The company’s Academic and General SELT tests, which have been designed to judge English language ability for UK student and work visas, will be available for use from December 19.

“This is a very important milestone for us,” said Marios Molfetas, chief languages officer at LanguageCert, at the UK ENIC conference in early December.

“These examinations are based on a lot of stakeholder feedback and based a lot on research, and they’re for skills and academic qualifications, based on real life scenarios.

“We took the conscious choice of delivering real exams with real life scenarios, as a choice for the future.”

The tests are due to be delivered through the existing LanguageCert SELT Centre Network with “highly secure” test technology.

Molfetas also noted that an online version of the tests would be available from early 2024.

The Academic test was developed, “in response to demand from institutions” for an assessment that effectively evaluated the English proficiency within an academic setting, according to the announcement.

The General SELT test is aimed at those applying for a UK Skilled Worker and Health and Care Worker visas, and references CEFR standards, LanguageCert said.

“We took the conscious choice of delivering real exams with real life scenarios”

“LanguageCert Academic and General represent our commitment to continually evaluate and meet the evolving needs of our diverse user base, ensuring the provision of secure, relevant, and reliable testing,” Molfetas added.

The current LanguageCert test approved for UKVI purposes, the ESOL 4-skills SELT provision for work and study, “remains approved until further notice,” LanguageCert confirmed.

The tests are also independently evaluated by UK ENIC.