HOELT update sees tender value slashed

In 2024, The PIE News reported that the UK Home Office is engaging with the market about proposals to build a new Secure English Language Testing model for an estimated £1.13 billion, known as the Home Office Language Test (HOELT).

At the time, the government set out that it would be engaging with the market about tendering for the deal, which would be split into two parts; developing the Home Office-branded test and the facilitation of the tests around the world.

In an update on April 10 this year, it was revealed that the total value of the tender has been reduced to £680m.

The tender sets out estimated contract dates of August 2026 to August 2031, with a possible extension to August 2034. The estimated “publication date of tender notice” is August 1, 2025, while the deadline for participation in this third round of engagement is May 1, 2025.

It is noted that one of the primary purposes of the latest round is to “confirm the level of interest in the delivery of the service under a single contract”.

Michael Goodine, SELT expert and owner of Test Resources in South Korea, commented: “This suggests that the Home Office may be seeking a single supplier to both develop and deliver the test… The original plan was for those aspects to be handled by separate suppliers. Or at least separate contracts.”

“This sort of change could narrow the range of acceptable suppliers. Not everyone can do both of these things, of course,” Goodine wrote in his blog.

The PIE contacted the Home Office for comment on the changes, but it declined to respond.

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