What English test do I need for ILR?

The level: B1 speaking and listening

Indefinite leave to remain has a knowledge of language and life requirement with two halves. The language half asks most applicants aged 18 to 64 to show English at level B1 or above on the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), in speaking and listening only. Reading and writing are not tested for settlement. B1 is the "intermediate" band: holding a conversation about everyday topics, following the main points of clear speech, and explaining plans or opinions in simple connected sentences.

The Home Office has consulted on raising the settlement level, so confirm the figure on GOV.UK when you apply. If the level does move, a higher SELT pass (B2 or above) already satisfies any lower requirement, so there is no disadvantage in testing above B1 if you comfortably can.

Three ways to meet it

1. 1Pass a Secure English Language Test (SELT) at B1 or higher in speaking and listening, taken with a Home Office approved provider at an approved test centre. In the UK the approved providers currently include Trinity College London (GESE Grade 5 or above, or ISE I or above), IELTS SELT Consortium (IELTS for UKVI or IELTS Life Skills B1), LanguageCert and Pearson; check the current list on GOV.UK because approvals change. Only a test booked as a SELT counts — an ordinary IELTS or Pearson certificate for university admission does not.
2. 2Hold a degree that was taught or researched in English. A UK bachelor's, master's or PhD qualifies on its own. A degree from outside the UK needs confirmation from Ecctis (UK ENIC) that it is equivalent to a UK degree and that it was taught in English — the Visa and Nationality statement, not the standard statement of comparability.
3. 3Be a national of a majority-English-speaking country on the Home Office list — for example Australia, Canada, Ireland, Jamaica, New Zealand or the United States. Your passport is the evidence. Note that some countries where English is widely spoken, such as India, Nigeria, Pakistan and South Africa, are not on the list, so nationals of those countries take the SELT or rely on a degree.

You need only one of the three. The online application form asks which route you are relying on and lists the evidence to upload; see the full ILR document checklist for the rest of the bundle.

Reusing a test you already passed

If you proved English at B1 or above for an earlier visa in your route — Skilled Worker, the partner route, and most others test at the time of the first grant — you can normally rely on that pass again for ILR. GOV.UK states that SELT certificates at B1 and above do not expire for Home Office purposes, so a test taken five years ago is still valid evidence, provided it was a SELT at the required level and you still have the certificate or its unique reference number.

Two situations where you may have to test again: your earlier visa accepted a lower level (some routes required only A1 or A2 at entry, which is below the settlement standard), or you never proved English because your original route did not require it. In either case book a B1 SELT well ahead of your application date — test slots and result turnaround can take weeks in busy periods, and your earliest ILR date will not wait for them.

Who is exempt

• Age. Applicants under 18 or aged 65 or over on the date of application do not need to meet the language requirement. A child who turns 18 before applying is not exempt.
• Long-term physical or mental condition. If a condition prevents you from learning English or taking a test, you can be exempted with a letter from a doctor confirming the condition and its effect. The exemption is assessed case by case; the same evidence covers the Life in the UK test.
• Certain routes. A few settlement categories, such as refugees and people granted humanitarian protection settling after five years, have different knowledge-of-language provisions. Check the route-specific GOV.UK page if you are not on a standard work or family route.

Exemption is from the test, not from the application. You still apply in the normal way and select the exemption in the form.

Not the same as the Life in the UK test

The other half of the requirement is knowledge of life in the UK, proven by the Life in the UK test. It is a separate booking, a separate fee and a separate pass, and people regularly confuse the two or assume one covers the other:

• It is a 45-minute computer-based test of 24 questions on British history, values and everyday life, taken in person at an approved test centre. You need to book online at least three days in advance and bring the ID you registered with.
• The pass mark is 75 per cent — 18 correct answers out of 24. A pass does not expire, and the same pass is reused later for British citizenship.
• It applies to the same age band: 18 to 64. The under-18, 65-and-over and long-term condition exemptions mirror those for the language requirement.
• It is taken in English (or Welsh or Scottish Gaelic), so in practice it presumes the B1 level rather than replacing it.

Keep the pass notification: the application form asks for the unique reference number and the result is checked electronically.

Fitting the tests around your qualifying period

Order of operations

Neither test has to be taken in the UK at a particular point in your five years, but both must be passed before you submit the ILR application. A sensible sequence for the final year:

1. 1Work out your earliest application date from your trip record. The free UK ILR calculator tests every rolling 12-month window against the 180-day cap and gives you the date the record supports, 28-day early window included.
2. 2Check whether your earlier visa already proved English at B1 or above. If it did, gather the certificate; if not, book a B1 SELT with an approved provider for a date at least a month before you plan to apply.
3. 3Book and pass the Life in the UK test. Keep the pass notification with its reference number.
4. 4Assemble the rest of the documents and apply in the 28-day window.

The tests are the part of ILR you control entirely; the absence record is the part that can move your date. The ILR absence calculator keeps that record honest, and the full guide to indefinite leave to remain walks through every requirement — residence, absences, tests, fees and what happens after the grant — in order.

Sources

• GOV.UK — Prove your knowledge of English for citizenship and settling
• GOV.UK — Prove your English language abilities with a secure English language test (SELT)
• GOV.UK — Life in the UK Test