Two lists, one test
IELTS for UKVI is one of the secure English language tests (SELTs) that the Home Office approves. The Home Office SELT guidance page, last updated on 26 October 2026, names IELTS SELT Consortium as the provider of IELTS for UKVI and IELTS Life Skills, and links spreadsheets of approved test centres. The IELTS organisation also has its own UK test centre list, showing 111 results, some labelled “UKVI Approved”. The entries I read there are listed under the British Council name.
The Home Office spreadsheet is the list the Home Office publishes, so I use it as the main source below. Other approved tests appear in the same spreadsheet under other providers; I do not cover them here.
IELTS for UKVI centres on the Home Office list
The file whose name carries the date 23 October 2026 has 18 IELTS SELT Consortium rows, all marked as available. The guidance page was updated later, so check gov.uk for the current file. Centres are identified here by street and postcode, as the list gives them.
| City | Street address and postcode |
|---|---|
| Belfast | Cromac Place, BT7 2JB |
| Birmingham (2) | Cole Bank Road, B28 8ES; 205 Kings Road, B11 2AA |
| Bristol | Hide Market, St Phillips, BS2 0BH |
| Cambridge | East Road, CB1 1PT |
| Cardiff | British Council, 1 Kingsway, CF10 3AQ |
| Edinburgh | Exchange Tower, 19 Canning Street, EH3 8EG |
| Glasgow | 39 St Vincent Place, G1 2ER |
| Leeds | 29 Park Place, LS1 2SP |
| London (5) | Gliddon Road, Barons Court, W14 9BL; Wapping Lane, E1W 2SF; 4 Dingwall Road, CR0 2LX; 16 Stukeley Street, WC2B 5LQ; British Council, 1 Redman Place, Stratford, E20 1JQ |
| Manchester (2) | 301 Alan Turing Way, M11 3BS; 85 Piccadilly, M1 2DA |
| Newcastle area | Bankside, Metro Riverside Park, Gateshead, NE11 9SY |
| Portsmouth | Kingston Crescent, North End, PO2 8FA |
So there are UKVI centres in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but none among the Home Office IELTS rows in places such as Liverpool, Nottingham, Oxford or Exeter. If you live there, expect to travel.
Where ielts.org differs
On the IELTS list, some addresses carry the “UKVI Approved” label. Two that I saw do not match any IELTS row on the Home Office list:
- an address on West Nile Street in Glasgow (G1 2QB);
- an address on Pelham Road in Nottingham (NG5 1AP).
I did not compare every entry on the two lists, so there may be other differences. I cannot tell you which list is ahead of the other on a given day; both change. If a centre appears on only one list, treat it as unconfirmed until the provider's booking page offers you an IELTS for UKVI session there.
Before you book
- Book on the provider's own booking page. The Home Office says to check the SELT provider's website for when tests are available and whether the centre is open, and not to contact the test centre directly.
- Allow for distance. The same page says you should be able to take a test within 28 days of booking, but it may not be at the location nearest to you.
- Pick the right test. IELTS for UKVI Academic and General Training are separate from IELTS Life Skills. On the London North page at ielts.org, UKVI Academic, UKVI General Training, Life Skills A1 and Life Skills B1 are all listed. I did not check the other centres for Life Skills, so look at each centre's page.
- Read the details of your route before you pay: who accepts IELTS for UKVI and which band you need are set out in IELTS for UKVI or standard IELTS and the score by visa route.
This is general information from the official pages, not personal immigration advice. The fee, dates and ID rules are on the provider's pages, so check them there; see also the ID rules for test day and computer-delivered IELTS in the UK.
How lessons with Mike can help with this
I cannot book a test or choose a centre for you; that is between you and the provider. What I can do is help you prepare for the four parts of the test. I am Mike, a CELTA-qualified teacher with 12+ years teaching English and IELTS in Vietnam, Turkey and Iran, and my own IELTS result is 8.5 in Speaking. Each lesson is one to one, live on Google Meet, in English, and I teach every session myself.
- Writing Task 1 and Task 2 are marked against the public band descriptors.
- Speaking Parts 1 to 3 run in the real format, with feedback in the moment.
- Progress notes are left in your account after lessons.
Lessons cover IELTS Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking, and General English. They do not cover Life Skills or any other test. You can see the booking calendar, where each slot shows in your own time zone. UK time is 7 hours behind Hanoi in winter and 6 hours behind in summer, so check that a slot suits you before you pay.
