Pearson has today announced that the UK Border Agency (UKBA) will publish new, lower minimum score requirements for student visa applicants taking PTE Academic.

Following feedback from institutions, Pearson recently held discussions with the UKBA to further examine the level of English proficiency that students must demonstrate to meet Tier 4 visa requirements.  The UKBA clarified that they require students seeking admission to the UK to be able to perform tasks at the lower boundary range of the B1/B2 levels of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEF), rather than have the ability to cope with the complete range of tasks at those levels.

The announcement is due to be made on the UKBA's website on Friday 8 July 2011 and from this date the UKBA scores required for a student visa at the B1 and B2 levels will be as follows:

• To meet the UKBA requirement of a B1 level, a student must achieve a minimum PTE Academic score of 36 across all four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing.
• To meet the UKBA requirement of a B2 level, students should achieve a minimum PTE Academic score of 51 across all four skills.

The UKBA will accept PTE Academic scores which meet the new criteria, irrespective of when the test was taken. This includes test scores received before Friday 8 July 2011, provided that the score report is still valid. PTE Academic scores are valid for two years from the date of the test.

PTE Academic's alignment to the CEF remains unchanged and continues to convey the ability of learners to perform language tasks across the entire width of the CEF levels, not just at the lower end as the UKBA requires.

If this new UKBA score requirement impacts on your admissions criteria and you would like advice on resetting your scores, please contact the PTE Academic team at PLTsupport@pearson.com

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