Published: June 06 2022

How to get an IELTS A1 Certification for UKVI Family Visa Applications

The IELTS A1 exam is almost like a short interview, there will be you and one other test taker in the room with the examiner. The examiner will ask you and your partner a series of questions which you must respond to in English, there will also, be sections in the test where you will need to communicate with your partner. Luckily the test is broken up into 4 sections, and each section is clearly defined so you can go into the exam confident, knowing exactly what to expect.

IELTS A1 exam structure Just to make that crystal clear, the sections are as follows:

Phase 1A

Answering these 3 questions:
- Can you spell it for me? (You will be expected to spell out your full name, letter by letter)
- What’s your name?
- Where do you come from?
Then you will answer some basic questions on small talk topics, such as food, hobbies and interests etc

Phase 1B

You and your partner will be given a topic each, write down questions based on this topic and when instructed, you will ask your partner the questions you prepared and vice versa

Phase 2A

The examiner will play a short recording, you will be given some paper with a few pictures on it, and answer the question by ticking one of the pictures provided

Phase 2B

The examiner will give you both a topic that you need to have a conversation about

I know that was a lot about the structure of the test, but knowing this is valuable to understanding how to pass the test.

“Sun Tzu said Know the enemy and know yourself in a hundred battles you will never be in peril.” ~ Sun Tzu

How we prepared for the test

There are a lot of great free resources out there that can make you as prepared as you’ll ever be to pass the IELTS test. To get a better understanding of what we\ve discussed and to see what your strengths/weaknesses are, you can go through a sample test on ielts.org. There are two samples on this website, papers A and B, both have their own audio tracks which should be played to answer the phase 2A questions.

Seeing where your weak points are by going through a practice test is valuable, you can then focus on the areas you need to improve. If it’s the speaking phases of the test, phases 1A, 2A and 2B, going through this list of practice questions and understanding the example answers given should help. On the other hand if it’s the listening segment, phase 2a, that you struggle with, there’s a bunch of practise listening questions here on the IELTS website.

A valuable learning resource is this YouTube playlist, go through some of the IELTS Life Skills A1 Speaking and Listening videos and pay attention to the answers given. Just going through a couple of these to drill the format of the test into your mind will be super helpful as you can see live examples of questions and answers to the same sort of questions you’ll be asked on the day of your exam.

Useful information for booking a test

Now we have gone through some tips that will help you prepare for your test, when it comes to booking the IELTS A1 test, there are a few things you should keep in mind. We will compare the different test providers and make it clear which ones are approved by the UK government so you can have peace of mind that the certificate you’re getting is going to be the right one.

Test Providers

To get a UK family visa, you’ll need to prove your English speaking skills by passing a secure English language test (SELT). The IELTS test is one of the popular ones as they have a few different providers. A list of approved English test providers from the UK Gov website. To potentially save you a click and some reading, at the time of writing, 2022/07/21, the approved test providers are:

If you are in the UK

Trinity College London
IELTS SELT Consortium
LanguageCert
Pearson

If you are outside the UK

PSI Services (UK) Ltd
IELTS SELT Consortium
LanguageCert
Pearson

Some information regarding a few of the different test providers that they have in Indonesia:

Test Format	Provider	Min Score Required	Useful Links	Price	Result Time	Address
IELTS Life Skills – A1 Speaking & Listening	IELTS SELT Consortium	Pass	Providers Website Book a test here	3.4m IDR (est £189)	Within one week
LanguageCert International ESOL SELT A1 (Speaking & Listening)	LanguageCert	60/100	Providers Website Book a test here	165 USD (est 2.37m IDR)	5 working days	The Indonesia Int`L Educ.Foundation, Menara Imperium 28Th Floor Suite B, Jakarta, 12980, IDN
PTE Home A1	Pearson	Pass	Providers Website Book a test here
Skills for English UKVI A1 (2 component)	PSI Service (UK) Ltd	Pass	Providers Website	210 USD (est 3m IDR)	14 Days	Jakarta - PT. International Test Center (SfE) Plaza Sentral 17th Floor, Jakarta, Indonesia

Finding a test centre

Now you should have a good idea of which test provider you want to go with, finding an official test centre is luckily quite easy as the UK gov has a list of approved centres on their website You can do it!! 🤞