Evidencing English for UK university entry from Gaza

Over the past few weeks (at the time of writing – November 2025), the UK Government has facilitated the evacuations of dozens of Palestinian students from Gaza, with indications that further evacuations may follow. These students all hold unconditional offers for places on campus-based degree programmes at UK universities, and have funding in place to cover their fees, living expenses and peripheral costs.

These evacuations did not happen spontaneously; they occurred after months of struggle and campaigning. One of the obstacles that many of these students had to overcome was that of how to meet the English language requirement of their offers in a way that UK universities would accept.

Barriers to taking SELT

Typically, the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) service requires applicants for UK student visas to achieve the required level in a Secure English Language Test (SELT), providers of which include IELTS, Pearson and LanguageCert. However, since the destruction of all physical English language testing centres on the ground in Gaza, it has not been possible for SELT to be conducted there in person.

Furthermore, although an online version of academic IELTS is still currently available in Gaza, this version is not regarded as SELT-compliant. Therefore, it is currently not possible for SELT to be taken from within Gaza.

Alternatives to SELT

However, as most UK universities are regarded as UKVI ‘Highly Trusted Sponsors’, they have the authorisation to exercise discretion in terms of the types of English language level evidence that they will accept, for applicants in exceptional circumstances. Examples of alternative evidence are listed below:

Online pre-sessional programmes

Pre-sessionals are typically intensive academic English and skills programmes that prospective students can complete in order to raise and/or demonstrate their level of academic English in a way that also prepares them for university study. While these programmes are typically expensive for students, universities can sometimes be persuaded to waive the fees for students with refugee backgrounds.The recently-developed Pal-EAP scheme took this concept further and encouraged UK universities to offer free places on online pre-sessionals to UK university offer-holders based in Gaza. A small number of Gaza-based students were offered this opportunity – namely with KCL, the University of Birmingham and the OLIve Programme – and the applicants’ target universities (which were different from the universities offering the pre-sessional places) agreed to accept their assessment results as evidence of language level. One of the successful students, Ibrahim Aldalis, has written a powerful testimonial about his experiences. At least two of the six students who completed one of these pre-sessionals have so far been evacuated and have started their degree programmes.

Alternative (non-SELT) tests

UK universities might also use their discretion and accept the results of non-SELT tests such as the Password Plus, the Duolingo English Test (DET) or the Oxford English Language Level Test (Oxford ELLT). As students are unlikely to be able to pay for a test, they would need to be able to access this for free; however, all three of these listed providers have generously made free test codes available on request for students in Gaza.

It is important to bear in mind that, although these online tests are theoretically available to students based in Gaza, the difficulties in accessing suitable devices, coupled with poor connectivity and unstable/chaotic conditions on the ground tend to mean that, in practice, students often struggle to complete them successfully. Drops in connectivity and visual/auditory interruptions outside the candidate’s control are likely to be regarded as security breaches by test proctoring software, leading to test sessions being closed down prematurely.

Other evidence of language level

If students are not in a position to complete a non-SELT test or attend a free online pre-sessional programme, another option is for universities to consider accepting expired SELT certificates, the results of in-house language tests or admissions interviews, or other evidence of language level such as a first degree conducted through the medium of English.

Final thoughts

Despite the challenges faced by students in Gaza needing to evidence their English language level in a way that UK universities will accept, it is clear that some students have indeed succeeded in doing this, often due to a combination of sheer determination, luck, and the willingness of some universities to exercise flexibility for students operating in these exceptional circumstances. It is crucial that more UK universities become aware of the nature and extent of these challenges, and of their power of discretion as UKVI Highly Trusted Sponsors to accept alternative evidence for such students.