What IELTS Life Skills B1 is
IELTS Life Skills is the IELTS SELT Consortium's speaking-and-listening test for UK immigration. It exists at A1, A2 and B1. The B1 version is approved by the Home Office for settlement (before 26 March 2027 on every route, after it on the BN(O), Armed Forces and Domestic Worker routes) and for British citizenship. It is not IELTS for UKVI, the four-skills exam with a band score; Life Skills is pass or fail and has no reading or writing.
Book "IELTS Life Skills B1" at an IELTS SELT Consortium centre (British Council or IDP brands in the UK). A standard IELTS Academic or General Training result is not a SELT and is refused.
The format: you, an examiner and another candidate
This is the detail that makes Life Skills different from every other B1 SELT. You take the test with one other candidate at a similar level, and the examiner runs the session for both of you. Nobody is marked on the other person's performance, but you do have to talk to them.
The B1 test runs up to 22 minutes:
| Phase | Time | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1a | about 3 min | the examiner asks each of you about yourself: work, family, where you live |
| 1b | about 7 min | each of you talks for about a minute and a half on a topic the examiner gives; the other candidate listens and asks you three questions about it |
| 2a | about 5 min | you both listen to a recording (played twice) and answer questions on what you heard |
| 2b | about 7 min | a discussion between the two of you on a related theme, then a planning task: decide something together, for example which transport to take and what to pack |
The topics are everyday: work, housing, transport, health, education, shopping, weather, family. At B1 the examiner listens for contrast and reasons ("but", "because", "so that"), narrating in the past, asking about past and future events, and talking about what will probably or definitely happen.
Marking
A human examiner marks you on four things: obtaining information, conveying information, speaking to communicate, and engaging in discussion. You need to meet the B1 standard in all four. There is no numerical score; the result is Pass or Fail. Results take about a week, and you get a UKVI number to enter in your application.
Price and booking
IELTS does not publish one national UK fee. Each centre sets the price; British Council London centres were listing £182 in October 2026. Compare that with Trinity GESE Grade 5 at a fixed £160, PTE Home B1 at £170 and LanguageCert from about £160. Abroad, IELTS Life Skills is one of the four tests on the Home Office's outside-UK list and is often the easiest to find in South Asia and West Africa.
Book through ielts.org or the British Council booking site in the exact name on your passport. Bring the original passport or travel document on the day; an eVisa share code is accepted for tests in the UK.
Who Life Skills suits
Choose it if you talk more easily with a peer than one-to-one with an official, if your local centre is a British Council or IDP site rather than a Trinity one, or if you are applying from abroad. Pairs often help each other through the planning task without meaning to.
Avoid it if you are unsettled by depending on a stranger. A weak or dominant partner does not change your mark, but it can throw your rhythm. It is also the longest of the four B1 tests and includes a recorded listening task; people who do fine in conversation but struggle with audio through a speaker tend to prefer Trinity GESE Grade 5, where all the listening is the examiner's live voice.
Life Skills B1 against Trinity GESE Grade 5
| IELTS Life Skills B1 | Trinity GESE Grade 5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Length | up to 22 min | 10 min |
| Candidates | two with one examiner | one with one examiner |
| Prepared topic | no | yes, a Topic Form you write at home |
| Listening | a recording played twice plus live conversation | live conversation only |
| Price | set by the centre, from about £182 | £160 |
| Result | about a week | provisional by 9am the next day |
| Marking | pass or fail, four criteria | pass or fail at grade, with A to D for each phase |
How to practise
The language is the same B1 whichever test you book: full answers with reasons, the past tense for stories, the future for plans, and questions back. The free AI examiner on this site runs Trinity's six Grade 5 subjects, which cover the same everyday ground as Life Skills topics, and grades you on Trinity's scale. Four minutes a day for two weeks shows you whether you are at B1. For the Life Skills format itself, practise the Phase 1b task with a friend: talk for ninety seconds about your journey to work, then let them ask you three questions.
No Life Skills at B2
There is no IELTS Life Skills B2. For the B2 settlement requirement from 26 March 2027 the IELTS route is IELTS for UKVI with 5.5 in speaking and listening, a four-skills exam. The only B2 speaking-and-listening SELT announced so far is Trinity's GESE Grade 7. See what you can book today.
