The UK government is mulling over the idea of substituting the Secure English Language Test (SELT) with a Home Office-owned testing model as one of the components of the language requirements. The move will be a part of the student visas overhaul.
The government, in a tender notice published last week for the Home Office English Language Test (HOELT) announced the decision “to move away from a concession model and contract directly with suppliers”.
At Present, UKVI Secure English Language Tests (SELTs) are mandatory for some visas such as student and all kinds of work and citizenship applications.
SELT is the UK delivered IELTS SELT Consortium, LanguageCert, Pearson and Trinity College London (along with the ones set out) internationally by IELTS placed in the UK and scored by LanguageCert, Pearson and PSI Services – Skills for English.
The Home Office declared that the HOELT will evaluate speaking and listening abilities as well as reading and writing skills that will be, depending on the visa route, between levels A1 to C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
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The tender will be split into two service lines. Firstly, a firm will be hired to develop, evaluate and continuously support a Home Office-branded test to be utilized in all of the enterprises worldwide. However, they will be obliged to be the ones engaging globally with the customers, inclusing booking platform, test center provision (virtual and physical), invigilation and security staff.
For the first service line, the organization through the test developer will manage the updating and development of the test, production of a delivery system, secured data reception from test centers, evaluation of the tests, and conducting checks on that. The test is also moderated by the test developer. In addition to this, the test developers will need to have in place a process for anti-fraud checks.
In the procurement details for the second field, the Home Office reported that it would be necessary to provide the verification of the identity of customers, see to it that only the customers who have been validated take the test in the right examination conditions, delay the release of the results until the checks are additionally verified, and ensure the ongoing audits of the physical test points and delivery systems.
The Home Office expressed on the introduction of the tender that a market engagement would be carried out for the new delivery model, the products and services in the market would be known of, and a business case would be built by the department “to ensure that the Service is provided with the highest levels of security, integrity and satisfaction”.
The price of the contract, according to the current testing volume forecast, is UK£1.13 billion.
In May, the Home Office under the previous government confirmed that an analysis of English language assessments was underway when the government found that the contract was in the tens of millions. The new Home Secretary, Priti Patel, is not content that the Metropolitan Police can efficiently control the border. She is not against the idea of keeping strict immigration policies under Boris but at present, she is focusing on the fact that we cannot afford to be so weak in dealing with the border security. She will probably change her views later.
[Output]There are critical measures that need to be taken care of in this post-study Graduate Route.
“The government is already reviewing English language assessments with the objective of standardising independent assessments, ensuring all international students are equipped with the skills to understand their course materials – or they shouldn’t expect a place at a UK university,” the Home Office said.
Following elections in early July, the new government has confirmed that measures introduced by the previous government, including the ongoing reviews, will be continued.
Details have yet to be released by the Home Office whether or not the required raised levels for student visas would be changed, or if all the university students had to complete a HOELT. Presently, higher education providers are able to offer their own students’ English language skills examinations suitable for courses at degree level.
The prevailing SELT system was created by the current Home Office after a BBC documentary programme in 2014 revealed that there was malpractice at two TOEIC centres.
A campaign to secure for affected students the clean-up of their names during the subsequent investigation into TOEIC tests and visa cancellation has not stopped, and over 3,600 students have successfully appealed against the Home Office.