Migrants will need to speak and understand English to an A-level standard to work in Britain under new rules announced by Shabana Mahmood.

The Home Secretary is to raise the bar from the current GCSE standard of English as a foreign language to the equivalent of an A-level.

The current standard is seen as too basic to allow integration for the 180,000 migrants a year who secure visas to come to work in the UK.

The new rules, which take effect from January, will require all migrants seeking skilled work to pass a Home Office-accredited written and oral test to be granted their visa.

It will mean they have to answer grammar questions such as using the correct tense in a sentence such as “the man sitting next to me on the plane was very nervous because”, from a choice of “he didn’t fly”, “he hadn’t flown before”, “he hasn’t flown before” or “he wasn’t flying”. They will also have to sit comprehension, reading and listening tests.

Ms Mahmood said: “This country has always welcomed those who come to this country and contribute. But it is unacceptable for migrants to come here without learning our language, unable to contribute to our national life. If you come to this country, you must learn our language and play your part.”

The moves are part of tighter restrictions aimed at reducing net migration, which stands at 431,000, down from a record high of 906,000 in the year to June 2023, and helping to get more than nine million economically inactive Britons into work.

Among the companies fined was Sodexo, a service provider with contracts for the Home Office, Ministry of Defence, and HMRC, which was ordered to pay £55,000. A Sodexo spokesperson said they had identified the worker, terminated their employment, and reported the matter to the authorities.This crackdown coincides with a government decision to substantially increase fines for employers who hire people without the right to work in the UK, raising the penalty for a first offence to a maximum of £45,000 per worker.

Repeat offenders who hire illegal workers now face fines of £60,000 per employee. The Home Office has intensified its enforcement, leading to a 50% increase in raids and arrests, particularly targeting nail bars, barber shops, and delivery services. Beyond fines, the government is also seeking to have the business licenses of offending companies reviewed and revoked. A Home Office spokesperson reiterated a “zero tolerance” policy towards illegal work, noting a nationwide enforcement surge that included 280 arrests in the delivery sector in a single week.

Migrants will only be able to obtain a job if it is graduate-level or above as part of the attempt to end low-paid migration, making 180 occupations ineligible. This covers people employed in roles such as childminders, retail workers and chefs, but will not include those in the care home sector.

Employers will also have to pay more to hire foreign staff through a 32 per cent increase in the £1,000 immigration skills charge from Dec 16.

The higher B2 standard requires migrants to ­express themselves “fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions” and to speak English “flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes”. That is the equivalent standard to an English student taking a foreign language A-level.

It is raised from GCSE-equivalent B1 which only requires migrants to be able to understand the main issues “regularly encountered in work, school or leisure”, deal with situations “likely to arise while travelling” and “produce simple connected text on topics which are familiar or of personal interest”.

Ms Mahmood will also change the rules so that any migrant will have to achieve the B2 level of English if they want to settle in the UK and become a British citizen.

She is also expected to introduce a basic English user A1 level requirement which will mean that for the first time, all adult dependents of workers and students coming to the UK will have to have a basic grasp of the language.