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If you want to apply for an extension to a family, spouse or partner visa to the UK, you will most likely need to take the Life Skills A2 test to prove your English listening and speaking skills.

The IELTS for UKVI tests are a secure English-language test (SELT) accepted by the United Kingdom Visa and Immigration Department as proof of your English-language proficiency. Life Skills A2 tests your listening and speaking skills at the level of A2 in the Common European Framework (CEFR) in a 16 to 18-minute test with an examiner and one other test taker. The second test taker’s performance will not affect your test results.

You will be assessed on your ability to listen and respond to spoken English where you have to obtain and convey basic information and communicate on familiar topics.

The examiner might ask you to describe a topic, give opinions or preferences and justify those, and explain and expand on a topic. You will also be expected to communicate with both the examiner and the other test taker.