The Home Office has suspended the licences of 57 private UK colleges, launched a criminal investigation into global testing giant ETS and suspended international recruitment at three universities, following an investigation that has concluded that around 45,000 immigrants may fraudulently obtained English language test certificates.

Australia’s Department of Immigration and Border Protection has recently announced that it will accept Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic) and TOEFL iBT scores for a number of work visas from November 2014, including sub-classes relating to Temporary Graduates and Work and Holiday visa holders.

The Home Office's decision to accept TOEFL scores submitted with student visa applications for exams taken prior to April 17 has helped minimise any disruption of ETS terminating its SELT licence, sources indicate. The company has now unveiled voice biometric testing as a new security layer.

The UK government has ended its licence agreement with ETS to provide Secure English Language Testing as required by UKVI. This means that TOEIC and TOEFL scores are no longer valid as proof of English level – ETS confirmed it made the decision after TOEIC fraud was uncovered in UK testing centres.

TOEFL and TOEIC exam testing in the UK has been temporarily suspended after a BBC Panorama investigation that was aired on Monday 10 Feb has revealed systemic cheating by candidates taking a TOEIC exam. Meanwhile QAA has confirmed it is opening investigations into the two colleges named in the programme and accredited by the organisation.

The number of US private high schools using the iTEP’s SLATE exam for admissions has increased by 300% in a year, its owners claim with the test apparently filling a “vacuum” left by the now retired ETS SLEP exam. 135 schools now recognise the SLATE, which is used to assess how international students will integrate in their classes.