Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what contingency arrangements she plans to put in place to ensure secure provision of the Home Office English Language Test in the event of technical exploits subverting digital security measures in remote testing.

The Home Office is designing the HOELT procurement to ensure resilience in test delivery. The specification includes requirements for contingency arrangements in the event that technical vulnerabilities are identified or exploited. The Department expects any appointed provider to have robust incident response procedures in place, including the ability to suspend affected testing where necessary, investigate and address vulnerabilities promptly, and maintain the integrity of results already issued. The Department will work with the provider and with Ofqual throughout the contract to monitor security and respond to emerging threats.