The HOELT Tender has been published.  And I mean the actual tender, not another “request for information.”

Here’s a link. The key takeaway is that the Home Office seeks “a fully remote language testing service.”  Says the tender:

“HOELT will move to a digital-by-default approach, while upholding the rigorous standards necessary to support our immigration decisions. The successful provider will deliver a service that combines technological innovation with security assurance, enabling customers to demonstrate their English language skills with confidence and convenience throughout their UK immigration journey.”

And:

“The Supplier shall provide a fully managed Remote Testing service.  HOELTs shall be delivered securely in any location where the Customer chooses to take the test, provided secure test conditions are met.”

Test centers aren’t even mentioned in the publicly available version of the tender, as far as I can tell. How do you like that?  The final RFI mentioned the possibility of 268 physical test centers. Note that the bidders will get a longer form of the tender, which could reference the possibility of test centers being included.

I’m not terribly familiar with the tender process, so it is absolutely fascinating to me how the document breaks down the weighting that will be given to certain criteria that make up the “Quality” of each bid.  Do check that out to learn how the winner will be selected. Just note that price is pretty important too.

A winner will be selected in November of 2026.

A few other key details:

1. The contract will run from ’26 to ’31.  That’s the same as in the final RFI… but the start date has been pushed back about four months to December of 2026.
2. The tender will not be divided into lots, though the possibility of collaborative bids is mentioned.
3. As expected, the HOELT will be available in 2-skill and 4-skill versions.
4. The estimated value remains £680,000,000 (excluding VAT) and £816,000,000 (including VAT).

Needless to say, this is good news for the team from the Duolingo English Test. They likely have the most experience with and enthusiasm for this sort of remote testing.  But it is also good news for a variety of smaller providers who also have ample experience with remote testing.  It probably isn’t great news for the IELTS partners, who have been pretty vocal in recent months regarding perceived shortcomings of certain online-only tests.

The UK Home Office has posted a fourth request for information regarding the HOELT.  As always, Polly Nash has written up all the key details in The PIE.  

Interestingly, according to the Home Office the updated request is being undertaken to “understand the viability of transitioning to a digital service model for English Language Testing” and more specifically “to gather market insights on newly available and emerging technology in relation to remote testing.”

That’s a bit of a shocker.  The original tender did not mention remote testing (nor did any of the earlier updates).

But even if this approach is deemed viable, the HOELT is unlikely to be wholly remote, as the tender also mentions “that there are 268 test centres operating across 142 countries globally.”

Which, by the way, is an oddly specific pair of numbers and a curious verb tense.  But maybe I’m missing something.

Here’s a direct link to my latest English testing news roundup over on Substack.  If you want to get this sort of thing in your email inbox every now and then look for the subscribe link in the article.

I was happy to see that the substack was referenced in this article over on PIE News yesterday!

On April 10, the UK government posted an updated tender for the forthcoming HOELT test.  I haven’t seen any reporting on this, so it may be useful to share a few notes.

The tender now lists estimated contract dates of August 2026 to August 2031, with a possible extension to August 2034. 

Interestingly, the total value of the tender has been reduced from £1,130,000,000 to £680,000,000.  This may relate to recent suggestions that the HOELT will be used for work visas only (not student visas).  That said, Beth Kennedy’s article from December of last year suggests that the HOELT was never intended for student visas.

The deadline for participation in this third round of engagement is May 1, 2025 and the estimated “publication date of tender notice” is August 1, 2025.

Update:  I just noticed that under “Engagement process description” it is noted that one of the primary purposes of the third round is to “Confirm the level of interest in the delivery of the Service under a single Contract.”  This suggests that the Home Office may be seeking a single supplier to both develop and deliver the test.  As you may recall, the original plan was for those aspects to be handled by separate suppliers.  Or separate contracts, anyway.

This sort of change could narrow the range of acceptable suppliers.  Not everyone can do both of these things, of course.

Some fascinating updates on the HOELT test from Beth Kennedy at The PIE today.  She reports that the HOELT supplier will be chosen early next year, and the test will be in place by 2026.

Curiously, the article notes that:

“…the development of the HOELT was created with work visas in mind, rather than study visas.  And it is understood that taking a HOELT test will not be a mandated part of getting a study visa in the UK – in effect meaning that universities will still have the freedom to choose which tests they accept as proof of international students’ English language proficiency.”

I am struggling to predict exactly what such a system would entail.  If the HOELT is intended for work visas, will the SELT list be maintained and used for study visas? Or will the SELT list be eliminated… and replaced with nothing at all?

In the latter case, I suppose visa issuance would simply require that students meet whatever language requirements their chosen university has set (like in Canada). I know that option has always been available to some extent, but the existence of the SELT tends to push students (and schools) in a specific direction.

A third option, of course, is to eliminate the SELT list and replace it with some sort of regulation that doesn’t currently exist.

The latest episode of Radio 4’s “File on Four” is titled “The International Student Scandal.”  It’s about low levels of English fluency among international students and the impact that may be having on post-secondary education in the country.  It also attempts to explain why this is happening and (per the description) “hears from a whistleblower about the multi-million-pound recruitment industry that feeds students from abroad into universities here – all at a cost.”

There isn’t much in here about English testing beyond a vague reference to examiners potentially being bribed, but it does hint at what might be going through the minds of people advocating for replacing the SELT regime with the proposed HOELT.  I imagine there are many individuals who believe that with a more perfect test with better security they can solve language-related problems that have been observed in higher education without seriously challenging the overall status quo.

So I sat down at a tea stand in Amritsar to drink tea and read The New Yorker (as one does).  I looked up and across the street spotted a big ol’ “go to Canada” consultancy.  What are the odds?  Pretty good, actually, as there are whole city blocks filled with almost nothing but such offices (more on that later).

There is more. When I turned the page in my magazine I found a long profile of Luis von Ahn, which included quick references to both the TOEFL and  DET tests.  What are the odds of both of these things happening?  I do not know.

I mention these things for a reason. Starting around 2018 I was pretty burned out on English testing.  It was boring and the monopolies seemed like they would never go away.  But these days there is a lot to get excited about.  Tests get referenced in the magazine I read to make myself look smart, but that’s not all.  TOEFL is coming to Broadway.  There are a bunch of small and medium-sized tests to explore and learn about.  Very important English broadsheets are digging into the HOELT.  Legacy testing firms are being forced to change, and to do better.

I’m having a good time.  Testing is fun again.

Mere moments after inviting comments about the positive impact of proposed changes to the SELT program, I noticed an article from Amy Baker on the topic.

Among other things, Baker’s article touches on:

1. The potential for enhanced security.
2. A move away from the perception that some tests are “easier” than others.
3. More transparency for test takers and score-receiving institutions, including the possibility of a “seamless visa process whereby the Home Office can already check your latest language level.”

Baker notes:

“I wonder if 20 years from now, we’ll marvel at a time when there was not one seamless service that limited opportunity for fraud and offered transparency into visa application decision status (a massive black hole at the moment) and SELT status at the same time.”

Do take a moment to read the whole thing.

Here’s an article from the PIE News about how the testing sector has reacted to possible changes to the SELT program and the possible creation of a test currently referred to as the HOELT. The article quotes myself and a couple of individuals who commented on my LinkedIn post about the changes. As the article suggests, the initial reaction is quite negative. Indeed, the PIE could have quoted a dozen more commenters, all of whom expressed concern or skepticism.

That said, I’m interested in hearing from the other side. If anyone is enthusiastic or hopeful, do leave a comment below.