UK Spouse Visa English Test: A1 First, A2 to Extend

Most guides to this requirement give you one number. The requirement is not one number, it is three, spread across roughly five years, and knowing that early changes how you prepare.

You take a test to get the visa. You take another to extend it, unless what you passed the first time can be reused. And a higher qualification sits at the settlement stage, on a different gov.uk page. People who treat the first test as a hurdle to clear and then stop speaking English find the later ones much worse than they needed to be.

If you want to keep a small daily speaking habit running between those tests, SpeakShark is free with three AI conversation sessions a day and no card, each capped at five minutes and four turns.

In this guide: the three levels · speaking and listening only · Life Skills is a brand · which tests count, and where · the extension trap · settlement · exemptions · how to prepare · what we could not verify · how we researched this guide · FAQ

Key takeaways

• gov.uk states you must pass at least level A1 on the CEFR scale for your first family visa application.
• Its levels table, dated 8 January 2026, gives the family visa as A1 first, then A2 to extend.
• The test is speaking and listening only. Home Office guidance says partner and parent applicants do not need to demonstrate reading and writing.
• Life Skills is a product name, not a requirement. gov.uk approves several providers for these routes.
• The approved provider list splits by where you sit the test. Trinity College London is listed for tests taken in the UK, and Skills for English UKVI for tests taken outside it.
• If you pass B1 or higher early, gov.uk says you can reuse that result when you apply for settlement after five years, which can save you a test.

The three levels in order

Here is the shape, taken from gov.uk rather than from a preparation site.

Three things about that table are worth reading twice.

A1 is a floor, not a ceiling. gov.uk explicitly says you can choose to take a higher level test. That single sentence is the most useful thing in the whole requirement, and we come back to it below.

The third row is a permission, not a requirement. The family visa page does not state a level for settlement. What it states is that if you pass level B1 or higher, you can use that test result again when you apply for settlement after five years. That is a rule about reusing a certificate you already hold.

The stages sit on different pages. The A1 and A2 stages are on the family visa guidance. The separate gov.uk English language page lists an English qualification at B1, B2, C1 or C2 level, framed around being 18 or over and applying for citizenship or to settle in the UK. If you only read one page you will only see part of the staircase.

There is no reading or writing

For these routes the test does not contain an essay or a comprehension passage, and that surprises almost everybody coming from an IELTS background.

gov.uk's SELT guidance splits routes into two lists. One needs a test that assesses your speaking and listening abilities. The other needs a test covering reading, writing, speaking and listening. Partner, parent, settlement and citizenship sit in the speaking and listening list. Work and study routes such as Skilled Worker, Health and Care Worker and Student sit in the four skill list instead.

Home Office caseworker guidance says it in plainer words still: an applicant in the partner or parent routes does not need to demonstrate reading and writing skills.

The practical consequence is uncomfortable for a lot of people. There is nothing to revise. No vocabulary list to memorise, no essay structure to learn, no reading strategy to practise. The entire result rests on a short spoken exchange, which is why our guide to the UK settlement English test spends its time on speaking habits rather than study plans.

Life Skills is a brand name, not a requirement

This is the misunderstanding we most want to correct, because people search for it directly and then book the wrong thing or assume they have no choice.

IELTS Life Skills is a product. gov.uk lists it among approved tests as "IELTS for UKVI" or "IELTS Life Skills". It is one option.

The same gov.uk guidance also approves LanguageCert International ESOL SELT, LanguageCert Academic SELT and LanguageCert General SELT, PTE Academic UKVI and PTE Home, Skills for English UKVI, and Trinity's Integrated Skills in English and Graded Examinations in Spoken English.

So if somebody tells you that you must sit Life Skills, they are describing a brand rather than the rule. Any approved test at the right level satisfies the requirement, provided that provider is approved for the place you are sitting the test. That location check comes first, because gov.uk publishes the approved list under two separate headings. Once it is settled, choose on availability, format and price.

The formats genuinely differ. Trinity's GESE is a live one to one speaking and listening examination with an examiner, and gov.uk lists Trinity only for tests taken in the UK. LanguageCert states that its speaking exams are carried out by a real person online, and gov.uk lists it both inside and outside the UK. That format difference matters if you are the sort of person who freezes in front of an examiner, or conversely the sort who needs a listener reacting to speak well at all. It only matters, though, once the provider is available where you are.

The tests gov.uk approves, and where you can sit them

gov.uk does not publish one approved provider list. It publishes two, under the headings "If you are in the UK" and "If you are outside of the UK", and they are not the same list.

Read that last column before you read anything else about providers. Trinity College London appears only under the in the UK heading. PSI Services with Skills for English UKVI appears only under the outside of the UK heading. The IELTS SELT Consortium, LanguageCert and Pearson appear under both.

For a family route that is not a footnote, because the stages happen in different places. A first family visa application is normally made from outside the UK, while an extension is normally made from inside it. So the list of tests available to you at the first application and the list available at the extension are genuinely different lists, and a guide that hands you one set of five options for both is wrong at one of the two stages.

The practical version. If you are applying from abroad, Trinity's GESE is not an option for you, however well its format suits you, and any page recommending it to you without asking where you are has skipped a step. If you are already in the UK, Skills for English UKVI is not an option either. Confirm on gov.uk which list applies to you, then compare inside that list. Which English test to pick for a UK visa works through the rest of that choice.

One caution that is not theoretical. When we checked provider sites during this research, at least one approved provider's own visa requirements page listed a level for a work route that gov.uk had already changed. Provider pages lag policy. If a provider page and gov.uk disagree, gov.uk decides your application.

The extension rule that catches people

The extension stage is where the requirement stops being simple, and gov.uk sets out three different situations.

If you passed A1 first time, you will need to pass at least level A2 in speaking and listening.

If you passed A2, B1, B2, C1 or C2 first time, gov.uk says you can use that test result again for your application, as long as the certificate has not been withdrawn by the test provider.

If you were given an exemption first time, gov.uk says you will need to pass a test at level A1 at the extension stage. That one catches people out, because an exemption at the start feels like the requirement has gone away when it has only been deferred.

Read those three together and a strategy appears. Because gov.uk explicitly allows you to take a higher level test than the minimum, passing a higher level early can remove a later test entirely. Somebody who passes B1 at the first application has, on gov.uk's own reuse wording, a result they can carry to the extension and to settlement.

That is a decision about money and time rather than English, and it is worth making deliberately rather than by default. It is also the argument for keeping a speaking habit rather than cramming, since the higher level is only worth attempting if you are close to it. A 30 day plan to improve speaking and free methods to raise fluency cover the groundwork.

What happens at settlement

At five years the requirement changes character.

Be precise about what the family visa page actually does here, because a lot of guides are not. It does not state a level for settlement. It states a permission: if you pass level B1 or higher, you can use that test result again when you apply for settlement after five years, provided the test is still on the approved list and the certificate has not been withdrawn. That is a reuse rule aimed at people who took a higher test earlier, not a sentence telling you what settlement asks for.

For what settlement asks for you have to move to the separate gov.uk English language page. That page lists an English qualification at B1, B2, C1 or C2 level, and frames the requirement around being 18 or over and applying for citizenship or to settle in the UK.

Home Office caseworker guidance describes partners and parents moving onto the knowledge of language and life requirements at indefinite leave to remain, rather than staying on the A1 and A2 family scale. We are flagging rather than explaining that, because the guidance document we found carries an older revision date than gov.uk's January 2026 levels table, and where two official documents differ on age we would rather you read the newer one yourself.

The honest summary: B1 is the lowest level on that separate list, which makes it the sensible level to aim at eventually, and gov.uk's own pages are the place to confirm what your settlement application needs at the time you make it.

Exemptions exist, and we are not listing them

gov.uk publishes exemptions from this requirement, including one based on age which it words as over 65, along with other grounds such as nationality and qualifications taught in English.

We are deliberately not reproducing the list. Exemption wording changes, the age wording differs between documents we read, and an exemption you assume you have and do not is one of the more expensive mistakes available in this process.

Read the exemption section on gov.uk for your own circumstances. If you are exempt at the first application, note the extension rule above, because gov.uk says you will need A1 at that point.

How to prepare for a speaking only test

1. Stop studying, start talking. There is no reading or writing component. Revision converts badly here and talking time converts well.
2. Practise with somebody reacting. These tests use a live examiner, whether in person or online, so recording yourself in silence trains the wrong condition. How to practise English speaking alone covers the options when nobody is available.
3. Rehearse the everyday functions. Personal questions, starting a conversation, describing a picture, responding to what somebody just said. Daily use English sentences and English conversation topics for adults give you material.
4. Aim one level higher if you are close. gov.uk lets you, and it can remove a future test.
5. Fix clarity rather than accent. Being understood the first time is the bar. Six pronunciation fixes in fourteen days and reducing mother tongue influence target that.
6. Treat the nerves separately from the English. For many applicants the language is adequate and the pressure is not. Overcoming the fear of speaking English and building confidence in English address it, and you can start a free session for low stakes reps.

Not sure where you stand? Test your English speaking level free first. If you have studied for years and the speaking has not moved, why your English speaking is not improving is the more useful read.

What we could not verify

We are not publishing test fees. Only third party figures were visible, not a provider fee schedule we could confirm.

We are not reproducing the exemption list. gov.uk publishes it, the wording varies between documents, and the consequences of getting it wrong fall on the applicant.

We are not explaining the knowledge of language and life requirement at settlement in detail. The caseworker guidance describing it carries an older revision date than gov.uk's January 2026 levels table, and we would rather point you at the current page than summarise an older one.

We have not reproduced any test content.

Every level in this guide is quoted from gov.uk as it stood when we checked. Immigration requirements change, sometimes with a future start date attached. Read gov.uk for your own route and your own application date.

How we researched this guide

The A1 first application level, the A2 extension rule, the three extension situations and the B1 reuse wording all come from gov.uk's family visa knowledge of English page. gov.uk publishes both a route to level table, dated 8 January 2026, and per route guidance, and this guide reads both. The B1, B2, C1 and C2 qualification list for citizenship and settlement comes from gov.uk's English language page, which is a different page from the family visa guidance. The split between speaking and listening routes and four skill routes, the list of approved providers and products, and the division of that list into one set of providers for tests taken in the UK and another for tests taken outside the UK, all come from gov.uk's SELT guidance.

The statement that partner and parent applicants do not need reading and writing comes from Home Office caseworker guidance.

We checked provider sites separately and found at least one page listing a level gov.uk had already changed, which is why this guide sends you to gov.uk rather than to a provider for the level itself.

Practise speaking, from SpeakShark

SpeakShark is an AI English speaking practice app, and it is our pick for this requirement because of what the requirement actually is. There is no reading or writing to revise, the test is a short live conversation, and you will face it more than once across several years. The only preparation that moves that is producing unscripted speech regularly. You talk, the AI answers what you actually said, and you get speaking feedback while the conversation is still going. The free tier gives basic feedback; the detailed pronunciation and grammar breakdown is on Premium.

Start free with three sessions a day and no card, each free session capped at five minutes and four turns. Paid sessions run ten minutes with unlimited turns. Limits are on the pricing page, and how it works walks through a full session.

We are a speaking improvement tool. We are not an exam preparation provider, not an immigration adviser, and we are not affiliated with the Home Office, Trinity College London, LanguageCert, Pearson, PSI Services, the IELTS SELT Consortium or any exam board. For test format, booking and official practice material, go to the exam body directly, and for the level your visa route requires, read gov.uk. Use SpeakShark to make your spoken English stronger, and use official material to learn the test.

• Site: speakshark.com
• Support: speaksharksupport@gmail.com
• Free tier: 3 AI conversation sessions per day, no card

Sources

• gov.uk, family visa knowledge of English: the A1 first application level, the A2 extension rule, the exemption edge case and the B1 reuse wording
• gov.uk, English language requirement levels for immigration applications: the route to level table dated 8 January 2026, listing the family visa as A1 for a first application and A2 to extend
• gov.uk, English language: the B1, B2, C1 and C2 qualification levels for citizenship and settlement
• gov.uk, prove your English with a SELT: the speaking and listening route list, the approved providers and products, and the split between the list for tests taken in the UK and the list for tests taken outside the UK
• Home Office, English language requirement for family members: partner and parent applicants do not need reading and writing

FAQ