PTE Home A1, A2 and B1 explained: the UK family-visa English test, its tasks, pass or fail, and why it stops at B1 when settlement moves to B2
PTE Home is Pearson's English test for UK family visas, settlement and citizenship. It is a Secure English Language Test (SELT), approved by the Home Office, and it tests speaking and listening only. It comes in three levels: A1, A2 and B1.
Everything below is from Pearson's PTE Home pages (the overview, the A1, A2 and B1 pages and the scoring page) and GOV.UK's family visa page on English, read on 3 November 2026. For the change to settlement in 2027, see our guide to English for UK settlement and citizenship.
Which level for which application
GOV.UK sets three steps for a partner or parent on the family route:
First application: at least A1. Pearson's PTE Home A1 is for first-time spouse or partner visas and parent of a child in the UK visas.
Extension after 2.5 years: at least A2 in speaking and listening, if your first test was A1. If you passed A2 or higher the first time, GOV.UK lets you reuse that result, as long as the provider has not withdrawn the certificate. PTE Home A2 is for these extensions.
Settlement after 5 years: B1 or higher. PTE Home B1 is for settlement (indefinite leave to remain) and British citizenship. GOV.UK says a B1 or higher result from earlier can be reused for settlement if the test is still on the approved list.
The test: about 30 minutes, three or four task types
Each PTE Home test is taken on a computer at a Pearson test centre and scored by computer: there is no human examiner in the room. Pearson's pages give about 30 minutes per test.
A1 has 32 items: 22 Repeat Sentence, 5 Describe Image (25 seconds to study each image first) and 5 Listen and Answer questions on a short conversation.
A2 has 22 or 23 Repeat Sentence and 4 or 5 Describe Image, plus a listening task in which you retell a story in your own words.
B1 has 17 Repeat Sentence, 4 or 5 Describe Image, Retell Story (30 seconds to retell what you heard) and 4 or 5 Story: Listen and Answer items, each story followed by three questions.
Our reading: Repeat Sentence is most of the test at every level. It rewards clear pronunciation and holding a whole sentence in memory, which is trainable. A student who freezes on a computer microphone needs practice in exactly that format, not just general conversation.
Pass or fail, results in about two days
The result is pass or fail. Pearson publishes no score scale or pass mark for PTE Home.
Results usually arrive within 48 hours in your myPTE account, with a SELT Unique Reference Number (URN). You put the URN on your visa application, and the Home Office checks the result through Pearson's SELT reporting.
Results are valid for two years from the test date. After that you take the test again before using it for a new application.
Pearson does not publish one price. The fee depends on the country where you take the test, and its fee finder gives the local price.
Settlement moves to B2 in March 2027, and PTE Home has no B2
The Statement of Changes HC 1691 raises the English requirement for settlement from B1 to B2 on a long list of routes, including Settlement Family Life, from 26 March 2027, and it applies to people already on a route. The details and sources are in our UK settlement English guide.
PTE Home stops at B1. Pearson's pages read on 3 November 2026 list A1, A2 and B1 only, and the B1 page says nothing about B2 or about 2027.
Our reading: for a family-route settlement application made on or after 26 March 2027, PTE Home B1 will not meet a B2 requirement on the routes HC 1691 names; you would need a SELT at B2. British citizenship is not part of that change, and GOV.UK still asks for B1 for it. Check GOV.UK's approved SELT list before you book, since providers add tests.
For four-skill options, see PTE Academic, LanguageCert and Trinity.
Mistakes worth avoiding
Booking PTE Home B1 for a family-route settlement application in mid-2027.
Checking whether your route needs B2 from 26 March 2027 and booking a B2 SELT if so.
HC 1691 raises settlement to B2 on routes including Settlement Family Life, and PTE Home has no B2 level.
Practising only free conversation.
Practising Repeat Sentence and Describe Image on a computer microphone.
Repeat Sentence is the largest task at every PTE Home level, and the test is scored by computer.
Retaking A2 at extension when you already passed A2 or higher.
Reusing the earlier result if the certificate has not been withdrawn.
GOV.UK allows an A2+ result from the first application to be reused at extension.
Questions
Which PTE Home test do I need for a spouse visa?
PTE Home A1 for a first application, A2 for the extension after 2.5 years (if your first result was A1), and B1 for settlement after 5 years under today's rules.
Is PTE Home pass or fail?
Yes. Pearson gives a pass or fail result with no published score scale.
How long does PTE Home take?
Pearson's pages give about 30 minutes, on a computer at a test centre, with results usually within 48 hours.
How long is a PTE Home result valid?
Two years from the test date.
Is there a PTE Home B2?
Not on Pearson's pages as of 3 November 2026: PTE Home is A1, A2 and B1. Settlement on many routes, including Settlement Family Life, moves to B2 from 26 March 2027.
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