Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to UK universities of reducing the number of approved English test providers for people applying for a UK visa to two from 6 April 2015.

The Home Office does not stipulate which institutions the approved provider should use to facilitate their tests so cannot comment on operational changes. The number of approved English language test providers for immigration purposes from 6 April 2015 was determined following an open competition that was launched in October 2014. We cannot comment on the totality of bids received but only those providers who were able to demonstrate that they can and will continue to meet our requirements have been awarded a concession.