Ofqual has fined Cambridge English £875,000 after it issued incorrect results to thousands of people who took English language tests, including those used for visa, immigration and university entrance purposes.
Computer automated marking errors with the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) qualification led to incorrect results being issued to tens of thousands of candidates globally from 2023 to 2025.
The test’s listening and reading components, taken by candidates on-screen, were automatically marked by a computer system, using predefined answers set by human subject experts.
The failures were not detected by Cambridge English until September 2025 during an update to the error-monitoring computer system, and it notified Ofqual.
The auto-marking error led to 93,865 responses being incorrectly marked by the system among the 7.7 million tests taken between August 2023 and September 2025. In a third of those cases with wrong marks, the errors had no impact on component or overall results.
But 62,794 learners were issued with incorrect results for their listening and reading components that were later corrected. A third of them (21,717) received a corrected overall qualification score.
The vast majority of them had their initial overall result increased, while 1,115 were deemed to have received inflated overall results and had them lowered. All corrections to overall results up or down were by 0.5 on a final score scale of 0 to 9, apart from 2 cases that had a one-point increase.
Some 1,108 of the affected candidates had taken the Secure English Language Test (SELT) offer within IELTS. SELT is the official test required by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) for people applying for visas and is subject to additional security requirements.
Amanda Swann, Ofqual’s Executive Director for Delivery, said
Tens of thousands of people took these tests with the expectation of accurate results which influence important decisions.
Those who took these tests, as well as those who used them, were let down by systemic failures over a long period and our significant fine reflects this.
We will always step in to protect the integrity of tests and maintain public confidence in regulated qualifications.
Ofqual’s enforcement panel took into account mitigating factors. They included that Cambridge English accepted the breaches, entered into a settlement agreement, accepted an undertaking to prevent the same errors in future, and had taken action to minimise the impact on learners, standards and public confidence. Actions included spending over £6 million on correcting its errors, compensation, a dedicated 24/7 customer support hub, and measures to prevent it happening again.
For more details, see our notice of financial penalty published today.
Notes to editors
- The marking system was set by human subject matter experts, with no machine learning or adaptive behaviour. It marked words entered into blank spaces in sentences based on predefined answers.
- The failures highlighted weaknesses in Cambridge English’s approach to automated marking systems, involving inadequate monitoring and error-detection mechanisms. (see more in the notice of financial penalty linked above).
- The figure for SELTS refers to people who took the test over the affected 2-year period. It does not confirm whether the qualification was used in a visa application.
- Please approach UKVI press office for questions on visas or immigration to the UK.
- Ofqual’s Supporting compliance and taking regulatory action guidance sets out how it will use its powers to take regulatory action.
- Previous cases and fines can be viewed in Regulatory actions and interventions by Ofqual.
