ENGLISH TEST for UKBA Settlement Visa

[Rob180]

I thought I would post this information in one place as I believe people may find it useful as it answers most of the questions I had before my own wife sat the English test.in October 2013 for a UK Settlement Visa,

Firstly, do not waste hours of your time looking on the UKBA website for lists of approved test providers in Thailand. The list doesn't exist. There are only 3 approved test providers in Thailand. My wife sat the BULATS test at Vantage Siam, Bangkok.

There are some old videos on You Tube showing tests being conducted face to face, which look easy. These do not exist any more and show the way the test used to be done..........the tests are now all done on computers, which of course is ridiculous as many people have never even used a computer in their lives.. Also, the voices that will be heard in English from the computers are not easy for a Thai to understand because there are so many different accents in the UK. If you are from Scotland, N.Ireland,Wales, Newcastle,Liverpool etc etc etc and your accent is the only one your wife hears regularly, she will not find it easy to understand the accents in this test. This is what happened with my wife............I am Scottish and she understands me fine mostly, but the English accents in the Test sounded completely different to what she was used to, hence she failed part of the test and had to resit it. Prior to resitting she did the 3 day Prep Course which cost £150, plus another £150 fee for the resit test.

The UKBA require only A1 level to be achieved in speaking and listening but reading and writing will also be tested, which of course is pointless and just a commercial money making exercise as a score of ZERO won't affect what's required by the UKBA.

The Test Fee is £150 and the 3 day Prep Course is £150. If you just book the Prep Course with Test it will cost you £300 and she will almost certainly pass at A1 minimum. If you don't go for the Prep Course and she fails the total cost will be £450 plus expenses for a 2nd visit to Bangkok ( Test £150, Prep Course £150, Resit Test £150)

If the candidate passes all 4 categfories at A1 or better they will receive a certificate from Cambridge University about 2-3 weeks after sitting the Test. If they only pass speaking and listening at A1 or better, they will not get the certificate, but the test reports showing she passed at A1 are all that the UKBA require for Settlement Visa applications..

Hope this is helpful.

Cheers

Edited by Rob180, 2014-01-01 08:34:35.

• Quote

Edited January 3, 2014 by Rob180

[7by7]

Err,

What information?

[durhamboy]

Rob180 - not sure what 7 by 7 means but I think this is good info.

[7by7]

When I made my post Rob's OP was simply

I thought I would post this information in one place as I believe people may find it useful as it answers most of the questions I had before my own wife sat the English test.in October 2013 for a UK Settlement Visa

Since my post he's edited the OP to include the information.

[redcardave]

Hi can you tell me if the settlement visa is the same as ILR. VISA

Thanks

[7by7]

When UKV&I talk about settlement they mean ILR. UKV&I will never say 'settlement visa' as ILR is a form of leave to remain, not a visa.

But when forums such as this say settlement visa we mean the initial visa for entry to the UK.

See UK settlement visa basics for the various stages to reach ILR.

Edited January 4, 2014 by 7by7