Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 18 September (HL9792), whether they will now answer the question put; namely, what proportion of shortage occupation skilled worker visa applicants have passed the English language test requirements in the past six months broken down by occupation type.

As the Government set out in the previous answer, the requirement to speak English is a core principle of the points-based immigration system – including for occupations on the Shortage Occupation List (SOL). All successful applicants for the Skilled Worker visa (which include SOL occupations) will have demonstrated they can read, write, speak, and understand English to at least level B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) scale.

It is not possible to provide data on those who do not pass because in many cases, people will simply not make or complete an application, but no reason will be captured in these cases.

The latest published immigration statistics, up to year-ending June 2023, show that there were 190,711 grants to Skilled Worker visa applicants (which includes the Skilled Worker and Health & Care Worker visa). The immigration statistics also provide a breakdown of applications by occupation, and can be accessed here: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-june-2023/why-do-people-come-to-the-uk-to-work