Hi,

I'm hoping for a bit of advice if anyone can help.

My wife's settlement visa is due to expire in July 2015 so we're deciding on which English B1 test she should do for ILR. Has anyone had any experience of which one is the best or easiest? We were considering the Cambridge Preliminary English Test as my wife did the Cambridge Key English test to get her settlement visa.

I assume the Reading, Writing, Speaking & Listening skills are marked separately in the exam as the ILR is only concerned with speaking and listening?

thanks!

My wife attended Trinity College office in Euston, London, for her B1 and they have offices all over the country. Took about fifteen minutes for speaking and listening exam and that was all there was to it.

Has your wife passed LitUK test yet?

http://www.trinitycollege.com/site/?id=3218

https://englishexamcentres.co.uk/register.html?ebid=1&vid=&eid=&lid=34&date=Exam+Session+Date&sps=10

Thanks for the reply Wooloomooloo!

I've had a look a the Trinity College test, they have a test centre near us too. We've watched some of the videos on website and it looks fairly straight forward. Thanks for the recommendation.

My wife hasn't taken the LitUK test yet. That's the tricky one I guess. The plan is to do one soon so she's got time for a few resits.

Did you wife pass both?

Thanks again for the help.

No problem, cptruff.

Yes, my wife passed both tests and B1 was obviously the easiest for her. No revision required as such for B1, just that your wife decides on what subject she wants to talk about. Though, there's a load of random questions thrown in for good measure.

LitUK was a different story. My wife diligently revised the book and online tests for over a year and thankfully passed first time.

My wife has her passport interview on Monday as her prize. She deserves it.

Make sure you can use trinity collage I may be wrong but they've taken it off the list . My wife taken trinity London and when we applied for the ILR last in July you couldn't use it from Aug .

Have a look at some previous post

Current list of approved providers

To answer your question about reading and writing, from that document:

Settlement: If you intend to apply under the settlement route you must provide evidence that you have passed the speaking and listening components of a test at level B1 or above. You do not need to demonstrate reading and writing skills. Where a test examines all four components (speaking, listening, reading and writing) you do not need to pass the reading and writing components, you only need to evidence passing the speaking and listening components.

Make sure you can use trinity collage I may be wrong but they've taken it off the list . My wife taken trinity London and when we applied for the ILR last in July you couldn't use it from Aug .

Have a look at some previous post

Thanks marksm,

It looks like Trinity is OK looking at the UKBA tests.

Thanks again guys for your help!

is there any expiry date on the certificate? we don't need this til 2018, but wife would like to get it out the way. if we used trinity could it be took off the register by 2018 so to speak?

Some test providers in Thailand do have an expiry date on the certificate; but as far as I am aware none of those in the UK do.

This sort of makes sense, as if someone passes at A1 in Thailand but then doesn't use their English for a couple of years then will they still be at A1? Whereas in the UK they will, presumably, be using their English everyday.

Even so, UKVI have previously confirmed that an expired certificate is acceptable.

Some UK providers don't issue certificates at all, and UKVI check online for the result as part of the application processing.

See under your test provider on the list for what documentation is required.

The LitUK test pass does not expire and can be taken at any time.

Remember that the same passes, both the speaking and listening test and the LitUK test, can be used again later to meet the language requirement for naturalisation as British.

<snip>

UKVI have previously confirmed that an expired certificate is acceptable.

Further to this, from page 30 of Knowledge of language and life in the UK

Validity dates of ESOL qualifications listed in Appendix O of the Immigration Rules, or on the OFQUAL register, will not be applied for settlement (ILR) applications, provided:

 the qualification has previously been accepted for another immigration application, or

 if it is being presented for the first time, that it was taken in:

o England and was regulated by OFQUAL

o Wales and was regulated by the Welsh government

o Northern Ireland and was regulated by the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA), or

o Scotland and was regulated by the SQA.

Validity dates of SELT qualifications are not applicable to citizenship applications, as validity dates are not referred to in the regulations. However, qualifications taken in the UK must be have been regulated by OFQUAL, the Welsh government or CCEA, or if taken in Scotland, by the SQA.

Thanks