English language for UK visa applications: A1, A2, B1. How many levels are there, do they cover the whole alphabet?

By 1st 4Immigration - #1 UK Immigration Experts -
In fact, there are only 6 levels: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2. A1 being the most basic and B1 the highest and hardest to score. As much as it may seem the UK Immigration Rules are making these levels hard to understand, it is actually a common European framework known as CEFR. So, there are the same levels in French or Spanish etc. Our of these 6 levels only 3 are used in the UK visa applications.
Furthermore, there are 4 components at each level: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing.
Which level you need depends on the Rules applicable to your UK visa category. It is mentioned in the Immigration Rules for a given visa type. The Rules also say whether you need all 4 components or only some of them.
For example, Spouses of UK citizens initially only need a most basic A1 level and only in Speaking and Listening. Tier 1 Entrepreneur migrants need a B1 level in all 4 components. Most migrants applying for settlement need a B1 level too but only in Speaking and Listening.
Link to the Immigration Rules for Points-Based System (PBS) migrants can be found here: Immigration Rules Appendix B: English language
We also have a more detailed post on English language requirement for Spouses of UK citizens here: http://1st4immigration-visas.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/english-language-for-spouses-of-uk.html
For an individual advice or to make an application please contact us:info@1st4immigration.com or visit   http://www.1st4immigration.com/
If you are an Immigration Adviser or a Solicitor please visit our immigration Training and CPD website: www.1st4immigration.com/training We have a weekend OISC Level 1 course as well as a Points-Based System course and we also have online training courses, including Online OISC Level 1 course and courses focusing on Spouse/Partner visas. All our training courses are CPD-accredited with CPD credit accepted by  OISC.  

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