A notice updated on May 6 on the website of the UK Council for International Students' Affairs, a UK national advisory body that provides information and support for international students, states that if an international student submits an entry clearance application that includes ETS test results issued before April 17, the ETS test will be accepted and the student's application will be processed normally.

The news was confirmed by ETS media relations manager Thomas Ewing.

"All those students who took either test before April 17 may still use those scores and submit them to the UK, where they will be accepted as they have always been," he told China Daily.

"The only impact on Chinese students who took TOEFL or TOEIC tests would be for those who took the test after April 17, 2014. That was the date that ETS informed the Home Office that we did not wish to extend our contract to offer our tests for use in the UK's work-study visa granting process."