I passed a B1 SELT. Is it still valid for ILR after the B2 change in March 2027?

Yes, your B1 SELT is still valid for ILR, but only if you apply before 26 March 2027. Under Appendix KoLL of the Immigration Rules, a settlement application made before that date can rely on a B1 speaking and listening SELT taken at an approved centre no more than two years before the date of application. For applications made on or after 26 March 2027, the same paragraph requires level B2, and a B1 pass will no longer meet the requirement, however recently you took it. The change was made by Statement of Changes HC 1691 (5 March 2026) and turns on your date of application, not the date you passed the test.

What the rules actually say

Appendix KoLL, which sets the knowledge of language and life requirement for indefinite leave to remain, was amended by HC 1691. Paragraph 2.2(c) now splits in two. Where the date of application is before 26 March 2027, you meet the English part with a pass "at a minimum level B1" in speaking and listening, verified on the provider's online system and "taken at a test centre approved by the Secretary of State as a Secure English Language Test Centre no more than two years before the date of application". Where the date of application is on or after 26 March 2027, identical wording applies but at "a minimum level B2".

So the familiar two-year validity window for a fresh SELT is unchanged, and the deciding factor is when you apply, not when you tested. A B1 pass from June 2026 works for an application made in February 2027 and fails for one made in April 2027.

The explanatory memorandum to HC 1691 confirms the uplift covers settlement routes including Skilled Worker, Global Talent, UK Ancestry, Long Residence, Private Life and Settlement Family Life, and that it catches people already on a pathway to settlement. For the full picture, see our guide to the B2 English requirement for ILR from March 2027.

Does a B1 pass used for a previous visa carry over?

This is where many people get caught out. Appendix KoLL has long allowed you to rely on English shown in an earlier application instead of sitting a new test, but HC 1691 rewrote that provision with the same date split.

Under paragraph 2.2(b), an applicant who applied before 26 March 2027 meets the requirement if their current limited leave (or an earlier grant, provided leave has been unbroken since) "was given on the basis that the applicant had an English language qualification at a minimum level of B1". Under the new paragraph 2.2(ba), an applicant who applies on or after 26 March 2027 can only use this route if the earlier grant was based on a qualification at a minimum level of B2.

In plain terms: a B1 SELT that got you your Skilled Worker or partner visa does carry over to ILR today, but that carry-over expires for applications made from 26 March 2027. If your previous test was B2, C1 or C2, you keep the benefit. GOV.UK's general guidance still says an expired qualification can be reused if "it was accepted for another UK immigration application", but the underlying rule now attaches the B1 version of that concession to pre-27 March 2027 applications only.

Who does not need an English test at all

The exemptions are untouched by HC 1691. You do not need to prove English for ILR if you are aged 65 or over at the date of application, or if a long-term physical or mental condition makes the requirement unreasonable (a doctor must complete an exemption form). Nationals of listed majority English-speaking countries, including Australia, Canada, Jamaica, New Zealand and the USA, are also exempt, as are applicants with a degree taught or researched in English. The Life in the UK test is a separate requirement with its own exemptions, covered in our guide to who is exempt from the Life in the UK test.

Practical timing advice

If you will complete your qualifying period before 26 March 2027, apply as soon as you are eligible and rely on your B1. If your ILR date falls on or after 26 March 2027, plan for B2 now: book a B2 SELT with an approved provider, leave room for a retake, and remember the pass must be within two years of your future application date, so do not sit it too early either.

The other half of KoLL is unchanged: you still need a Life in the UK test pass, which never expires.