English test for immigrants

Later this month, immigrants wanting to come into the UK will need to pass an English language test before entering the country. The test itself will be a fairly basic spoken test, requiring no more than 40-50 hours of tuition. There will be no test of reading and writing.

Most affected will be spouses coming over from South Asia. It is a fair bet that places like Mirpur will see the rise of tuition centres aimed specifically at grooming people to pass the test. The test will, of course, cost money (to be paid by the visa applicant), and where money is involved, foul play is not far off. Unless the administration of the test is micro-managed in all affected countries from London, ways will be adapted of passing applicants who are willing to pay an additional 'fee'.

The illiberal measure will no doubt inconvenience many genuine cases, but few can doubt that a good command of English is pretty useful when living in England! A more liberal approach would be to fund language classes in England.

In reality, the rationale for the measure is to discourage immigration, particulary by marriage, from certain countries. Such marriages cannot be banned obviously, but measures such as the language test, by erecting an additional barrier, are intended to influence and change cultural practices. Ultimately, cultural practices will change; not because of measures like this, but because young people are themselves demanding more control of their lives.