Can permanent residency English be exempted with a UK degree? ENIC Certification and B2 New Regulations

Same UK degree certificate, some people get the English test for permanent residency waived without paying a penny, while others spend £252 and are asked to provide additional documents. The difference is not in the university ranking, but in which piece of paper you submit.

This article breaks down the "exemption from degree examination" path so that it can be directly followed: who doesn't need to do ENIC, who must do it, which package to buy, how much it costs, and what changes will happen to this path after March 26, 2027.

What are the English requirements for settlement? B1, B2 and Life in the UK are different things.

When applying for ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain, permanent residency), the "Knowledge and Language" section is actually two separate doors:

First, Life in the UK Test, £50 per attempt, 24 questions, answering 18 correctly (75%) is considered passing, if not passed, retake is allowed, each time paying £50 again. Second, English proficiency , currently most pathways require CEFR B1 (listening and speaking).

Degrees can only exempt the second gate. no degree can exempt Life in the UK Test - only applicants 65 years or older, or with medical proof may be exempted. Every year, people fall into this misunderstanding.

There is another rule that many people are not aware of: if you have already proven your English proficiency in a previous successful visa application, and the level is no lower than required for the current application, then this requirement is automatically satisfied, and you do not need to submit new materials. This is also why people who used ENIC when applying for a work visa are often told "no need to redo" when applying for ILR.

Use degree to exempt from English for permanent residency, must meet these 3 conditions simultaneously

According to the Appendix English Language, the degree path needs to be restricted to three:

① Academic degree, not a professional qualification. Bachelor's degree or higher, or equivalent to a UK master's or doctoral level. HND, vocational diplomas, and professional association certificates do not count.
② Taught or researched in English. The course language must be English, not "has English classes".
③ Check who awarded the degree. This point determines whether you want to spend an extra £252.

If the degree is awarded by UK institutions , just submit the degree certificate directly, no ENIC certification is required. Note that the key word here is "awarded" rather than "studied" — UK degrees awarded by overseas campuses of UK universities (such as the Ningbo or Malaysia campuses) also follow this free channel.

The evidence itself also has formatting requirements: degree certificates, official transcripts, or letters issued by the school can be accepted, but they must clearly show your full name, type and level of degree, issuing institution, and issue date. If the name does not match the passport (e.g., due to a name change after marriage), additional documents for the name change are required.

Overseas Degree Certification ENIC: £252, which package is usable for the visa?

Degrees issued by non-UK institutions (such as a Chinese bachelor's degree, an American master's degree, an Australian degree, etc.) must be certified by Ecctis (commonly known as UK ENIC / formerly UK NARIC). Starting from May 1, 2025, the previous Visas and Nationality Service has been replaced by the new QLS (Qualification and Language Service) .

It will issue two documents: AQUALS indicating which level of British bachelor's/master's/doctoral degree your degree is equivalent to; English Language Proficiency Statement (ELPS) specifying the CEFR English level (B1, B2 or C1) corresponding to this degree. The visa system requires the latter, along with a reference number.

The most expensive pitfall is here: Ecctis also sells a regular Statement of Comparability, at £49.50 + VAT (£59.40), four times cheaper, but it is for job hunting, studying, and professional registration, visa and permanent residency applications will not accept it, because it does not mention English level at all. Every year, people buy this, and only find out at the last week before submission that they have to start over.

Time also needs to be reserved: The official processing period given by Ecctis is approximately 10 working days (it may take longer if there are questions about the documents). Once the review starts, no refund will be given. Don't wait until two weeks before the visa expires to start the process.

March 26, 2027 ILR is promoted to B2, is the level of ENIC on your hand enough?

The 2026 March 5 immigration rule changes HC 1691 have been confirmed: multiple pathways to permanent residency, with English language requirements being raised from B1 to B2, effective date March 26, 2027, with a one-year buffer in between. It involves Skilled Worker, Global Talent, Scale-up, Innovator Founder, UK Ancestry, family routes and the 10-year long residence route. BN(O) route is not on this list, remaining at B1.

The good news is: English-taught degrees awarded by UK institutions are themselves considered to meet the required level , and the increase from B1 to B2 would have almost no impact on you, as this degree is a one-time insurance. The risk is: The ELPS for overseas degrees specifies a specific level . If it says B1, then when you apply again after March 26, 2027, this document will no longer be sufficient - the rule that "it has been previously proven" only applies when the level is not lower than the current requirement, and the threshold does not automatically extend once it is raised.

So what can be done now is very specific: take out the ENIC file from the drawer, find the line about CEFR, and check whether it says B1 or B2/C1. For those who have B1, either arrange the submission of ILR before March 26, 2027, or prepare for a B2 SELT test in advance. This step can save hundreds of pounds and several months, with the only cost being flipping through a file folder once.

By the way, the fee: ILR application fee will be £3,226 (originally £3,029) from April 8, 2026, plus Life in the UK £50 and biometric fee, which is already not cheap, so there's really no need to buy the wrong thing at the £252 level.

Exempting from the English Language Requirement for Permanent Residency, the 4 Most Common Pitfalls

1. Only uploaded ENIC, forgot to upload the degree certificate. For overseas degrees, two documents need to be submitted together, missing one will be considered as incomplete materials.
2. The name on the degree certificate does not match the passport , and no name change/marriage certificate is attached.
3. Used professional qualifications as academic degrees , found out after Ecctis certification that it doesn't reach bachelor's level.
4. Thought the degree could exempt Life in the UK Test. cannot be exempted, must take the £50 exam.

If you are unsure which category your degree belongs to, or if you don't understand the level on ELPS, you can pay £5 at justiscript.com to get a written response from a British practicing lawyer within 24 hours, available in both Chinese and English, which is more reliable than asking around on forums. As for how many days you still need to meet the residency requirements, you can use the 永居计算器 APP to calculate it down to the day. Click on the bottom menu bar of this official account to use it.

This article is for reference only. For specific issues, please consult a licensed attorney. The fees and effective dates mentioned in the article are subject to the latest announcement from GOV.UK.

[Data source] GOV.UK "Prove your knowledge of English for citizenship and settling"; Immigration Rules revision HC 1691 (5 March 2026); Ecctis QLS official fee page; GOV.UK Home Office Fee Table (effective 8 April 2026).

🧭 My judgment is that the UK campus degree is the most undervalued card in this round of B2 threshold increases — it does not have an expiration date, does not look at exam results, and is not affected by the line on March 26, 2027; those who previously bought a regular Statement of Comparability for convenience, however, will have to pay again to redo it.

The four-line comparison table above is suitable for saving and reviewing slowly, especially for those with overseas degrees who are still considering whether to spend £252; if someone in your friends is about to submit ILR, you can also share the table with him, asking him to confirm whether his ENIC states B1 or B2.

💬 Let me ask you, the one who made it this far: What CEFR level is written on your ENIC file? How long did it take to get it, and which service tier did you use? Please leave a comment, the more specific the better to help those waiting in line.

Here, we break down one permanent residency rule every day — how to count days out of the country, the order in which to arrange documents, and when each new regulation takes effect. We'll explain it clearly with real GOV.UK numbers, without scaring you or being vague.

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