UK visas
The extension level test, offered in the UK only. Twenty minutes, speaking and listening. With a practice exercise.
IELTS Life Skills A2 sits between A1 and B1. It takes 20 minutes and covers speaking and listening only. It is the level required for certain family and partner visa extensions, and it has historically been available inside the UK only.
The step up from A1 is real but manageable. The topics are still familiar and everyday, but you are now expected to handle longer stretches of speech, follow explanations and instructions rather than single steps, and do more with the language than simply describe.
Five task types appear at A2 that do not appear at A1: selecting, comparing, prioritising, planning and persuading. Those five are what the extra four minutes are for.
Focus
The same three abilities as A1, at a higher level.
Straightforward information, short narratives, explanations and instructions, rather than the single step instructions used at A1.
Still on familiar topics, but with more development. A bare answer with no reason is thin at this level.
You talk with one or more people to reach a shared understanding. Reaching it is the point, not just taking turns.
Personal details, family, buying goods, work, health, leisure, education, transport and housing, the same list as A1.
You can write notes while you listen. They are not marked.
A2 has historically been available at approved centres inside the UK only, unlike A1 and B1.
Method
These are what separate an A2 pass from an A1 pass.
Choosing one option from several and saying why you chose it rather than the others.
Setting two things against each other. This needs comparative structures, so practise them until they are automatic.
Putting things in order of importance and justifying the order. Harder than it sounds under time pressure.
Working out with the other candidate what will happen, in what order, and who does what.
Trying to bring the other candidate round to your view. You need softening language for this, not just a flat statement.
Describing, giving opinions, agreeing and disagreeing, explaining, deciding and suggesting all still appear.
Practice
Five questions on the A2 format and how it differs from A1.
A1 is about giving and getting basic information.
A2 adds selecting, comparing, prioritising, planning and persuading.
All five of those need you to give a reason. Practise the reason, not just the answer.
1How long does the Life Skills A2 test take?
20 minutes. It sits between A1 at 16 to 18 minutes and B1 at 22 minutes.
2Which of these task types appears at A2 but not at A1?
Prioritising. Along with selecting, comparing, planning and persuading, it is one of five task types added at A2.
3Where can you normally sit the Life Skills A2 test?
In the UK only. A2 has historically been restricted to approved centres inside the UK, which A1 and B1 are not.
4The other candidate suggests a plan you think is wrong. What does A2 expect you to do?
Disagree politely and give a reason. Persuading and disagreeing are both A2 task types. Agreeing with everything gives the examiner nothing to assess.
5Which visa route most commonly requires Life Skills A2?
A family or partner visa extension. The first application is normally A1 and settlement is B1.
Most people who sit A2 will need B1 later, when the application reaches settlement. The gap between them is bigger than the gap between A1 and A2.
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A2 adds five task types that A1 does not have, and all five need a reason attached to the answer.
If your next step is the full IELTS test, IELTStestONLINE assesses your writing and speaking against the four IELTS criteria and keeps every score in one place with an estimated band. See what full membership includes
A2 on the Common European Framework of Reference, which is the elementary level above A1. It covers everyday communication with more development and reasoning.
It is most commonly required for a family or partner visa extension. Always confirm your own route on gov.uk before booking.
20 minutes, taken in one session with an examiner and one other candidate.
A2 has historically been offered at approved centres inside the UK only, unlike A1 and B1. Check current availability before making arrangements.
A2 adds five task types: selecting, comparing, prioritising, planning and persuading. It also expects you to follow longer explanations and instructions rather than single steps.
Full membership
The family route usually means sitting Life Skills more than once, and the step from A2 to B1 is the largest of the three.
IELTStestONLINE assesses your writing and speaking against the four IELTS criteria, instantly and as often as you like, using a system built by a former IELTS examiner and examiner trainer. It keeps every score in one place with an estimated band, and it carries no advertising.
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