Changes in the system of Secure English Language Testing

February 23, 2015. (13:00). The U.K. Home Office has announced that by April 6 only two Trinity College London and IELTS institutions will be allowed to take the English language test for the U.K. visa. This will be due to some changes to visa laws that are due to be passed by Parliament on February 26 February.

According to the amended rules that went into effect last fall, tests from organizations such as: City &Guilds IESOL, ESOL and ISESOL qualifications and Person Test of English Academic will no longer be accepted as SELT. Likewise, all Cambridge Assessment exams except IELTS will be excluded.

However, those exams taken before April 5 will be valid until November;2015, in order to ensure a smooth transition to the new conditions.

The changes began when the Home Office (UK) conducted an audit of some ETS tests, in the process of which a systematic fraud in exam acceptance was discovered.

As a result, the Home Office decided not to renew its licensing agreement with ETS back in April last year, after the BBC publicly revealed fraud in the TOEIC exam.

The Home Office confirms the information provided by the test organizers, but according to The PIE News, they will not provide further details until Parliament passes the bill.