One name, two kinds of test
"UKVI English test" and "Home Office English test" are what people type when they know they need to prove English for a visa and do not yet know which test. The official term is a Secure English Language Test (SELT): an exam from a provider the Home Office has approved, sat at an approved centre, with a result the Home Office can verify online. UKVI itself does not run a test. It publishes the list and checks your reference number.
GOV.UK splits the routes into two groups. Work and study routes need a four-skills test: reading, writing, speaking and listening. Family, settlement and citizenship need speaking and listening only. Getting this wrong is expensive: a four-skills test costs more and takes two to three hours, and a speaking-only pass is refused on a work route.
Which level and which skills, route by route
Levels are CEFR: A1 lowest, C2 highest. Checked against GOV.UK in October 2026.
| Application | Skills | Level | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partner or parent visa, first application | speaking and listening | A1 | A1 page |
| Partner or parent visa, extension after 2.5 years | speaking and listening | A2 | or reuse an A2+ pass from the first application. A2 page |
| Settlement (ILR), applications before 26 March 2027 | speaking and listening | B1 | every route that has a requirement |
| Settlement (ILR), applications from 26 March 2027 | speaking and listening | B2 | family route and most work routes. What changes |
| Settlement, BN(O), HM Armed Forces, Domestic Worker | speaking and listening | B1 | stays at B1 after 2027 |
| British citizenship | speaking and listening | B1 | unchanged by 2027; plus the Life in the UK test |
| Skilled Worker, Health and Care Worker, Scale-up Worker, new application | four skills | B2 | since 8 January 2026; B1 for people who held the visa before then and are extending |
| Student, degree level or above | four skills | B2 | a university may assess you itself |
| Student, below degree level | four skills | B1 | |
| High Potential Individual, Innovator Founder, Minister of Religion, Start-up | four skills | B2 | |
| International Sportsperson, Representative of an Overseas Business | speaking and listening | A1 | |
| Refugees, humanitarian protection, EU Settlement Scheme | none | no English requirement at settlement |
Many work routes do not ask you to prove English again at settlement because you proved it for the visa; from 26 March 2027 that stops on most of them and a B2 speaking-and-listening SELT is needed. The ILR hub covers this.
Ways to meet it without a test
For most routes the SELT is one of three or four options. The others:
- a UK degree (bachelor's or above) taught in English. Degree certificate only.
- a degree from abroad taught in English, with an Ecctis statement confirming it is UK bachelor's standard and was taught in English
- a UK school qualification (GCSE, A level, Scottish National 4 or 5, Higher or Advanced Higher in English) that you started before you were 18. Work and study routes only; settlement and citizenship do not accept it.
- nationality: nationals of Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, the British overseas territories, Canada, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Malta, New Zealand, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and the USA. Ireland for citizenship only.
- age 65 or over, or a long-term condition confirmed by a doctor on the Home Office form, for family, settlement and citizenship
- doctors, dentists, nurses, midwives and vets who have passed the English assessment of their regulator, on the work routes
GCSEs, college ESOL certificates, NVQs and employer letters do not count for settlement or citizenship. Only a SELT or a degree does. See ESOL Entry 3 for why.
The approved providers
In the UK: Trinity College London, the IELTS SELT Consortium, LanguageCert and Pearson. Outside the UK: PSI Services (Skills for English UKVI), the IELTS SELT Consortium, LanguageCert and Pearson. The exact product names GOV.UK accepts:
- Trinity: GESE (speaking and listening) and ISE (four skills), sold as "Secure English Language Tests for UKVI"
- IELTS: "IELTS for UKVI" (four skills) and "IELTS Life Skills" (speaking and listening, A1, A2, B1)
- LanguageCert: "LANGUAGECERT International ESOL SELT" (speaking and listening), "LANGUAGECERT Academic SELT" and "LANGUAGECERT General SELT" (four skills)
- Pearson: "PTE Academic UKVI" (four skills) and "PTE Home" (speaking and listening, A1, A2, B1)
- PSI: "Skills for English UKVI", abroad only
A normal IELTS, a Cambridge certificate, TOEFL or Duolingo is not a SELT. For speaking and listening at B1 the four UK options are compared on Trinity against IELTS, LanguageCert and PTE.
Three rules that apply to every SELT
- Two years. The test must have been awarded in the two years before the date of application. Exceptions: a B1 or higher pass accepted at settlement is reused for citizenship with no time limit, and a B1 or higher pass accepted for an earlier UK application can be reused at settlement if the test is still on the list and meets the level now required.
- Same name as your passport. Book in the name on your identity document, bring the original on the day. A mismatch means no test and no refund.
- Reference number, not certificate. After a pass you get a number (UER for Trinity, UKVI number for IELTS, Candidate URN for LanguageCert, SELT URN for Pearson, URN for PSI). You type it into the application; the Home Office verifies it online. Leaving it out can get the application refused.
Booking without being overcharged
Book on the provider's own website. GOV.UK warns that some agents claim a Home Office link they do not have and charge above the provider's price. You should be able to sit a test within 28 days, though perhaps not at the nearest centre. Prices in the UK in October 2026: Trinity GESE £160 at every grade, PTE Home £170, LanguageCert from about £160, IELTS Life Skills set by the centre from about £182, IELTS for UKVI from about £257, PTE Academic UKVI £230, Trinity ISE II £200.
Which test for you, in one line each
Partner, first visa: any A1 speaking-and-listening test; abroad that means IELTS Life Skills, LanguageCert, PTE Home or PSI. Partner extension: A2, same providers. Settlement before 26 March 2027 or citizenship: any B1 speaking-and-listening test; Trinity GESE Grade 5 is the shortest. Settlement from 26 March 2027 on the family or work routes: B2 speaking and listening, for which Trinity's GESE Grade 7 is the only test announced; until it is on sale, a four-skills B2. Skilled Worker or Student at degree level: a four-skills B2 (IELTS for UKVI, PTE Academic UKVI, Trinity ISE II, LanguageCert Academic or General SELT) or a degree.
