Migrants required to pass A Level Standard of English

[onceuponatimeinneverland]

www.gov.uk/government/news/migrants-will-be-required-to-pass-a-level-standard-of-english
Just heard this on the news. Is it me or is it totally mad? Especially when you look at the relatively poor standard of speaking, listening, reading and writing that exists already for those actually born in the UK rather than migrating in.

I'm presuming that applicants won't actually have to sit A Level English language as that would be even madder.

Or maybe its entirely sensible. I'm all for having a literal workforce.

What do other countries request I wonder (can't be fussed to actually look).

Yes I am BU - A Level standard English is the bare minimum
No you aren't BU - Its mad

It would be great to get people born here articulate in English and passing English exams as well, never mind people for whom English is their second language.

I’d love to see how many Reform voters could pass GCSE English, let alone A level English! 🤣🤣🤣

Isn't the highest ESOL level C1? 🙈

Do you have evidence to substantiate this statement?

C2 I think

Ah just looked at it. ESOL international, yes. Forgot about that one

Very few Reform voters would pass that exam.

Most English speaking nations require you to prove you have excellent English for a visa. Its hardly unreasonable

I don't understand why people keep mentioning Reform when this is not Reform's proposal...

If they want to spend their money like this, more fool them. As long as they sit a proper English test before they get a work visa.

Can we deport all the flag shaggers who fail too?

You can be sure it’s the ones with the literacy of a 9 year old that are screaming about immigrants

DD has just finished A levels, so we popped into a fair few subject talks to help her decide what to study.

A level English Language sounded really interesting. I suspect that few of the Dept of Ed/MPs have looked at the syllabus:
https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/programmes-and-qualifications/cambridge-international-as-and-a-level-english-language-9093/

It doesn't imply that at all. It implies (broadly) that people reach a reading age of c.11 by the time they leave education, not that they reach that reading level by the age of 11 and then just stick there.

Maybe the same standard before you’re given a license to fly a flag.

It's good to have high standards. We can't get rid of the native illiterates but we can stop more coming in. No need to set the standard as that of the lowest common denominator.

Yes, press release really badly written. Definitely trying to relate it to how a layperson would understand language levels and would be better to explain the CEFR. B2 is quite high. New tenders definitely in the pipeline for new language exams and books. The ELT/ESOL industry doesn't publish much, f anything, for refugees and this new exam should get more books published which is a good thing.

I think having a very high expectation of proficiency in the language of the country you’re emigrating to is entirely reasonable and correct.

Of course, all the thick as mince illiterates will whine about it, but perhaps they should have studied harder at school.

Excellent idea!

All irrelevant tinkering. The migrants that people are most concerned about are the boats people, the overstayers, the illegals, the racketeers. As usual we muck about with the visa regulations without addressing the holes in the whole system.

I feel so sorry for regular migrants who are actually trying to do things by the book and paying huge amounts for their paperwork.

No wonder everyone just claims asylum, domestic abuse, modern slavery, family rights, disappears…All the attention is on the compliant.

Hardly anywhere offers A level English Language though. I hated English Lit but would have loved to do language for A level.

Apologies if I've misunderstood, but I am (or was) around B2 level in French. That's decent A-level standard - i.e. as an English person taking French A-level. Nowhere near equivalent to the level you need to take English A-level in the UK.

How many native speakers would pass English A-level, anyway? Very few, if the level of literacy on MN is anything to go by.

That sounds very arbitrary to me. Not being able to understand Shakespeare (studied at GCSE) is fine where as not being able to understand a letter sent from your child’s school is not. Level 2 functional skills sounds like a better benchmark. I assume that they’d need to be able to write an essay, answer some comprehension questions about an extract and demonstrate decent SPAG like using apostrophes correctly? That would be higher than the general population but also pleasant to live with.

Sadly I think it can.

I agree that people moving to the UK should have good English skills. I’m not blaming the individuals (whom we should be grateful to for filling jobs that would otherwise be vacant) but I dread phone conversations with staff who cannot understand me and whom I can’t understand. It’s exhausting sometimes.

The person who wrote that article likely wouldn’t achieve a B2!