Case No. UKUT-00450(IAC)

. While we weigh in the balance the Appellant’s claim that the chauffeur’s initial response was that he was parking the car and would call back, the Appellant gave no evidence about a returned call. Furthermore, the Tribunal heard no evidence from the chauffeur. Thus the incognito of why parking a car prevented a reply to a quintessentially simple questions endures.(31) The next issue concerns the tests themselves. In his main witness statement, the Appellant, without any differentiation between or among tests, avers that everyone was wearing ear phones. We readily infer, fortified by the absence of any evidence to the contrary, that ear phones were not required for all four limbs of the TOEIC test. Specifically, we find that ear phones were not required for two of the four elements, namely reading and writing.(32) We now turn to consider certain documentary evidence and the Appellant’s testimony pertaining thereto. We preface this with the observation that the TOEIC certificates do not record either the time or the venue of the tests purportedly taken. The data which they do record are the claimed candidate’s name, date of birth, registration number, date of testing, expiry date of certificate (invariably two years later) and the candidate’s scores in the two English language skills tested.(33) The names of both the Appellant and Queensway College appear on certain official documents bearing the date 28 February 2013, which coincides with the first of the two TOEIC certificates. The Appellant’s passport number is recorded on two of these documents. One of the documents is a seating plan, signed by an invigilator, which allocates a total of 30 surnames to individually specified seats in a room apparently containing 48 work stations. The seat linked to the Appellant in the seating plan does not tally with what is contained in a related attendance list. These materials also include the two-page document purportedly completed by the candidate in providing the answers to the listening and reading questions. The second page purports to bear the candidate’s signature and the date of testing. The Appellant asserts that the hand writing in which his signature appears is not his. (34) The Appellant testified that upon arrival at Queensway College, he signed a roster of sorts at reception. While his signature appears on an attendance list containing particulars of his forename, surname and identification number, coupled with an allocated seat number, he “did not think” that this is what he signed. He confirmed that the identification number corresponded with his passport number. He suggested that the signature was not in his handwriting. He could not remember anything of the invigilator’s conduct. He confirmed that the test documents which he claims to have completed and signed were comparable to the two pages containing the signature which he disowns. When asked why Queensway College is not mentioned in either of his two written statements, the Appellant was unable to explain.(35) We turn next to the discrete issue of photographs. The ETS test centre manuals make clear that every candidate should be photographed on every occasion of testing and that the photographs should be taken and stored in a specified manner. Neither ETS nor the Secretary of State has produced any photograph of the Appellant pertaining to the first limb of the test which he claims to have undertaken at Queensway College on 28 February 2013. Nor does the Appellant’s photograph appear in the box specially designated for this purpose in the corresponding TOEIC certificate. (36) The Appellant’s photograph does, however, appear in the TOEIC certificate corresponding to the second (speaking and writing) limb of the test, dated 20 March 2013. Furthermore, precisely the same photograph was provided by ETS’s solicitors during the pre-hearing phase in response to requests for specified information and documents. The solicitors stated: “It is standard practice, and a requirement, for all test takers to be photographed at the test centre on the day of the test. A copy of the photograph in respect of [the Appellant] is set out below. This was a task undertaken by the test centre not ETS Global although the information in its records shows that the photograph was taken at 11.17.17 on 20 March 2013 and uploaded at 11.21.01 on the same day.”The centre where TOEIC tests were taken on this date is Cauldon College. ETS’s solicitors further assert that the test began at 10.10 hours and there were 37 candidates. On the basis that timings noted are correct, which was not a contentious issue, the photograph was taken 67 minutes later.(37) The Appellant testified that after completing the speaking and writing tests at Cauldon College, the candidates queued to have their photographs taken. They lined up in groups of eight in a gap in the middle of the room. Strikingly, he described no mechanism for separating and identifying the individuals in this communal fashion. The experts gave evidence that this description does not correspond remotely with the photographing procedure specified in the ETS manuals.(38) Having canvassed with Counsel the specific issue of the evidence bearing on the Appellant’s photographs, on the final day of the hearing, the Tribunal gave permission for the adduction of further evidence on his behalf. The evidence initially included a single copy of the Appellant’s passport photograph. The Tribunal was anxious to explore the origins of and context surrounding this discrete evidence. The further witness statement (with attachments) of the Appellant duly addressed this issue. This evidence was uncontentious and, having considered it, we are impelled to the view that nothing of substance turns on the discrete issue of photographs(39) The next significant evidence to be considered concerns the record of events at Heathrow Airport on 14 October 2014. These events, it will be recalled, precipitated the decision of the Secretary of State giving rise to this appeal. (40) First, there is the landing card completed by the Appellant. This also contains notes made by a Border Force official. These document the Appellant stating that he had undergone an English language proficiency test for the purpose of securing an Entrepreneur visa. The record continues: “[He] had to ring home to get details of his test date and place …. [and] …. provided name of the test centre as Claudon College in 3/2013. ” It is convenient to interpose here the Appellant’s evidence to the Tribunal concerning this issue. The Appellant testified that his driver was waiting to collect him at Heathrow Airport. He telephoned the driver for the purpose of ascertaining where he had taken the test (singular). The driver was unable to provide him with this information, but stated that he would have to park the car and would then call the Appellant. According to the Appellant, he then remembered the text that had been sent to him by his friend Ahmed. He produced this text to the Tribunal. It is dated 19 March 2013 and timed 14.26 hours. Its contents consist of the name Cauldon College and its address, including the postcode. The Appellant did not provide any satisfactory explanation of why, on 19 March 2013, he needed this information having regard to his claim that he had been to Cauldon College and had spent some time there just three weeks previously.(41) The second document generated by events at Heathrow Airport on 14 October 2014 is the record of the Appellant’s interview. According to this he confirmed that he was “fit and well and happy to be interviewed”. The interview had a recorded duration of 10 minutes. When asked about his English language proficiency test, the Appellant is recorded as having replied: “I think March 2013 … in Ilford, Cauldon College.”The next question and answer were: “Which English language test did you sit? …… [Answer] I can’t remember.”The Appellant’s evidence to the Tribunal was that this question was not clear and he did not understand it. This question was followed by: “What did the test consist of? …… [Answer] Writing, listening and speaking. ” The Appellant was asked in cross examination why he had not mentioned reading. He replied “I don’t know”. Next, he was unable to state the amount he had paid in order to undertake the test. We contrast this with the fact that that in his first written statement, made four months later, he stated “I believe I paid approximately £200 for the test”.(42) The ensuing question and answer were:“How many people were there when you sat the English test? …. [Answer] Full, in my room there were around 20 people. ” At the hearing the Appellant was asked to indicate which of the two test centres to which this answer applied: he replied “I can’t remember”. As the interview progressed, he asserted that the test (notably, singular) lasted roughly one hour and was undertaken at a computer terminal, after he had provided his passport. He added “They took our photo”. His answers made no mention of Queensway College and contained no suggestion of two separate testing exercises.