Read before you skip an exam: exemptions are not interchangeable
The knowledge of language and life in the UK requirement has two halves, and most of the routes below remove only the English half. Being a national of a majority English-speaking country, or holding a degree taught in English, does nothing about the Life in the UK Test — the guidance says such applicants ‘must, however, show they have passed the Life in the UK test’. Age and, in some cases, a medical waiver are the exceptions that reach both halves.
Each entry below is set out on its own terms, because they genuinely differ — by application type, by evidence, and by whether an exemption granted once carries over to the next application. Nothing here is immigration advice, and only the guidance for your own application on GOV.UK decides what applies to you.
The routes to an exemption
- You are under 18 (settlement)
- You are 65 or over
- You are 60 to 64 and applying for naturalisation
- You have a long-term physical or mental condition
- You are a national of a majority English-speaking country
- You have a degree that was taught or researched in English
- You are applying for ILR in a category that is outside the KoLL requirement altogether
- You have already met the requirement in an earlier successful application
- You hold an A2 qualification and have 15 years' limited leave in a family or dependant category
- Frequently asked questions
- Sources
You are under 18 (settlement)
Evidence asked for
Passport, EEA identity card for naturalisation purposes, or birth certificate
For indefinite leave to remain the caseworker guidance is flat: 'People aged under 18 years, or 65 years or older on the date of their application are exempt from the KoLL requirement.' Age is judged on the date of application, so someone who will turn 18 before applying should assume the requirement applies.
You are 65 or over
Evidence asked for
Passport, EEA identity card for naturalisation purposes, or birth certificate
For ILR this is an outright exemption. For naturalisation it is technically a discretion under paragraph 2(1)(e) of Schedule 1 to the British Nationality Act 1981, but the guidance to caseworkers is mandatory: 'Where the applicant is aged 65 or over you must waive the requirement.' The exemption covers both parts of KoLL — the English test and the Life in the UK Test.
You are 60 to 64 and applying for naturalisation
Evidence asked for
Evidence of age
Not an automatic exemption, and it does not exist for ILR at all. The guidance says: 'Where the applicant is aged 60 to 64, you must normally waive the requirement if the time needed to reach the required standard means the applicant would then be aged 65 or over.' Under 60, age alone will not normally justify a waiver.
You have a long-term physical or mental condition
Evidence asked for
A completed medical waiver proforma from a doctor confirming the condition, plus 'All original and current relevant medical reports setting out their diagnosis'
Discretion must be exercised where the applicant 'is suffering from a long-term illness or disability that severely restricts their ability to learn English or prepare for the Life in the UK test' or 'has a mental condition which prevents them from speaking or learning English to the required standard'. Examples given include being deaf, being a person without speech, or having a speech impediment that limits communication. Two points readers get wrong. First, the two parts are considered separately: 'Where a person provides evidence that they would be unable to satisfy one part of the requirement, it does not automatically mean that they will be unable to meet the second part' — a condition may excuse the Life in the UK Test but not the English test, or the reverse. Second, a waiver granted for an ILR application does not carry over: 'If an applicant has obtained an exemption because of a physical mental condition for their indefinite leave to remain application, they will be required to make a separate exemption request for their naturalisation application.'
You are a national of a majority English-speaking country
Evidence asked for
A valid passport or travel document showing citizenship. If it has been lost, stolen, expired and returned to the authorities, or is held by another part of the Home Office, a current national identity document or an original letter from the home government or embassy confirming full name, date of birth and nationality is accepted instead. A dual national can rely on either nationality.
This exempts you from the English test only, not from the Life in the UK Test: nationals of these countries 'are considered automatically to meet the English language part of the KoLL requirement and do not need to show a formal speaking and listening qualification. They must, however, show they have passed the Life in the UK test.' The list is:
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Australia
- The Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belize
- Canada
- Dominica
- Grenada
- Guyana
- Jamaica
- Malta
- New Zealand
- St Kitts and Nevis
- St Lucia
- St Vincent and the Grenadines
- Trinidad and Tobago
- the United States of America
British overseas territories citizens are also accepted. Ireland is included for naturalisation purposes; it is not on the nationality list in Appendix KoLL, which governs settlement.
You have a degree that was taught or researched in English
Evidence asked for
For a UK degree, the degree certificate alone. For a degree awarded outside the UK, an assessment from Ecctis, which 'will give you a code to confirm that your qualification is equivalent to a UK bachelor's degree or higher and was taught in English'. Where a certificate is unavailable, an official transcript showing name, institution, degree and confirmation of the award, or an official letter from the university confirming it cannot reissue the certificate or when it will be issued.
The qualification must be academic rather than vocational or professional, must be assessed as meeting the UK standard of a bachelor's degree, master's degree or PhD, and must have been taught in English or delivered in a majority English-speaking country — the caseworker guidance excludes Canada from that second limb. A degree from a UK institution counts even if you studied outside the UK. If you have been assessed by Ecctis before you do not need to reapply; the earlier certificate can be reused. As with the nationality exemption, this covers only the English half of KoLL — the Life in the UK Test is still required.
You are applying for ILR in a category that is outside the KoLL requirement altogether
Evidence asked for
Depends on the route
The caseworker guidance lists categories that do not need to meet KoLL at all, including: victims of domestic violence; foreign and Commonwealth citizens on discharge from HM Forces, including Gurkhas; bereaved partners of people settled in the UK; adult dependent relatives under Appendix FM and dependent relatives under paragraph 317, even if aged between 18 and 64; retired persons of independent means; those applying as a refugee, or on the basis of discretionary leave or humanitarian protection; those applying outside the Immigration Rules under discretionary arrangements; and stateless applicants. Separately, doctors, dentists, nurses and midwives previously granted leave under Tier 2 (General) are exempt from the English language requirement only and must still pass the Life in the UK Test. Naturalisation applicants exempt under the Windrush scheme are also outside the requirement. This list changes with the Rules and each route has its own conditions, so it belongs on a page as a pointer to GOV.UK, not as advice.
You have already met the requirement in an earlier successful application
Evidence asked for
Details of the earlier application; for naturalisation, the ILR grant itself
Not an exemption in the strict sense but the reason many people never sit the test twice. Appendix KoLL treats limited leave granted on the basis of a B1 qualification as satisfying the English requirement for ILR, provided the test provider is still approved. For naturalisation, an ILR granted on the basis of a B1 qualification carries the English requirement over. On the family visa route, GOV.UK puts it simply: 'If you have already proved your knowledge of English in a previous successful visa application, you may not have to prove it again.'
You hold an A2 qualification and have 15 years' limited leave in a family or dependant category
Evidence asked for
The A2 speaking and listening qualification, plus evidence of the leave history
A narrow route recorded in the caseworker guidance: a person can apply for indefinite leave to remain without passing a KoLL test if they have an English language speaking and listening qualification at A2 CEFR and have been in the UK for 15 years with limited leave as a partner, child, parent, dependant of HM Forces personnel, dependant of a points-based system migrant, or dependant of a work permit holder.
If none of these applies to you
Then you need an approved B1 Secure English Language Test in speaking and listening, awarded in the two years before the date of your application, from a provider approved to run tests in the UK. Choosing between them is the only real decision to make — the Home Office accepts every approved provider equally.
The Life in the UK Test has its own, separate exemptions
Everything above concerns the English language half of the requirement. The Life in the UK Test is a different exam with a different operator, a different booking system and its own list of who does not have to take it — the two sets overlap on age and on medical waivers, but they are not the same list and one does not imply the other.
Who needs the Life in the UK Test, and who is exempt from it.
Exemption questions
Who does not have to take an English test at all?
Several groups. You are exempt if you are 65 or over, and for settlement if you are under 18. Discretion must be exercised where a long-term physical or mental condition severely restricts your ability to learn English, on production of a completed medical waiver proforma from a doctor and supporting medical reports. Nationals of Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Malta, New Zealand, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and the USA are treated as automatically meeting the English requirement, as are British overseas territories citizens, and Ireland is included for naturalisation. So is anyone with a degree taught or researched in English — a UK degree needs only the certificate, while an overseas one needs an Ecctis assessment confirming it is equivalent to a UK bachelor's degree or higher and was taught in English. Every one of these exemptions covers the English test only. You must still pass the Life in the UK Test unless you are separately exempt from that.
When do I need A1 or A2 instead of B1?
On the family visa route, not the settlement route. GOV.UK says you must pass at least level A1 for your first partner, spouse or parent visa application. When you extend after 2.5 years, what you need depends on what you passed first time: if you passed A1 you must now pass at least A2 in speaking and listening, and if you passed A2 or higher you can reuse the earlier result provided the certificate has not been withdrawn. If you were exempt first time round, you will need A1 at the extension stage. It is worth knowing that you are allowed to take a higher-level test at any stage, and that passing B1 or above on your first family visa lets you reuse the same result when you apply for settlement after five years — one exam instead of three.
Does an English test exemption also exempt me from the Life in the UK Test?
Usually not. Nationals of a majority English-speaking country are treated as automatically meeting the English part of the requirement but, in the words of the Home Office caseworker guidance, they “must, however, show they have passed the Life in the UK test”. The same is true of the degree exemption: it covers only the English half. Age is the clear exception — the guidance says people aged under 18 or 65 or over on the date of their application are exempt from the KoLL requirement, which is both halves. A medical waiver is judged part by part: “Where a person provides evidence that they would be unable to satisfy one part of the requirement, it does not automatically mean that they will be unable to meet the second part.”
Does a medical waiver granted for indefinite leave to remain carry over to citizenship?
No. The caseworker guidance is explicit: “If an applicant has obtained an exemption because of a physical mental condition for their indefinite leave to remain application, they will be required to make a separate exemption request for their naturalisation application.” A B1 qualification behaves differently — if you were granted indefinite leave to remain on the basis of one, you can meet the English requirement for naturalisation without sitting another test, regardless of whether that provider is still on the current SELT list.
Sources
Every exemption above is quoted from Appendix KoLL, from the Home Office caseworker guidance, or from the GOV.UK guidance for applicants — each read directly on the date shown. Last reviewed 13 August 2026. Exemption rules are amended with the Immigration Rules and the caseworker guidance is reissued periodically, so check the current version before you rely on one.
- Prove your knowledge of English: who does not need to prove their knowledge of English — GOV.UK — accessed 13 August 2026.
- Prove your knowledge of English: if your degree was taught or researched in English — GOV.UK — accessed 13 August 2026.
- Prove your knowledge of English: proving your knowledge of English with a test — GOV.UK — accessed 13 August 2026.
- Immigration Rules Appendix KoLL — GOV.UK — accessed 13 August 2026.
- Knowledge of language and life in the UK: caseworker guidance (accessible) — version 31.0, published for Home Office staff 18 December 2025 — accessed 13 August 2026.
- Knowledge of language and life in the UK, version 31.0 (PDF) — Home Office — accessed 13 August 2026.
- Family visas: apply, extend or switch — Knowledge of English — GOV.UK — accessed 13 August 2026.
- Prove your English language abilities with a secure English language test (SELT) — GOV.UK guidance, last updated 12 August 2026 — accessed 13 August 2026.
- Life in the UK Test — GOV.UK — accessed 13 August 2026.
LifeUKPractice is an independent study resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the UK Home Office, gov.uk, or any government body. Nothing on this page is immigration advice. Whether an exemption applies to a particular application is a decision for a Home Office caseworker on the evidence supplied, and the official guidance on GOV.UK is the only authority on it.