Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department plans to take to identify and mitigate potential attempts at cheating resulting from the new Home Office English Language Test being taken outside secure test centres and without in-person supervision.

The Home Office is committed to ensuring the integrity of the Home Office English Language Test (HOELT). The procurement process requires any delivery model to meet appropriate integrity requirements. The Department is aware of the risks associated with remote testing and is working to ensure that robust safeguards are built into the specification. These include requirements for strong identity verification, AI-assisted monitoring, and other technical controls designed to detect and deter cheating. The Department continues to engage with experts and regulators, including Ofqual, as the programme develops.