Candidates who choose LANGUAGECERT for a UK visa now sit a different test. Home Office guidance on Secure English Language Tests (SELTs) records that from 6 July 2025 the LANGUAGECERT International ESOL SELT four-skills test was replaced by the LANGUAGECERT Academic SELT and the LANGUAGECERT General SELT. The Home Office added this note to its guidance on 11 March 2026.
Key facts
- What ESOL four-skills SELT replaced by Academic SELT and General SELT
- From 6 July 2025
- Old results Valid for 2 years from award
- Who UK visa applicants choosing LANGUAGECERT
Results already issued
A result from the ESOL four-skills SELT remains valid for two years from the date it was awarded, in line with the general SELT rule. The application must be made within that two-year period, and must quote the LANGUAGECERT Candidate URN so that the Home Office can check the result online.
Where the new tests came from
The Academic and General SELTs are not new. LANGUAGECERT announced on 1 December 2023 that both had been approved as SELTs, with bookings open from 19 December 2023, and the Home Office added them to its list of approved tests on 4 December 2023. For about 18 months the older ESOL test and the two newer tests ran side by side.
LANGUAGECERT remains one of the approved SELT providers in and outside the UK, alongside the IELTS SELT Consortium, Pearson, PSI Services (outside the UK) and Trinity College London (in the UK).
What this means
If you are booking a LANGUAGECERT test for a UK visa, choose the Academic SELT or General SELT, not the ESOL test, and make sure the booking is for the SELT version. If you already hold an ESOL SELT result, check its award date: it can be used until two years after that date. Whatever the provider, confirm the level you need for your route on the official SELT guidance before you pay.