scribe123

+1

As was pointed out earlier in this thread, the cost of this test is tiny when compared to the cost of the whole process.

TheKellys5

+1
Out of approx 45 people at the venue only 5 of us were native Britons, the rest were doing the test to allow them to get better jobs or higher academic learning. Funny really that we were doing it to get the hell out and they were doing it to stay lol!
Cost me £140 (probably gone up since I took it over a year ago), and as has been said, you need to book it in advance.
In my opinion, you have to decide on your confidence with your native language ability as to buying research material. I was sent a fair amount of info by the college I booked with, found some more online, but bought nothing else. You also don't need to score top marks - iirc they only look for a score above 7 (out of 9) for the maximum points to be allocated.
Best of luck.

MarylandNed

True. Also, not all UK citizens even consider English to be their first language.

cheeky_monkey

what about for French Canadians???

PMM

Hi


"Originally Posted by roxye3 View Post
I'm sure Britain does not do this for Canadians. End of story!"

From UK Border Agency

There are 2 ways to demonstrate your knowledge of language and life (KOL) in the UK.

If you are an English speaker (see below) and/or you are currently in the UK as a skilled or highly skilled migrant, you must pass the 'Life in the UK test'.
If you are not an English speaker and you are not a skilled or highly skilled migrant, you must pass a course in English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) which contains citizenship materials.

Jim Humphries

Well they speak Canada's other official language.

JGK

TBF the CIC are just treating everyone the same.

In the past you used to be able to include a document outlining your ability to communicate in one of Canada's Official Language and guess what? shedloads of people get PR and turn up in Canada with absolutely no ability to function in either of the official languages.

Rather than profiling those nationalities where the abuse of that process was happening (and having the racism card played against them). they have introduced an across the board standard. It's the way to ensure all are treated fairly.

roxye3

For the ame reason our tax dollar goes toward Police, Health et al! It is good for the country. Besides, our tax dollar already funds CIC 100% so really while should your tax dollar do that? Point being, you’re paying for it anyway and always have been. CIC have cost effective ways of finding out if someone can speak the lingo. It is called an interview. Think about it... our taxes are either paying for CIC to interview someone and do real due diligence or paying for CIC to take coffee breaks. I know what I'd prefer.

roxye3

There are indeed 2 ways to demonstrate your knowledge of language and life in the UK.

(If you are an English speaker (see below) and/or you are currently in the UK as a skilled or highly skilled migrant, you must pass the 'Life in the UK test'.)

This is no different from the citizenship test in Canada so this example does not count. Also the "Life in the UK" test is not subject to a 2nd or third party running the test. The depart administers it themselves.

(If you are not an English speaker and you are not a skilled or highly skilled migrant, you must pass a course in English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) which contains citizenship materials.)

Once again this is for those that cannot speak the lingo. This makes sense but as the topic is about those that CAN speak the lingo your reference does not fit into the discussion as originally had.

roxye3

When a Canadian, with French as their first language, applies for visa that applicant would naturally make it clear on their application as to what proficiency their English is at. At which point the agent handling the case will determine whether a further interview is needed or not.

roxye3

Like picking up a phone or having a nice friendly conversation.

AmyDavid

Really? I can't see (a) that that would be cost effective and (b) that it would work!

jimf

For anyone from the UK these tests should be no more than a minor inconvenience. Making everyone do the test is only fair and can only be to the advantage of UK applicants.

scribe123

The IELTS test is as cost effective as it can get as in it doesn't cost CIC a penny - unless they want to be anal enough to breakdown the cost of the few seconds it takes for an immigration employee to look at a certificate and tick a box on a piece of paper (or leave it blank).

Ascertaining someones ability to communicate orally and written by interview would be many hundreds of thousands percent less cost effective (if not millions).

scribe123

How would CIC know it was me, and not someone I paid to take the call because I can't speak a word of English or French?

If you really feel that strongly against the test, you could complain to CIC about it and see if they recognise the error in their ways.