How to Book a Secure English Language Test for a UK Visa

What Counts as an Approved Test

The Home Office only accepts a Secure English Language Test taken with an approved provider at an approved centre. The current list is on the GOV.UK Secure English Language Test page, and it is worth reading before you pay for anything, because a test that a college or university accepts for admission is not automatically on it.

Inside the UK the approved providers are:

• Trinity College London — Integrated Skills in English (ISE) and Graded Examinations in Spoken English (GESE)
• The IELTS SELT Consortium — IELTS for UKVI and IELTS Life Skills
• LanguageCert — LanguageCert International ESOL SELT, Academic SELT and General SELT
• Pearson — PTE Academic UKVI and PTE Home

Outside the UK, PSI Services (UK) Ltd takes the place of Trinity College London and runs Skills for English. The other three providers appear on both lists.

Which provider you choose does not change the level you need. It changes the format of the test and the price.

Which Level Your Route Needs

The level is set by the route on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Some routes test all four skills — reading, writing, speaking and listening — and others test speaking and listening only.

• Family visa as a partner or parent, first application: A1, speaking and listening
• Family visa, extension after 2 and a half years: A2, speaking and listening
• Settlement and citizenship: B1, speaking and listening. This rises to B2 from 26 March 2027 on the routes named in the statement of changes HC 1691, laid on 5 March 2026.
• Skilled Worker: B2 in all four skills for a new application, since 8 January 2026. B1 is still accepted for an extension on the same route.
• Student: B2 in all four skills for a course at degree level or above, B1 for a course below degree level.

See our English level comparison for what those levels mean in practice, and our guide to English language tests for UK visas for the requirement route by route.

A Student applying for a course at degree level or above at a higher education provider with a track record of compliance may have their English assessed by the provider itself instead of taking a Secure English Language Test. That is the provider's decision, not the applicant's, and the offer letter says whether it applies.

Booking

Booking is done with the provider, not with the Home Office and not through GOV.UK. GOV.UK says you should be able to take a test within 28 days of booking. It does not publish a recommended lead time beyond that, and it does not publish availability at individual centres.

1. Check the GOV.UK list to confirm the provider is approved
2. Choose the test that matches the level and the skills your route needs
3. Pick a centre and a date on the provider's site
4. Enter your details exactly as they appear on the identity document you will bring
5. Pay the provider's fee and keep the confirmation

GOV.UK publishes no price for any Secure English Language Test. Providers set their own fees, and they differ by test and by centre. Anyone quoting a single figure for “the English test” is guessing.

What to Bring

GOV.UK lists the identity documents a test centre accepts:

• A passport
• A convention travel document
• A stateless person's travel document
• An eVisa, for a test taken in the UK

The rules on arrival time, what you may take into the room and what the centre provides are set by the test provider and published in its own joining instructions. They are not the same at every provider, so the booking confirmation is the thing to read rather than a general description.

Preparing

Every approved provider publishes sample papers, practice material and a description of the test format on its own site, free. Those are the materials written for the test you have booked. Free or low-cost English classes are also available in many areas — see our guide to English classes for adults.

Results

How long a result takes depends on the provider and the test. GOV.UK publishes no timescale, so check the provider's own published turnaround for the test you have booked.

You do not send the certificate to the Home Office. GOV.UK says you do not need to submit any documents for the test as part of the immigration or nationality application: results and scores are checked through the Secure English Language Test online verification system. What you need is the unique reference number the provider gives you.

If you do not reach the level, you can book and take the test again. GOV.UK sets no limit on the number of attempts. You pay the provider's fee each time.

How Long a Result Lasts

GOV.UK says test results are valid for 2 years from the date the test is awarded. If yours has run out before you use it, see our guides on expired English tests and expired tests at settlement.

Some people do not need a test at all — nationals of the countries on the Home Office majority English-speaking list, holders of a degree taught in English, and people who meet an exemption on grounds of age or a physical or mental condition. Being from a country where English is an official language is not the same as being on that list, so check it rather than assuming. Our guides on exemptions at settlement and family visa exemptions set out where each one comes from.

Related Guides

See also our guides to citizenship requirements and UK visa fees. The test fee is not a Home Office fee and does not appear in the Home Office fee table.

Questions and answers