Market testing for Secure English Language Testing services

Tender description

Market engagement to gain an understanding of products, services and innovations available in the market as well as testing changes to the current services in order to in order to inform a business case for potential future Secure English Language Testing. Lot 1: The Secretary of State for the Home Department, acting through the Home Office's UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI), is the Authority reviewing options for a potential future procurement of Secure Testing Services (STS) for the provision of a Secure English language Test (SELT) service in the UK and the rest of the world. Home Office immigration policy establishes an English language requirement that customers are required to evidence. As such, completing a SELT to an agreed standard, may be required from individuals before applying for entry clearance from outside the UK to enter the UK, or gaining leave to remain to extend their stay in the UK, or for Settlement in the UK, or for naturalisation as a British Citizen. The SELT assesses a customer's competency in speaking and listening and dependent on the route of entry, reading and writing English, between levels A1 to C1 of the Common Education Framework of Reference for Languages (CERF). Tests are taken under UKVI-prescribed secure conditions where secure relates to: 1. Processes to verify the identity of the customer; 2. Ensuring that it is only the validated customer who takes the test and does so under exam conditions with an appropriately trained invigilator to eliminate the ability to cheat; 3. Ensuring results are not released until the provider has completed additional verification checks to ensure that collusion and fraud have not taken place; and 4. Ongoing audits, both internal and via external independent auditors, of the physical test points, processes and delivery systems in order to ensure that the security and integrity protocols are being strictly adhered to. Approximately 160,000 customers in the UK took the test in the period April 2022 to March 2023 inclusive with a further 490,000 across 136 countries, outside the UK. Additional information on the service can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/prove-your-english-language-abilities-with-a-secure-english-language-test-selt The tests are currently delivered as concession agreements split into two lots, UK and Rest of World. UKVI is seeking input from the market to build a business case to support a potential re-procurement and inform a potential future specification to ensure that the service is delivered with the highest current levels of security, integrity and customer satisfaction. This market data gathering will include but not be limited to testing the feasibility of potential procurement options and the market's capacity, capability, and insight.