IELTS equivalent A1 score...

abman51 · Post by **abman51** » Tue May 17, 2011 4:36 pm

Hi,

I am a British national, my wife in Pakistan took an IELTS test for her spouse UK visa requirement and scored 3.5 bands. Unfortunately I was unaware that easier tests were available and I feel I have wasted her time in doing the IELTS test...

I understand that the IELTS mininum band chart starts from band 4.0, although this is for level B1 which is much higher than the required A1 level. Is achieving 3.5 bands equivalent to level A1 as far as UK immigration is concerned?

I have contacted numerous agencies (British council, UKBA, Immigration lawyers in the UK seem clueless about it) and they give wish washy answers, short of asking an ECO I don't know what to do? I think the IELTs band score of less than 4 seems to be a grey area for spouse visas.

I just think it might be better if she does a test that meets the UKBA requirement...even though her inlaws probably won't be happy!

archipelago · Post by **archipelago** » Wed May 18, 2011 6:54 am

A score of 4.0 is needed for the IELTS exam, which achieves level B1. These tests are normally held at the British Council I believe. You may find an approved test centre in Pakistan that offers the lower A1 level.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... -tests.pdf

harv · Post by **harv** » Wed May 18, 2011 9:58 am

Hi

I have seen some other members in this board have submitted spouse VISA application with 3.5 IELTS score as well. Although I am not sure where they are with their application but I do not think that would be an insufficient score. I would suggest that you send an email to UKBA with a copy of the score sheet and mention the current score your partner has scored (3.5) and reference some readings from some websites such as:

[Aberystwyth University UK] http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/media/Compare- ... d-CEFR.pdf
[West London Business College UK] http://wlbc.webeden.co.uk/#/ielts/4526289554
[Oxford School of English UK] http://www.oxfordschoolofenglish.com/do ... ielts.html
[EduCouncil QnA] http://qna.educouncil.org/Tests_and_Res ... yzynO.html

All of the above references mention that 3.5 is better or equivalent to A2 CEFR which means your partner is above the requirements level for Spouse Visa.

Once they reply back confirming that they will accept her IELTS score as valid for Spouse Visa and that he/she meets the minimum score level, you should print that email and attach it with you spouse visa application so that the ECO officer has no doubts. These numbers should be detailed by the UKBA, BHC staff themself is most of the times not aware of the requirements.

Hope you get things working for you and your partner does not have to sit another IELTS test, its time consuming plus added stress to score better.

PS - I do not have an email address for the UKBA - other forum members should be able to help you with that or you may search the forum for UKBA email address. If you find more than one email address, I would suggest that you send an email to all of them and make sure that you attach a scanned copy of the results.

minty · Post by **minty** » Wed May 18, 2011 11:36 am

ust to let you know

My wife submitted her IELTS test cetificate as proof of english profeciency last month. She had an overall score of 3.5 and we recived the Visa

So i Guess it is good news for those people who were worried if less than 4 was required.

The UKBA website is far from being clear with regards to this, When I went to submit my documents in Liverpool the UKBA were themself confused, as they could not see any mark for IELTS below B1 standard. However the requirement is A1 and there was no IELTS score on thier spreadsheet which correlated to anythnig below B1.

They accepted my documents, and my email printout from UKBA general enquiries where it was confirmed the score was sufficient, and they told they would do a policy review and get back to me.

All Praise to Allah my wife recieved her Biometric Visa card.

Hope this helps all those who were a bit confused on this issue
_________________
Tracking Spreadsheet for All months from June 2010 below.

harv · Post by **harv** » Wed May 18, 2011 11:44 am

Great news minty, hope you have a great future with your partner.

I think it was the email confirmation that you were carrying did the trick, these people can get confused very easily and they do not like spending a lot of time in trying to get to a correct decision. If they have doubts they usually refuse, they think everything should be explained and proved by the candidate instead.

@ archipelago - I suggest you send an email as minty did and attach a print out of the reply with your application.

abman51 · Post by **abman51** » Wed May 18, 2011 11:49 am

They accepted my documents, and my email printout from UKBA general enquiries where it was confirmed the score was sufficient, and they told they would do a policy review and get back to me.

Any chance you can send me the e-mail addresss?

When I spoke to a UKBA office here in the UK they said they weren't aware of the procedures for those people applying from outside the UK....

minty · Post by **minty** » Wed May 18, 2011 12:03 pm

This is a copy of the response below to help you

---------------------------------------------------------------------

----Original Message-----
From: Public Visa Enqs publicvisaenqs@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Sent: 10/02/2011 12:16:49 pm
Subject: RE: Question

Thank you for the follow on enquiry.

An IELTS test score of 3.5 is equivalent to a BI level which exceeds the basic AI level of English required for a settlement visa application. Your spouse may therefore lodge her IELTS test score as evidence of herEnglish language competence.

Sent by:

Public Enquiries [J],Customer Services,

Visa Services Directorate, International Group,

UK Border Agency, c/o Lunar House,

40 Wellesley Road, Croydon CR9 2BY

Web-site: www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas

archipelago · Post by **archipelago** » Wed May 18, 2011 3:04 pm

My wife will be pleased to know that less than 4.0 may be allowed, I thought they would be strict on this 4.0 score. She is taking her test soon. The IELTS exam is quite difficult and expensive to keep retaking. Although I have confidence she will pass 4.0!

archipelago · Post by **archipelago** » Wed May 18, 2011 3:06 pm

Minty, the email that the UKBA sent you differs from the approved test centres link where they state 4.0 is needed. I guess even 3.0 would be sufficient then as this would be level A1 at worst?

pennylessinindia · Post by **pennylessinindia** » Wed May 18, 2011 3:13 pm

http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/media/Compare- ... d-CEFR.pdf

Interesting link with comparisons

flyguy · Post by **flyguy** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 10:34 am

CEFR Level A1 = IELTS 1.0-2.5
CEFR Level A2 = IELTS 3.0
CEFR Level B1 = IELTS 3.5-4.5
CEFR Level B2 = IELTS 5.0-6.0
CEFR Level C1 = IELTS 6.5-7.0
CEFR Level C2 = IELTS 7.5-9.0

mosesmoses · Post by **mosesmoses** » Thu Jul 14, 2011 1:56 pm

Hi guys,

I am in this exact same situation. My wife recently did ielts in pakistan and scored 3.0 but I have no idea if this is enough. I have emailed and called so many people, its really stressing us out. No one seems to give a straight answer and if i contact ppl in uk they say contact those in pak, and vice versa.

Ive sent an email to the address shown in mintys post but no reply yet, not even a confirmation to say they recieved my email

What do we do now?

okara87 · Post by **okara87** » Wed Jul 27, 2011 3:22 pm

flyguy wrote:CEFR Level A1 = IELTS 1.0-2.5
CEFR Level A2 = IELTS 3.0
CEFR Level B1 = IELTS 3.5-4.5
CEFR Level B2 = IELTS 5.0-6.0
CEFR Level C1 = IELTS 6.5-7.0
CEFR Level C2 = IELTS 7.5-9.0

hi, where did you get this information from? my husband scored 3.5 but the settlement was rejected on the basis that 3.5 is not equivalent to the B1 CEFR level

flyguy · Post by **flyguy** » Wed Jul 27, 2011 4:23 pm

Depends on what you mean settlement, there are different ILET bands for different VISA's, ie Student Visa, Spouse Visa, etc.

For Spouse visa the score obtained should be level A1 or above.

okara87 · Post by **okara87** » Wed Jul 27, 2011 5:32 pm

flyguy wrote:Depends on what you mean settlement, there are different ILET bands for different VISA's, ie Student Visa, Spouse Visa, etc.

For Spouse visa the score obtained should be level A1 or above.

it was spouse (settlement ) visa

archipelago · Post by **archipelago** » Wed Jul 27, 2011 5:42 pm

The English test is supposed to be passed at level A1. IELTS is B1 so a higher level. I wish the UKBA would sort out this IETLS scoring problem so we are all clear.

okara87 · Post by **okara87** » Wed Jul 27, 2011 5:50 pm

archipelago wrote:The English test is supposed to be passed at level A1. IELTS is B1 so a higher level. I wish the UKBA would sort out this IETLS scoring problem so we are all clear.

Its so frustrating I am reading from those links someone posted above that 3.5 is equivalent to B1 level.

archipelago · Post by **archipelago** » Wed Jul 27, 2011 6:07 pm

I recommend you write to the email address that minty provided above to get them to put in writing that 3.5 is a sufficient score, and then ask the ECM to reconsider, as applicants currently only need to achieve level A1. There is talk of B1 in the consultation paper but this may not be needed until at least next year.

mosesmoses · Post by **mosesmoses** » Wed Jul 27, 2011 8:13 pm

archipelago wrote:I recommend you write to the email address that minty provided above to get them to put in writing that 3.5 is a sufficient score, and then ask the ECM to reconsider, as applicants currently only need to achieve level A1. There is talk of B1 in the consultation paper but this may not be needed until at least next year.

I tried emailing that address but did not get a reply. This is an email i recieved recently:

Dear Mr. M. A
Â
Thank you for your email of 14 July which has been passed to us to respond to.
Â
I can confirm that an IELTS score of 4.0 is needed for both speaking and for listening and therefore the marks stated below are not high enough to satisfy the English Language requirement in this case.
Â
IELTS begin testing at a higher level than A1, and only begin, as you have stated, at B2. You cannot convert a lower score to a level below B1.
Â
Regards,
Â
Entry ClearanceÂ Manager - Settlement (Islamabad)
UK Border Agency, International Group (Pakistan)
E-mail: IslamabadSettlementEnquiries@fco.gov.uk
British High Commission Islamabad | URL: www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visasÂ and www.ukinpakistan.fco.gov.uk
Â
Now I feel the same as the topic starter, feels like I wasted my wifes time making her do ielts.

Currently Im looking into PTE for her to do, anyone know anything about this one? Difficulty/procedure/duration/time it takes to get results etc.

Any info would be extremely grateful!

archipelago · Post by **archipelago** » Wed Jul 27, 2011 8:52 pm

There seems to be no consistency at all then, I have read posters on this forum that have had no problem with submitting 3.5 scores.

okara87 · Post by **okara87** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 10:15 pm

mosesmoses wrote:
archipelago wrote:I recommend you write to the email address that minty provided above to get them to put in writing that 3.5 is a sufficient score, and then ask the ECM to reconsider, as applicants currently only need to achieve level A1. There is talk of B1 in the consultation paper but this may not be needed until at least next year.
I tried emailing that address but did not get a reply. This is an email i recieved recently:

Dear Mr. M. A
Â
Thank you for your email of 14 July which has been passed to us to respond to.
Â
I can confirm that an IELTS score of 4.0 is needed for both speaking and for listening and therefore the marks stated below are not high enough to satisfy the English Language requirement in this case.
Â
IELTS begin testing at a higher level than A1, and only begin, as you have stated, at B2. You cannot convert a lower score to a level below B1.
Â
Regards,
Â
Entry ClearanceÂ Manager - Settlement (Islamabad)
UK Border Agency, International Group (Pakistan)
E-mail: IslamabadSettlementEnquiries@fco.gov.uk
British High Commission Islamabad | URL: www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visasÂ and www.ukinpakistan.fco.gov.uk
Â
Now I feel the same as the topic starter, feels like I wasted my wifes time making her do ielts.

Currently Im looking into PTE for her to do, anyone know anything about this one? Difficulty/procedure/duration/time it takes to get results etc.

Any info would be extremely grateful!

hi i am in a similar postion to you- can i have the breakdown of her marks? thanks.

mosesmoses · Post by **mosesmoses** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 10:41 pm

hi i am in a similar postion to you- can i have the breakdown of her marks? thanks.

overall 3.0 band mark (listening 2.0 reading 3.0 writing 4.0 speaking 3.0).Â

kafm · Post by **kafm** » Sun Jul 31, 2011 8:22 am

My wife averaged 4.0 IELTS but one or two were 3.5 and we got a visa.

shadhk · Post by **shadhk** » Sun Jul 31, 2011 1:39 pm

mosesmoses wrote:
archipelago wrote:t address but did not get a reply. This is an email i recieved recently:
Â
Now I feel the same as the topic starter, feels like I wasted my wifes time making her do ielts.

Currently Im looking into PTE for her to do, anyone know anything about this one? Difficulty/procedure/duration/time it takes to get results etc.

Any info would be extremely grateful!

My wife took TOEIC, PTE General Level 1, and PTE Academic.

I will recommend TOEIC Speaking and Listening TEST if its available in your country, because its easy and result released withing 5 working days.

PTE General Level 1 is very easy, but unfortunately UKBA remove this test from NEW approved test list.

PTE Academic is very difficult. as its aimed at students and professional who are seeking to study or work in UK, so obviously its not easy, but they also released result within 1-5 working days.

My wife failed PTE Academic in listening by just 2 marks.

Speaking : 27
Listening : 22
Reading : 10
Writing : 10

also its need to be confirm with UKBA that the require score is 24 in all subjects, but at the same time UKBA written on it website that you only need to demonstrate SPEAKING & LISTENING ability.

The question is would they ignore writing and reading score?

shadhk · Post by **shadhk** » Sun Jul 31, 2011 1:41 pm

mosesmoses wrote:
hi i am in a similar postion to you- can i have the breakdown of her marks? thanks.
overall 3.0 band mark (listening 2.0 reading 3.0 writing 4.0 speaking 3.0).Â

I think you need to achieve 4 in listening and speaking.

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IELTS equivalent A1 score...

IELTS equivalent A1 score...