Taiwan and Vietnam are working together to select 500 outstanding university lecturers, college teachers, and government officials to undertake a master’s degree or doctorate program in Taiwan between 2008 and 2020, under a plan called Vietnamese Elite Study in Taiwan 500, (VEST-500). A requirement for VEST-500 applicants is that people who apply for a degree program taught in English need to submit in an English proficiency certificate. The Taiwan Education Information Center in Vietnam specially collaborated with The Language Training & Testing Center, LTTC to hold the intermediate and high level GEPT for the scholarship applicants in Vietnam to assist them to obtain the language proficiency certificate required for admission to Taiwan’s universities.

Most of the examinees are currently teachers at Vietnam universities and colleges, or government officials. Each person received a free sample GEPT test paper when she or he registered for this test. This allowed them to familiarize themselves with the GEPT test format and have an idea of the difficulty level. A total of 51 people registered for the test and 48 were tested. Each test lasted two hours. Those who sat the tests expressed satisfaction with the entire process, although most also commented that they felt that the real test was more difficult than the sample paper.

The LTTC promised to grade the test papers and mail reports to examinees as quickly as possible in order to help them acquire their official language certificates in time to meet the application deadlines for submitting documents required for admission to Taiwan universities.