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Home2023 IssuesMarch 2023Build the test centres and they will come: how SELT hit 128...

Build the test centres and they will come: how SELT hit 128 countries and counting

Skills for English, one of just five Secure English Language Tests (SELT) accepted for UK visas and immigration purposes by the UK Home Office, is now available in 128 countries; indeed, this is more; than any other SELT provider.

This English test, which has 300 centres worldwide, saw its enrolment rates increase fivefold between 2021 and 2022, helping its owner, American test giant PSI, hit the figure of 22 million assessments delivered across its portfolio: a 22.7 per cent increase year on year.

The rapid spread of Skills for English is largely down to the company’s strategy of opening  test centres in countries underserved by other providers. Currently, Skills for English is the only SELT available in 8 countries, serving a combined population of 60 million, including Barbados, Bolivia, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Guyana and Haiti. It is also one of only two providers in a further 12 countries.

In July 2022, PSI opened the first new active SELT centre in Libya in a dozen years. This came hot on the heels of the news of the re-opening of the British Embassy in Tripoli by Her Majesty’s Ambassador (HMA) to Libya, Caroline Hurndall.

The opening of the test centre in Libya marks another step towards providing greater access for Libyans to work or study opportunities in the UK.” HMA Hurndall said, adding “We commend PSI and its partners for their commitment to opening up this valuable new channel.”

For more information, visit www.skillsforenglish.com or email hello@skillsforenglish.com

Image courtesy of Library
Melanie Butler
Melanie Butler
Melanie started teaching EFL in Iran in 1975. She worked for the BBC World Service, Pearson/Longman and MET magazine before taking over at the Gazette in 1987 and also launching Study Travel magazine. Educated in ten schools in seven countries, she speaks fluent French and Spanish and rather rusty Italian.
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