It is more of an aligned system helping fulfill more targeted people in line with shortages and regional requirements rather than openly accepting all sorts of different people and hoping that targeted shortage shall auto fill.
When I booked my IELTS last year, I was able to schedule a date in the next month. But when my friend tried to book an exam yesterday. it was showing May as the available month. 3 million people gave the general IELTS last year and this year it is expected to triple.
Moral of the story: Predictions are obsolete with the current Pool . Lets hope for the best...
Is your friend checking dates for the same examination center ? If not, it does not represent anything and does not mean number of people has increased 3 times. In my locality there are two IELTS centers, for one I always see available dates are after few months, for the other center I see dates available in just few weeks. So availability is more center by center, some center's conduct exams more frequently than others. I guess organizing exams on every weekends is not what every center likes.
That was a good use of your time ,unlike I who spent mine alternating between Canadavisa and Cricinfo websites.
Boy, both seems to be perfect "Skinner box" examples for creating addictive behaviour !
My friend is working with the immigration agent/lawyer.. around 12 hrs back he said there wont be a draw today instead it will be after 2 days.. Just putting a point which i didnt believe in the morning...
If they do not invite today, they should at least update the system in order to see how many people are in the pool. In this way, it would be "easier" to predict the next cut-off.
His words are accurate, I just booked my IELTS last week and it was on April at least. So more than 1 month waiting in Toronto. IELTS is making good money within EE.