English testing for Australian visas

Most visas need an English test result. The five accepted tests are IELTS, PTE Academic, TOEFL iBT, OET, and Cambridge C1 Advanced. You can use any of them for most visa purposes, but a few visas (notably 482 Specialist Skills and certain occupation-based pathways) accept only specific tests for specific roles.

Score bands at a glance (as of May 2026 — verify on the visa-specific pages)

• 485 — "Competent" English: IELTS 6.0 overall with at least 5.0 in each band, or PTE equivalents. Some streams require higher.
• 482 Core Skills — IELTS 5.0 overall with at least 5.0 in each, or equivalent.
• 189 / 190 / 491 — Competent English is the minimum to apply; higher scores earn more points.
• Partner visas — no test required, but holding poor English without paying the second VAC instalment costs more.
• Citizenship by conferral — no formal IELTS, but a citizenship test in English is required.

What it costs (rough as of 2026)

• IELTS / PTE: verify at https://www.ielts.org/ and https://pearsonpte.com/
• OET: verify at https://www.occupationalenglishtest.org/
• Cambridge C1 Advanced: verify at https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/

Verify current prices on each provider's site. Most tests are valid for 2 or 3 years.

Common gotchas

• Test results expire. If your 485 sits in the queue past your 3-year IELTS validity, Home Affairs can ask for a new test.
• The exact band scores Home Affairs accepts as "Competent" / "Proficient" / "Superior" differ slightly between tests. The Home Affairs equivalence table is the source of truth.
• PTE is generally faster (booked and graded within a week) but TRF for IELTS is more widely accepted for non-immigration purposes (some professional bodies).

Where to read more

• English language tests for visa applicants: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/help-support/meeting-our-requirements/english-language

Cross-link: see English testing for professions for which professional bodies require which English tests as part of skills assessment.