehension, grammar, etc.) sections of the ACT and SAT. Having looked at a fair amount of research on the utility of these tests (see attached files and links below), I'm going to have to give a qualified "no".

First, there is already a certain amount of disconnect between undergraduate success and entrance exams, including those of English "competency". When it comes to graduate studies even in fields outside of the sciences the ability to communicate more while knowing less can increase. After a year of French I could read technical papers & books (e.g., Le verbe grec ancien: éléments de morphologie et de syntaxe historiques) while I required a great deal more for comparable texts in German (e.g., Indogermanische Sprachwissenschaft). Many (if not most) of the researchers I've worked are native speakers of Italian or Spanish with varying degrees of English competency, yet the nature of the field allowed for greater communication and dissemination of knowledge via the formal languages of the sciences (mathematics, standard scientific notations, formal logic, etc.). The level of competency required as measured by scores on these tests differs from the competency desired nonlinearly and along multiple dimensions.

Of the research I read, I deliberately attached or linked to a misrepresentative number of studies on this issue as a whole vs. those that dealt with the ability of these tests to predict academic performance in graduate programs in more technical fields. This is because I think (and it would seem research supports my belief) that the importance of English literacy in academic environments decreases both with academic level (undergrad, graduate, post-doc, etc.)  and the extent to which information is conveyed through formal languages and similar means. It is possible (I know, having done so in the case of Russian) to learn from a seminar on e.g., q-difference equations without knowing the language at all. Granted, this is an extreme example (and I would have gained far more had I known Russian), but the extent to which English fluency is required for an MA/AM in Classics or Education is markedly different from that required of a graduate student in Engineering or for a MSc in mathematical physics.

Then there is the extent to which this is not just about concern over whether a student will flounder due to an insufficient grasp of English, but a business. Recently, big name test prep. companies have taken a hit because while students (or their parents) are still willing to spend an enormous amount of money so for a 4 year degree to get a job which almost never requires the degree or a majority of what was learned, they are not so willing to pay hundreds of dollars of the thousands they will to maybe get into a better school than if they had just studied harder on their own. ETS, the company that's behind the standard US undergraduate and graduate entrance exams (the SAT & GRE, respectively) as well as the subject tests at both undergraduate and graduate levels is also the company that puts behind the TOEFL (not to mention CLEP tests which allow one to get college course credit by taking a test and a slew of other exams). The more they can show that

1) Students require higher levels of English fluency in order to do well in any scholastic endeavor

&

2) Their test is the gold standard (compared esp. to the IELTS) when it comes to accurately measuring both English proficiency but relating that measure to academic success

more money they get. Universities sell themselves almost entirely on the extent to which obtaining a degree from them means better chances in the professional and/or academic world. A central way they do this is to note things like the level of proficiency their average students score. Particularly at upper tier universities or universities which turn away far more applicants than they accept, they have a vested interest in whatever can show the level of aptitude of their student body, and no real motivation to drop, or develop more complex ways of evaluating, the two big acceptance factors: pre-college grades & entrance exams.

There are many ways to show language competency and many language certification programs. These are only two, and they sell their test by marketing it as specifically testing whether one's grasp of English is sufficient for undergraduate and graduate study. The number of ways in which one's grasp of English can be sufficient and deficient is compounded by the number of ways in which particular programs of study require greater competency in one or more of these.

I don't see how answering "Do you agree or disagre with the following statement? Always telling the truth is the most important consideration in any relationship" in the expected 300-400 words is going to say much of anything, let alone determine about half of one of the 4 components of the TOEFL, and as the reading section is basically a simpler version of a component on one of two other ETS test (which are both required also required by most US colleges & universities at their respective levels: the SAT & the GRE) then it is redundant.

http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED473756.pdf

http://openjournals.library.usyd.edu.au/index.php/IEJ/article/viewFile/6809/7449

http://eprints.worc.ac.uk/811/1/YenKuzmaIELTScores.pdf

I am agree with both exam,

Both TOEFL & EILTS are the best English tests to measure student’s academic writing skills.

Probably they are based on the need of an academic institution and this is the reason of their success. Otherwise, other tests are suitable for english knowledge certification.

I adore English, like a lot of my students, like teachers of my department in Lyceum, like the members of the language communities of all levels. We have tested TOEFL, ELTS and others. But you can appreciate your knowledge only in the natural situation of communication.

Yes, those tests may demonstrate that the students have enough english knowledge to start a Master Degree Program and if the english skills are not excellent, at least they may be improved along the program.

Dear Pahlaj,

I believe both are good tests to assess general knowledge. In Brazil, TOEFL is most used.

But the tests in my opinion should be directed to the area of intended performance of the candidate.

Many times we know terms of the everyday but in technical language is more difficult.

Best Regards,

Vanessa

In this language is in international language for which we can not afford to close our eye .However various countries have their own language ,own method were they would prefer to carry out that programming plan for the welfare of own country /region .But in modern time no country can afford to keeping isolation & as such the knowledge of English language plays & fruitful part .

TOEFL is consider as an useful sign for the knowledge of English language  for preparation  of student for higher studies.Generally non English speaking student take recourse TOEFL for the preparation  of admission in the university where the English language has only become the study part for receiving the degree of post graduation & also for higher study of PHD.

Descriptive and correlation analyses were completed for the variables. No significant relationships were found for TOEFL scores and number of ESL courses in relation to GPA, course completion and retention rates. Results suggest that TOEFL is limited and not a good indicator for student success at community colleges

I think the problem is very easy to detect but very hard to make people acknowledge it.

The English Department in any country that sells English as a commodity (Especially Britain and USA) is unable to create teachers who can teach content-based ESP courses. There are two solutions. The hardest one is to invest in the educational system in order to create better teachers who are able to teach basic notions of various scientific fields while focusing on English as a medium of instruction. This door was hastily shut for at least two reasons:

First, native speakers will lose their hegemony over the market since many fluent non-native speakers may prove their worth and even their ascendency over their peer competitors.

Second, such an endeavor will be largely expensive and the margin of profit of big corporations will be minimized to a large extent.

This leads us to the second option: Make the non-natives do the whole job. This strategy has an immediate result-more money infused into the accounts of big corporations such as the British council for non-natives have to learn more and more in order to get the TOEFL for example.

It is very funny that the TOEFL or EILTS are so hard that even native undergraduates are unlikely to score well in them.

I find it difficult to answer which one is better. It is a difficult to determine which one is easier to prepare and complete. One of the main differences is the speaking part of the test. The scoring system is also different. The TOEFL the test-taker essentially speaks to a computer. EILTS maintains that its test is more realistic.