What each test costs, from the official pages
The short answer: Trinity GESE costs GBP 160 for the A1, A2 or B1 test in the UK; LanguageCert ESOL SELT starts "from INR 14,040" in India; IELTS Life Skills is INR 18,000 in India at IDP; and PTE Home and Skills for English do not print a fee, they show it when you pick a country and centre. Every figure below was read on the provider's own page on 21 October 2026. Where a provider does not publish a number, we say so rather than repeat a figure from a coaching site. The Home Office does not set or publish SELT fees; the GOV.UK SELT guidance (updated 12 October 2026) names the providers and tells you to book on the provider's own website.
| Provider and test (A1, A2, B1) | Where | Fee on the official page | Second attempt or protection | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trinity GESE Grade 2, 3 or 5 | UK only | GBP 160 (all GESE grades); ISE I, II, III GBP 200 | Exam Protect GBP 35: one resit and one reschedule | Trinity SELT page |
| LanguageCert International ESOL SELT (speaking and listening) | UK and outside | "from INR 14,040" as shown in India; General and Academic SELT "from INR 16,430"; level pages say "Test fees vary by country and local currency" | Take2: a discounted second attempt bought at booking; the home page advertises a "Free re-sit option for the Speaking and Listening test" | selt.languagecert.org |
| IELTS Life Skills | UK and outside | INR 18,000 in India (A1 and B1, IDP India 2026); other countries shown in the centre finder | No retake product on the IDP India fee page; transfer fee INR 4,500 | IDP India fee page |
| PTE Home A1, A2, B1 | UK and outside | "The cost of a PTE Home test depends on which country you take your test in" | None published; a retake is a new booking | Pearson PTE Home page |
| Skills for English UKVI (PSI) | Outside the UK only | "The cost of you test depends on the test type you need and where you intend to take it" (sic) | None published | Skills for English FAQ |
Two costs sit next to the English test and are often confused with it. The visa application fee is a separate Home Office charge. The Life in the UK test is a civics test, not an English test; GOV.UK lists it at GBP 50, booked "at least 3 days in advance", for settlement and citizenship, and not needed if you are under 18 or 65 or over (GOV.UK Life in the UK test). Neither replaces the SELT.
Which tests you can book in the UK and outside it
GOV.UK publishes two lists of approved tests, one for tests taken in the UK and one for tests taken outside it. We downloaded both on 21 October 2026 (published 12 October 2026). For the speaking-and-listening levels that partner, parent, settlement and citizenship applicants need, they say:
| Level | In the UK | Outside the UK | Pass mark on the GOV.UK list |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Trinity GESE Grade 2; IELTS Life Skills A1; LanguageCert ESOL SELT A1; PTE Home A1 | IELTS Life Skills A1; LanguageCert ESOL SELT A1; PTE Home A1; Skills for English UKVI A1 | Pass, except LanguageCert: 60/100 |
| A2 | Trinity GESE Grade 3; IELTS Life Skills A2; LanguageCert A2; PTE Home A2 | IELTS Life Skills A2; LanguageCert A2; PTE Home A2; Skills for English A2 | Pass, except LanguageCert: 60/100 |
| B1 | Trinity GESE Grade 5; IELTS Life Skills B1; LanguageCert B1; PTE Home B1 | IELTS Life Skills B1; LanguageCert B1; PTE Home B1; Skills for English B1 (two components) | Pass, except LanguageCert: 60/100 |
Three things follow. Trinity is a UK-only choice: GESE is not on the outside-UK list. Skills for English is an outside-UK-only choice: PSI is not on the UK list. And IELTS Life Skills, LanguageCert and PTE Home can be booked in either place. Which level your route needs is on the which-test page; take it from GOV.UK on the day you book, because the B1 to B2 change for most settlement applications from 26 March 2027 (per Trinity's SELT page and Appendix English Language) moves people between rows. The B1 to B2 page explains who is affected.
How to book, step by step, without losing the fee
- Confirm the level for your route on GOV.UK (A1 first partner or parent visa, A2 extension, B1 settlement and citizenship, per the GOV.UK family visa page). Booking the wrong level is the most expensive mistake on this page, because a pass at the wrong level is not a pass.
- Pick the provider by format, then by price. Trinity and LanguageCert put you in a one-to-one conversation with an examiner (Trinity's Grade 3 page says by video conference on a tablet at the centre; LanguageCert calls it a "computer-based test with real examiner"). IELTS Life Skills is with an examiner "and with one other test taker", around 20 minutes, per ielts.org. PTE Home and Skills for English are computer tests; Skills for English says "no examiner/assessor present". The LanguageCert and Skills for English page compares the two most people outside the UK choose.
- Book on the provider's own website. GOV.UK sends you to "the website of the provider offering the test you plan to take". Trinity books through its SELT booking site, LanguageCert through selt.languagecert.org, Pearson through myPTE, Skills for English "only on-line in your booking account", and IELTS through the centre finder or the local IELTS organisation.
- Type your name exactly as it is on the document you will carry, including middle names and spacing (details below).
- Decide on protection at the checkout. LanguageCert says Take2 "must be purchased before taking your test (not available after)". Trinity sells Exam Protect when you book, online or by phone. Neither page offers it after a fail.
- Save the confirmation as a PDF and a screenshot. Note the free rescheduling deadline for your provider in your phone calendar.
- "The details used to book your test must be the same as on your passport or other identity document." (GOV.UK)
- "If you are not able to prove your identity, you will not be allowed to take a test." (GOV.UK)
- LanguageCert: book a slot "up to 24 hours before your test"; with a UK eVisa, "at least 48 hours in advance".
- Trinity: "With over 20 SELT test centres across the UK, Trinity offers tests seven days a week."
- Skills for English: "You MUST bring the ID you register with on the day of your test."
The ID and name rules that turn people away
More fees are lost at the reception desk than in the test room. The GOV.UK SELT guidance sets the documents every provider must accept:
| Document | Test in the UK | Test outside the UK |
|---|---|---|
| Passport, convention travel document or stateless persons travel document | Yes | Yes |
| eVisa ("sign in to your UKVI account and get a share code") | Yes | No |
| Expired BRP or BRC | Yes, but the test must be "no later than 24 months after the expiry date shown on the card, or until 31 December 2026, whichever is sooner" | No |
| EEA national identity card | Yes | Yes, in the country that issued it |
| Government photo identity card | No | Yes, "in the country where issued" |
The rule that catches spouses is the name. GOV.UK: "If your surname has changed, you will still need to book the test in the name on your passport or identity document." LanguageCert's FAQ is blunter: a marriage certificate, a UK spouse visa in a passport or BRP, and an original deed poll are not accepted as identification of a new name. It also lists the mismatches that get people refused: a different document from the one used to book, a renewed passport with a new number, and "name discrepancies due to marriage/legal changes". If your passport was renewed after you booked, contact the provider before test day, not at the desk. Trinity asks eVisa holders for a share code on its booking website and notes share codes last 90 days, so generate it close to the booking.
Worked example, written by TalkDrill: the surname trap
Sana's passport, issued in Lahore, says Sana Bibi. Since her nikah she uses Sana Ahmed on WhatsApp and in her husband's emails. She books her A1 test as Sana Ahmed. On test day she shows the passport and the names do not match. Under the GOV.UK rule she can be refused, and none of the refund rules in the table below returns a fee on the test day. The fix costs nothing: book as Sana Bibi, exactly as on the passport, and use the same passport on the day.
Rescheduling, cancelling and retaking, provider by provider
| Provider | Change the date | Cancel and refund | After a fail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trinity | Exam Protect (GBP 35) covers one reschedule; buy it at booking | Not stated on the SELT pages we read; see the booking site terms | Exam Protect gives one resit voucher for GESE Grades 2, 3 and 5, valid "4 months from the date of your original exam", usable only after a fail result. Without it, a new GBP 160 booking |
| LanguageCert | "FREE rescheduling: Up to 72 hours before your exam start time"; an administrative fee inside 72 hours | Not stated in the FAQ sections we read | Take2, bought at booking, gives a second attempt "at a discounted rate" for ESOL SELT A1, A2 and B1; non-refundable and non-transferable |
| IELTS Life Skills (IDP India) | Transfer allowed more than 14 days before the test, to a date within three months; INR 4,500 | 75% refund more than 14 days before; 50% within 14 days but more than 2; 25% within 2 days; none on the day | A new booking at the full fee |
| PTE Home | Free "if there are more than 14 full calendar days left", up to 6 times (handbook) | Full refund at least 14 full days before; 50% between 13 and 8 days; none with fewer than 7 days (handbook) | Book a new test only "once you have received the scores from your last test" (handbook) |
| Skills for English | Cancel more than 5 days ahead and rebook | "Your test fee will be automatically refunded" more than 5 days ahead; "No refund" under 5 days | A new booking; the FAQ recommends waiting "a minimum of twenty-eight (28) days" |
The PTE rows quote Pearson's PTE Home Test Taker Handbook (November 2025); the IELTS row is IDP India's policy, and other countries' IELTS organisations set their own. The pattern is the same wherever a rule is published: the best terms for changing or cancelling end between 3 and 14 days before the test (72 hours at LanguageCert, 5 days at Skills for English, 14 days at PTE Home and at IDP India for IELTS), so pick a date you can keep. What happens to the result after a pass, and the reference number the Home Office checks, are on the results and validity page.
What the English step really costs: three worked examples
These are TalkDrill's own scenarios, built only from the official figures above. The people are illustrations, not real candidates.
1. Partner extension in Bradford, A2, Trinity
Bradford has one approved centre on the GOV.UK list, and it is Trinity's. GESE Grade 3 is GBP 160. With Exam Protect the up-front cost is GBP 195, and a fail followed by a pass within four months still totals GBP 195. Without it, a fail and a pass totals GBP 320. Exam Protect pays for itself if the chance of needing a second sitting or a new date is above about 22% (35 divided by 160). For someone who has not spoken English at work in two and a half years, that is a reasonable buy; for someone who uses English daily, it may not be.
2. First spouse visa from Jalandhar, A1
Jalandhar has approved centres for all four outside-UK providers on the GOV.UK list (PSI, IELTS, Pearson and LanguageCert). The published starting points are LanguageCert "from INR 14,040" and IELTS Life Skills INR 18,000; PTE Home and Skills for English show their price in the booking flow. A fail at IELTS means a second INR 18,000. A fail at LanguageCert with Take2 bought at booking means a discounted second attempt, priced at checkout. Open all four booking screens on the same evening, note the total for one attempt and for two, and choose the format you will pass in: a conversation with an examiner (LanguageCert, IELTS) or a computer (PTE Home, Skills for English).
3. Settlement from Luton, B1, before 26 March 2027
Luton itself is not on the UK centre list; the nearest listed cities are London (15 centres), Milton Keynes (LanguageCert) and Cambridge (Pearson, IELTS, LanguageCert). On the partner route, if you passed B1 or higher at an earlier application, the GOV.UK family visa page says "you can use your test result again when you apply for settlement after 5 years", as long as the test is still on the approved list and the certificate "must not have been withdrawn". Check that first; it saves the whole fee. If you do need one, the cost is the provider's fee plus the GBP 50 Life in the UK test, which is separate.
Approved centres in the UK, city by city
The GOV.UK list of approved test centres in the UK (file dated 9 October 2026, published 12 October 2026) has 83 centres listed under 29 place names: LanguageCert 24, Pearson 22, Trinity 20 and the IELTS SELT Consortium 17, all marked "Available". Our count, by city:
| City | Centres | Providers on the list |
|---|---|---|
| London (plus Croydon, Stratford, Uxbridge) | 15 + 3 + 1 + 1 | IELTS 5, LanguageCert 4, Pearson 3, Trinity 3 (including Hounslow and Hammersmith); Croydon: Trinity, LanguageCert, Pearson; Stratford: Trinity; Uxbridge: Pearson |
| Birmingham | 5 | Trinity, Pearson, LanguageCert, IELTS x2 |
| Manchester | 5 | IELTS x2, Pearson, LanguageCert, Trinity |
| Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast | 4 each | All four providers |
| Bristol, Sheffield, Peterborough | 3 each | Trinity, Pearson, LanguageCert |
| Cambridge | 3 | Pearson, IELTS, LanguageCert |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 4 | LanguageCert, Trinity, Pearson, IELTS |
| Portsmouth | 3 | IELTS, Pearson, Trinity |
| Leicester | 2 | Trinity, Pearson |
| Liverpool | 2 | Pearson, LanguageCert |
| Preston | 2 | Trinity, LanguageCert |
| Bradford | 1 | Trinity |
| Wolverhampton, Oxford | 1 each | Pearson |
| Coventry, Exeter, Maidstone, Milton Keynes, Southampton | 1 each | LanguageCert |
The list names the provider and the address, not which levels each centre runs on which day; the provider's booking page shows that. If your town is not here, the test is not available in your town, whatever a local agent says.
Approved centres outside the UK, country by country
The outside-UK list from the same publication has 1,307 centres in 145 countries. These are our counts for the countries most of our readers apply from. As in the UK list, a row names the provider, not the test, so an IELTS SELT Consortium centre may run IELTS for UKVI but not Life Skills on a given date; confirm the level on the booking page.
| Country | Centres | By provider | Cities worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | 144 | IELTS 59, PSI 39, LanguageCert 26, Pearson 20 | Punjab: Jalandhar (all four), Amritsar, Chandigarh (all four), Ludhiana, Bathinda, Patiala, Mohali. Gujarat: Ahmedabad (all four), Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Anand. Also New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Kochi |
| Pakistan | 66 | IELTS 38, LanguageCert 15, PSI 9, Pearson 4 | Lahore 15, Karachi 11, Islamabad 10, Faisalabad 5, Mirpur 4 (IELTS, PSI, LanguageCert), Peshawar 5, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Rawalpindi, Multan. Pearson only in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad |
| Bangladesh | 30 | IELTS 21, PSI 4, LanguageCert 3, Pearson 2 | Dhaka (all four), Sylhet 10 (IELTS 8, PSI, LanguageCert), Chattogram, Moulvibazar |
| Nigeria | 19 | IELTS 10, PSI 4, Pearson 3, LanguageCert 2 | Lagos and Abuja (all four in Lagos), Port Harcourt (IELTS, LanguageCert), Benin |
| Philippines | 37 | IELTS 30, PSI 4, LanguageCert 2, Pearson 1 | Manila (all four), Cebu, Davao, Makati, Quezon City, Iloilo, Baguio, Tuguegarao |
| United Arab Emirates | 23 | PSI 11, IELTS 7, LanguageCert 3, Pearson 2 | Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain |
| Saudi Arabia | 27 | IELTS 18, PSI 5, Pearson 3, LanguageCert 1 | Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Alkhobar |
| Egypt | 19 | IELTS 8, PSI 6, Pearson 3, LanguageCert 2 | Cairo, Giza, Alexandria |
| Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon | 12, 8, 9 | All four providers in each | Amman, Irbid; Baghdad, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah; Beirut, Tripoli |
| Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman | 15, 7, 9, 6 | All four providers in each | Kuwait City, Salmiya; Doha; Manama; Muscat |
| Sudan, Syria, Somalia, Afghanistan | 0 | None on the list | Yemen has one PSI centre in Sanaa |
Two notes from the providers' own pages. Skills for English says its centres in Afghanistan and Ukraine are closed (availability page). And IDP India's fee line covers IELTS Life Skills A1 and B1 only. IELTS Life Skills A2 is on the GOV.UK list of tests approved outside the UK, so an A2 candidate in India should ask IDP before booking, or compare LanguageCert, PTE Home and Skills for English, which also list A2 outside the UK. The full lists are the four files on the GOV.UK approved tests and centres page; they change, so check the one dated nearest your booking.
Before you pay: make the first attempt the only one
Every table on this page says the same thing: the cheapest test is the one you pass first time. A1, A2 and B1 are pass or fail, and the subjects are everyday ones (ielts.org lists personal details, family and friends, buying goods, work, health, leisure, education, transport, housing and weather). What fails people is silence and a missed second question, not grammar. A short route before you book, or in the two weeks after:
- Answer ten questions at your level aloud from the practice bank, with the follow-up, and record them.
- Run the same questions in the AI mock interview, which asks a follow-up you cannot predict.
- Read the page for your first language: Punjabi, Urdu and Hindi or Bengali, Gujarati, Tagalog, Arabic and Yoruba.
- Follow the 14-day roadmap to test day, then book inside your provider's free rescheduling window so you can move the date if the mock goes badly.
If you may not need a test at all (65 or over, a long-term condition, a listed nationality or a degree taught in English), read the exemptions page before paying anyone. Every provider and GOV.UK link is collected on the official resources page and the UK visa English test hub.