As part of any settlement application (i.e. permanent residence/indefinite leave to remain application) or citizenship/naturalisation application applicants must demonstrate their English language ability. There are a number of ways to do this but many applicants have to take an approved English language test.
The Home Office amended the approved list of English language tests earlier this year so that only two test providers remained on the list: Trinity College London and IELTS.
The Home Office also put in place transitional arrangements to enable applicants who had taken an English language test previously listed on the approved list prior to 6 April 2015 to rely on that test up until 5 November 2015.
However, any settlement or citizenship application submitted from 6 November 2015 onwards must be supported by an English language test listed on the new approved Home Office list. This applies even if the applicant previously relied on another English language test for an earlier immigration application.
Those intending to apply for settlement or citizenship from 6 November 2015 onwards should take urgent steps now to ensure that the English language qualification they already hold will be accepted by the Home Office. If the test provider they used is not on the new Home Office list, and they cannot meet the English language requirement in another way, they will need to take a new approved English language test before submitting their application and it can take a few weeks to receive the test results.
The Home Office list of approved test providers is set out in Appendix O of the Immigration Rules which can be found here.