Case Study: Korean World Cup Organizing Committee secures 15,000 qualified English‑speaking volunteers in one week with Pearson English's automated Versant test

Korean World Cup - Customer Case Study

The Korean Organizing Committee for the 2002 FIFA World Cup needed to staff more than 16,000 volunteers across ticketing, crowd services and information points, many of whom had to communicate with international visitors in English. Facing the logistical challenge of quickly and accurately assessing spoken English for thousands of geographically dispersed candidates within one week, the committee ruled out slow, costly and subjective human-rated tests.

They implemented Pearson’s Versant automated speaking and listening test (Ordinate technology), a 15‑minute telephone or computer assessment with scores available within minutes. Administered at 10 locations, the solution delivered 15,000 objective, cost‑effective test results in one week, enabling reliable assignment of English‑proficient volunteers and later adoption for other international events.