Can I study abroad without IELTS or TOEFL?

Absolutely! IELTS is not the benchmark for abroad education. There are many more exams that can be given for studying abroad at universities. To be precise, other English proficiency exams like TOEFL, PTE, Duolingo etc can be given in the place of IELTS. IELTS is not mandatory for your application to study abroad which means that it is not required for every country.

When applying for a German taught program in Germany, they ask for German language proficiency rather than English proficiency (IELTS). Further, there are universities in EU countries like Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Hungary where you do not need IELTS for application but you need to face an interview as a substitute of same. There are certain universities which also require proof that your last qualification was in English.

Therefore, there IELTS is not mandatory for application to every country, though, it is recommended.

If you don’t want to take any language exam, you can look for universities that do not ask for one. Yes, there are various universities that do not require an IELTS score or any language test score for that matter. The country which has the most number of universities under this category is UK. Here’s a list of universities in the UK that have waived off this requirement:

UK

1. University of Bath
2. University of Manchester
3. King's College London
4. Cardiff University
5. University of Liverpool
6. Lancaster University
7. University of Strathclyde
8. University of Birmingham
9. University of East Anglia
10. Newcastle University London

Lastly, there are various universities which also give an English language test waiver if your previous academic background is in English itself and that too with a considerably decent score in the language subject. For example, if you had English as your core subject till class 12th and you scored an easy 75%, and even your mode of study in bachelor is English itself, then you can be waived off from a language test. Now, this point is subjected to your profile and the university that you apply to because the requirements vary across universities and depend hugely on the applicant’s profile. 

Let me know if this is helpful and if you need any more information from my end.