UK SELT SimulatorHow long does a SELT certificate last?
Published 7 September 2026
If you passed a Secure English Language Test a year or two ago and want to use that certificate now, there is one thing to check before you rely on it: whether it is still valid.
SELT certificates are not valid for life. The Home Office sets a validity period, measured from the date you sat the exam. If your certificate is older than the current limit, it may not be accepted — even if it was accepted for a previous application.
What your specific route currently requires is decided by the Home Office, not by us. Check the current requirements at gov.uk before you apply or rebook.
The validity period is set by the Home Office, not the exam provider
Trinity College London and LanguageCert issue your certificate. But how long that certificate can be used for a visa or settlement application is decided by the Home Office, not the provider.
This matters because the rules can change. A certificate that was valid when someone wrote about it two years ago may not still be valid on the same terms today. For this reason, we do not state a specific validity period in this article. The correct place to find the current rule is gov.uk.
Your visa route affects what counts as valid
The Home Office applies validity rules per route. A certificate used for one type of application may not automatically be valid for a different type, even if the exam level is the same.
This affects you if:
- You are applying on a different route from the one you originally sat the exam for
- The rules have changed since you passed
- You want to use the same certificate for more than one application
Do not assume your certificate is valid for your current application just because it was valid before. Check the current rule for your current route.
The provider also needs to hold a record of your result
When you submit a SELT certificate with a visa or settlement application, the Home Office may ask the provider to verify it. That means the provider needs to have a record of your sitting on file.
Exam providers do not hold records for ever. If your certificate is very old, contact your provider — Trinity College London or LanguageCert — to confirm they still hold a record of your exam. This is separate from whether the Home Office considers the certificate valid within the time limit. A certificate can be within the validity window and still be unverifiable if the provider no longer holds the record.
We cannot tell you whether your specific certificate will be accepted
This is not false modesty. We genuinely do not know.
The rules are set by the Home Office. They apply per route. They can change at any time. Getting this wrong costs you an application — and in some cases a fee you cannot recover. Please check with the official sources:
- gov.uk — prove your knowledge of English for citizenship and settling
- Your exam provider: Trinity College London or LanguageCert
If your situation is unusual in any way — an old certificate, a different route from last time, a certificate used in a previous application, or an exemption you are not certain about — speak to a regulated immigration adviser before you rely on anything you read here.
If your certificate has expired
If your certificate is no longer within the validity window, you will need to sit the exam again. Both Trinity College London and LanguageCert allow this. You book a new session and take the full exam from the start. There are no partial credits from a previous result.
For current resit fees and available dates, contact your provider directly. We do not publish fees because they change.
Practise before you sit again
If you need to resit your B1 SELT, UK SELT Simulator runs spoken mock sessions in both GESE Grade 5 and LanguageCert SELT B1 formats — with an AI examiner and a short report after each session. See how it works.
UK SELT Simulator is independent practice software. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by UKVI, the Home Office, Trinity College London or LanguageCert.