B1 or B2 for permanent residency? Do those who have already taken B1 need to retake?

"English language requirement is increased from CEFR B1 to B2, applicable to settlement applications submitted on or after 26 March 2027; those already on the settlement pathway are given 12 months to prepare."
—— Published on 5 March 2026, Statement of Changes HC 1691 and its explanatory memorandum

This sentence, when applied to specific individuals, leads to completely different situations: some are not affected at all in a day, some have to re-enter the examination hall, and others hold a B1 certificate but don't know if it will still be valid after 2027.

Go through each step in the actual processing order, indicating the basis and common pitfalls for each step.

When will the permanent residency English test change to B2? First, calculate this date.

The first thing is not to check the exam, but to take out your calendar and calculate the day when your continuous stay is completed, then compare it with March 26, 2027. All settlement applications are assessed based on the rules in effect on the day they are submitted, so this line is not drawn based on the date your visa was approved or the day you arrived in the UK.

It's not only the work visa. Appendix KoLL covered routes listed in HC 1691 include, among others, Skilled Worker, UK Ancestry, Global Talent, Scale-up, Innovator Founder, International Sportsperson, Long Residence, Private Life, Settlement Family Life. When looking at the list, don't just look at the visa name, but the appendix you used when applying for settlement.

The definition of "filing date" is often misunderstood. According to the current rules, the application date is usually the day you submit and complete the payment online, not the day you go to the service center to take fingerprints, nor the day Home Office makes a decision. It is common for there to be a gap of one or two months between these two dates. Those who are stuck in late March should pay particular attention; even a one-day difference is not allowed.

There is an additional variable for those who have lived on this road for ten years: the case guidance allows approval within 28 days before the expiration. This means that people who reach ten years at the end of February 2027 to early March can theoretically have a window for submitting in B1 category, but this requires all other conditions to be clean and straightforward.

My judgment is: don't force the permanent residency application forward just to meet the deadline of March 26, 2027. In the past six months, I've seen many people start thinking along these lines--the expiry date is an objective fact, and submitting early won't make it arrive earlier. What's more likely is that you'll face real rejection reasons such as insufficient continuous residence period, unsatisfactory salary, or interruption in the sponsorship status. The current ILR application fee of £3,226 is non-refundable upon rejection. Administrative review only considers the original documents in the file, while the cost of a SELT test is around two to three hundred pounds and can be retaken. Spending over three thousand pounds to save two hundred is not worth it. The only ones who should submit early are those whose period is already expiring before March 26 and whose documents are already complete.

Which one to take? There's still a gap that hasn't been filled yet.

Confirm whether you don't need to take the exam at all before paying to register.

The guidance for KoLL clearly states: if the applicant is 65 years old or older, the assessor must exempt the English test requirement; for those with long-term physical or mental conditions that make it impossible to meet the standard, it can be handled separately with a medical certificate. Another point often overlooked is the academic qualification route - a qualified degree awarded by an accredited institution with English as the medium of instruction or research can directly prove English proficiency, requiring a comparison letter from Ecctis. These two categories are not affected by B2.

The next step is the most important for those who are going to take the exam: open the approved examination list GOV.UK and find by level.

You will find a discrepancy. The KoLL provisions have always required only speaking and listening, while the current approved list's "only speaking and listening" SELT only goes up to B1 — IELTS Life Skills has only A1, A2, and B1 levels, no B2 version; Trinity's speaking and listening tests also have the same ceiling for SELT purposes. The actual approved exams that include B2 are, for example, Trinity ISE II, LanguageCert's B2 SELT, IELTS for UKVI, and PTE series, which generally require all four skills — listening, reading, writing, and speaking. In other words, the rules require only two skills, but in the exam room you might have to pay for four and spend time preparing for four. This gap Home Office has not been announced how to fill so far; whether a B2 level speaking and listening single test will be added to the list by March 2027 can only be watched through the GOV.UK list update. 📌

It is also necessary to remind about a widely spread rumor: "Permanent residency upgrades to B2, and naturalization also upgrades to B2." This is not true. The English language standard for naturalization is not in the immigration rules, but is based on Schedule 1 of the British Nationality Act 1981 and the British Nationality (General) Regulations 2003, HC 1691 amends the Immigration Rules, but cannot touch the nationality regulations. As of today, the English requirement for naturalization remains B1 speaking and listening. Therefore, after March 26, 2027, there will be a peculiar discrepancy: the permanent residency threshold requires B2, while the naturalization threshold still remains B1.

This misalignment means: if you plan to obtain permanent residency first and then naturalize, there's no need to take the B1 test first for naturalization and then take the B2 test for permanent residency. Just take the B2 test once, which will cover both. Conversely, if you have already obtained permanent residency and are only missing the naturalization step, there's no need to retake the test just because you saw news about B2.

The "Life in the UK" test, HC 1691, has not been touched. Those who have passed do not need to retake it; the scores used during the permanent residency stage remain valid for the naturalization stage. The only thing to be careful about is: the only proof that you have passed is the result notice given on the day of the exam, Home Office will not be reissued. It's best to save a copy of the confirmation email in your email inbox to the cloud now.

The final step is scheduling. The SELT test centers in cities like London and Birmingham are already tight, and once entering the period from the end of 2026 to early 2027, anyone whose exam date falls after spring 2027 will flock to the B2 test center. At the same time, make sure one thing: on the day you take the exam, the provider is still on the Home Office approved list. The list is updated regularly, so it's much more efficient to check the current month's version before registering than to appeal afterward.

Compress these steps into one sentence: Calculate the maturity date, compare with March 26, 2027, confirm whether you are exempt, and then decide which level of exam to register for - doing the steps in reverse order may result in wasted money and time.

This document is for reference only. For specific issues, please consult a licensed attorney. The policy is subject to the latest announcement of GOV.UK.

[Data Source]

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-rules-statement-of-changes

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/prove-your-english-language-abilities-with-a-secure-english-language-test-selt

https://www.gov.uk/english-language

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