UK Visa SponsorsUpdated: ...
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UK Visa SponsorsPick your route to see the level of English you need at each stage, the accepted ways to prove it, and who is exempt.
Understand complex text and interact fluently and spontaneously.
Tested skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening
Raised from B1 to B2 for new applicants on 8 January 2026. If you held this visa before that date and are extending, B1 still applies.
This stage has no standalone English test, though you may have met it earlier.
There is no separate settlement-stage English requirement for the main applicant before this date.
Understand complex text and interact fluently and spontaneously.
Tested skills: speaking and listening
This new settlement-stage requirement is enacted and applies to people already on the route, unless exempt.
Pass an approved English test
Take a Secure English Language Test (SELT) in the required skills, at or above the level you need, from a Home Office approved provider at an approved test centre.
Have a degree taught in English
A bachelor's, master's or PhD taught in English counts. UK degrees qualify automatically; for an overseas degree you need confirmation from Ecctis (UK ENIC) that it is equivalent and was taught in English.
Be from a majority English-speaking country
Citizens of countries the UK accepts as majority English-speaking, such as Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the USA and several Caribbean nations, do not need a test.
Hold a UK school qualification in English
A GCSE, A level, Scottish National 4 or 5, or Higher in English gained at a school in the UK can be accepted, typically if you studied here while under 18.
You already proved it
If you met the same level or higher in an earlier successful UK application, you usually do not need to prove it again at the same level.
Age
People aged under 18, or 65 and over, can be exempt from the settlement knowledge requirements in some circumstances.
A long-term health condition
If a long-term physical or mental condition prevents you from meeting the requirement, you may be exempt with medical evidence.
Some routes have none
Visitor and some temporary work routes carry no English language requirement at all.
Most UK visa and settlement routes ask you to show a minimum level of English, measured against the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The level rises as you move from a first visa towards settlement and citizenship. You can usually meet it by passing an approved test, holding a degree taught in English, or being a national of a majority English-speaking country. This checker shows the level for each stage of your route and the accepted ways to prove it.
