Cambridge University Press and Assessment, the British Council and IDP, which together run IELTS, said on 17 March 2026 that they will not bid for the Home Office English Language Test (HOELT) contract.
Key facts
- Announced 17 March 2026
- Who Cambridge University Press and Assessment, British Council, IDP
- Contract Home Office English Language Test (HOELT)
- Reason Concerns about fully remote delivery
What HOELT is
HOELT is the Home Office’s planned replacement for the current Secure English Language Test (SELT) system. Today, UK visa English tests must be taken in person at approved test centres. The new service is being bought as a fully remote, digital-by-default test. In a written parliamentary answer on 16 January 2026, the Home Office said the service is expected to be in place in late 2027 or early 2028.
Why IELTS stepped back
The IELTS Board said fully remote testing makes it hard to meet its standards for security, quality and integrity consistently, especially for the highest-stakes uses such as visas. The partners said the decision applies only to the HOELT procurement as it is currently designed, and that they will keep working with UKVI and support any move to a new system.
Nine days later, on 26 March 2026, IELTS announced that UKVI had extended its existing SELT agreement, so IELTS for UKVI and IELTS Life Skills remain accepted for now.
What this means
Nothing changes today for people booking a UK visa English test. The current approved tests, including IELTS for UKVI, PTE Academic UKVI and the other SELTs, remain the ones to use. The bigger change will come when HOELT starts, which could alter where and how you take the test. If your visa application is more than a year away, watch GOV.UK for the official start date and transition rules before you book, and do not rely on claims by private websites about which tests will be accepted.