Labour’s plan to introduce online English language tests for migrants risk greater levels of cheating and weakening Britain’s border controls, it has been warned.
A leading provider of English tests said Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s bid to roll-out fully remote exams could ‘create more opportunities for malpractice’.
Despite the Government’s claim that its reforms will lead to a tougher border system, a consortium of leading firms said the plan ‘exposes the UK’s immigration system to weaker security’.
The consortium, International English Language Testing System (IELTS), has withdrawn from bidding for the £800million contract to run the new tests.
Other companies have faced substantial fines from government regulators for providing online English tests which were vulnerable to cheating.
The Home Office required foreign nationals to prove they can speak English if they want to secure a work visa or apply for British citizenship.
But its new contract will allow candidates to sit exams in a location of their choice rather than in test centres overseen by invigilators.
IELTS’s letter to Ms Mahmood said: ‘Allowing prospective immigrants to sit English tests in significantly higher stakes situations presents a new form of risk.
‘Given the importance of secure English language testing for the UK’s immigration system and the protection of our borders, we cannot endorse the proposed approach by bidding for this tender while retaining our commitment to responsible, trusted and secure assessment.
Home Secretary Shabana mahmood has been warned her plan for online English proficiency tests for migrants risks ‘weaker security’ and could compromise attempts to improve border controls
‘A “fully remote” approach exposes the UK’s immigration system to weaker security and creates more opportunities for malpractice.
‘We know that remote exams face cheating on an order of magnitude greater than in-person assessments.’
It added that remote English testing was ‘incompatible’ with the Home Secretary’s aim to improve the integrity of the exams and would lead to ‘new and significant security vulnerabilities for the country’.
The consortium warned applicants could cheat by using impersonators or by obtaining help from an accomplice who was not visible on screen during the online test.
Rogue candidates could also use hidden devices or earpieces, it said, or could improve their results by using AI ‘chatbots’.
The security of the tests was ‘particularly important, given the politically charged nature of the debate around migration and the need for more, not less, control and certainty over who is allowed to come to the UK’, the letter added.
A spokesman for IELTS, which is run by Cambridge University Press and Assessment, the British Council and IDP, said: ‘The Home Office’s planned approach would rely on unproven technologies and practices.
‘We cannot bid for [the contract] as it is currently constructed while retaining our commitment to quality, integrity and security in assessment.
‘We will not compromise on quality given the importance of these tests to the UK.’
English proficiency requirements for migrant workers were raised in January from GCSE-equivalent to A-level equivalent.
The same increase will be introduced next March for foreign nationals applying for ‘indefinite leave to remain’ in this country, which most are currently eligible to do after living here for five years.
The latest grave issues with Labour’s immigration policy came after Ms Mahmood unveiled pay-outs of up to £40,000 for failed asylum seeker families who agree to leave Britain voluntarily.
A leading company has withdrawn from the race to run the Home Office’s new online English language tests for migrants, warning it will lead to more cheating. Picture: library image of a woman using a laptop
Families will get £10,000 per head from the taxpayer for up to a family of four.
The Home Office has offered the massive hand-out to 150 families – all of whom have exhausted their claims for humanitarian protection here.
But it has so far refused to disclose how many families have accepted the offer which, Ms Mahmood has said, will save the taxpayer money in the long-run because the average cost of keeping an asylum seeker family in a migrant hotel is £158,000 a year.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘Migrants now must speak English to a higher standard if they wish to stay permanently in the UK, as part of the biggest legal migration reforms in a generation.
‘Secure English language testing is a fundamental part of the UK’s immigration system.
‘We are still in the process of securing a test provider who will meet the highest thresholds of data security and fraud prevention.’
