Skills for English tests for life, work and study
Skills for English is a suite of assessments for showing your level of English, from CEFR levels A1 to C2. You can use your test results for international study, work, settlement or career progression. The suite is approved by the UK Home Office for visa and immigration applications.
Skills for English:SELT is simple, quick, and affordable. It’s been designed to make the process of organising your test and achieving your English language testing goal as intuitive and straightforward as possible.
The test is available in a single computer-based test session at UKVI-approved test centres in over 130 countries outside of the UK.
Your journey starts here
Benefits
A test you can trust - Assured by SQA and approved by ENIC
Available worldwide at secure test centres in over 130 countries.
Test levels matched exactly to CEFR levels
A one-session test that is entirely computer-based with no examiner/assessor present
Reading and Listening skills are automatically marked. Speaking and Writing skills are marked by expert assessors who do not see any of your students’ personal details.
Tests are scored quickly, with results available in as little as 3 to 5 days.
Qualification comparison table
Skills for English is mapped to the ‘Common European Framework of Reference for Languages’ (CEFR) so you can also see how it maps to other international English language qualifications.
* All Skills for English tests are mapped to CEFR levels. The information showing mapping of IELTS, TOEFL and PTE Academic is taken from their respective websites and is correct at the time of publication
A test you can trust
Skills for English combines the expertise of two of the leading names in qualification and certification. Tests are delivered by PSI, a global leader in workforce solutions for over 70 years and assured by SQA: The Scottish Qualifications Authority, executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for accrediting educational awards.
“SQA Assured” means that SQA have undertaken an audit of Skills for English test content and PSI’s assessment development processes and are satisfied that the tests and the processes are aligned to SQA’s principles set out in the SQA Awarding Body Code of Practice (published March 2017).
UK ENIC ‘approved’: Skills for English assessments were evaluated and approved by UK ENIC in 2020. Approval covers all aspects of test development, administrations and results including alignment with CEFR.
Computer-based testing for all skills
All Skills for English tests use computer-based delivery for all skills. Reading and listening are automatically marked during the test session itself; speaking and writing are recorded digitally during the test session and marked by trained assessors (who have no visibility of your personal details) after you’ve finished. That means you can move through each of the skills sections in turn in a single test session and receive your results available in as little as 3 to 5 days, or up to 14 days.
Speaking
First you will be asked to introduce yourself. Then you will listen to a series of recordings, and respond to recorded questions and tasks presented on screen. You will do this by recording your spoken answers.
Listening
You will be asked to listen to a number of recordings of spoken English. You will hear the recording twice. They will feature one or more speakers. After each you will be asked to answer a series of questions.
You will be presented with a series of texts of varying lengths on screen. Then you will be asked to respond to a series of questions.
Writing
You will be given two tasks, which may be on any relevant topic. You will then be asked to organise and complete a written response for each task. The response has to address the task and include key information that has been identified within it.
How long are the tests
The table below shows you how long each test takes.
