Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has conducted (a) an evaluation and (b) risk report on the potential of cheating within fully remote English language testing for migrants.

The Home Office has carefully considered and evaluated the risks of a remote delivery model as part of the procurement to replace current Secure English Language Testing arrangements. This evaluation has informed the development of the Department's security requirements and procurement approach.

Any delivery model must meet appropriate integrity requirements and principles including data security, cyber security, accessibility, fraud risk, and prevention to ensure compliance with Home Office Policy and ensure that the service delivers the fundamental principles underpinning our Immigration policies and our visa journey. This compliance will be assessed throughout the tender process to ensure the strictest compliance with Home Office security parameters.

The ongoing Home Office English Language Test procurement is explicitly designed to test bidders' ability to meet these standards, and the Department will adopt only those solutions that demonstrably maintain the high level of assurance required.