English Language Test Changes for Australian Visas — What’s New from 7 August 2025.

The Australian Government has introduced important updates to the English language requirements for visa applicants. If you are planning to apply for an Australian visa, here is a clear breakdown of what has changed.

Key Changes

New PTE Score Requirement

There are significant changes for the scores for the test taken on or after 7 August 2025. If you have taken PTE test on or after 7 August 2025 then you must acquire the new PTE score requirement shown in the table below.

Date of the Test	English Level	Listening	Reading	Writing	Speaking
Before 7 August 2025	Vocational	36	36	36	36
	Competent	50	50	50	50
	Proficient	65	65	65	65
	Superior	79	79	79	79
On or After 7 August 2025	Vocational	33	36	29	24
	Competent	47	48	51	54
	Proficient	58	59	69	76
	Superior	69	70	85	88

Three New Test Types Added

The department has added 3 new tests on top of the five previously acceptable test types. The department accepts test scores from the following tests that are undertaken at a secure test centre.

For tests taken before 7 August 2025

IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training, including One Skill Retake (OSR)
PTE Academic (Pearson Test of English Academic)
OET (Occupational English Test)
C1 Advanced (Cambridge Advanced Test)
TOEFL iBT (Test of English as a Foreign Language internet-Based Test)

For tests taken on or after 7 August 2025

All the tests listed above plus:

CELPIP General (Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program)
LANGUAGECERT Academic
MET (Michigan English Test), including Single Section Retake (SSR)

English Requirement Summary for Skilled Visa

English test requirement for tests taken on or after 7 August 2025 for all test types along with exempted passports holders are summarised in the table below.

Test Type or Passport	English Level	Listening	Reading	Writing	Speaking
IELTS (Academic or General)	Vocational	5	5	5	5
	Competent	6	6	6	6
	Proficient	7	7	7	7
	Superior	8	8	8	8
PTE Academic	Vocational	33	36	29	24
	Competent	47	48	51	54
	Proficient	58	59	69	76
	Superior	69	70	85	88
OET	Vocational	220	240	200	270
	Competent	290	310	290	330
	Proficient	350	360	380	360
	Superior	390	400	420	400
C1 Advanced	Vocational	N/A (Excluded)
	Competent	163	163	170	179
	Proficient	175	179	193	194
	Superior	186	190	210	208
TOEFL iBT	Vocational	8	8	9	14
	Competent	16	16	19	19
	Proficient	22	22	26	24
	Superior	26	27	30	28
CELPIP General	Vocational	5	5	5	5
	Competent	7	7	7	7
	Proficient	9	8	10	8
	Superior	10	10	12	10
LANGUAGECERT Academic	Vocational	41	44	45	54
	Competent	57	60	64	70
	Proficient	67	71	78	82
	Superior	80	83	89	89
MET	Vocational	49	47	45	38
	Competent	56	55	57	48
	Proficient	61	63	74	59
	Superior	N/A (Excluded)
Specified Passport Holders	Vocational	If you hold passport from Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, UK or USA you fulfil the requirement of Vocational and Competent English requirement.
	Competent
	Proficient	Not Eligible
	Superior	Not Eligible

Language Requirement for Subclass 485

Subclass 485 candidate who has taken English test on or after 7 August 2025 must fulfil the new English test requirement for visa subclass 485. As per new requirement student can take IELTS General along with 3 additional test options; however, there are changes for PTE test score requirement. Test score requirement summary shown in the table below:

Test Type or Passport	Overall/Total	Listening	Reading	Writing	Speaking
IELTS (Academic or General)	6.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5
PTE Academic	55	40	42	41	39
OET	1310	260	280	260	310
TOEFL iBT	81	12	12	14	17
CELPIP General	8	6	6	6	6
LANGUAGECERT Academic	67	49	54	56	62
MET	58	53	51	51	43
C1 Advanced	N/A (Excluded)
Specified Passport Holders	If you hold passport from Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, UK or USA then English language proficiency requirements do not apply.
Hong Kong and British National (Overseas)	Has different English score requirement for example, for IELTS overall 6.0 and minimum of 5.0 in each band, for PTE overall 47 and minimum of listening-33, reading-36, writing-29 and speaking-24.

Note: For visa subclass 485 the English test must be taken within 1 year before the date of the visa application.

Language Requirement for Subclass 500

Student visa subclass 500 requirement has also changed for the test taken on or after 7 August 2025.

Test Type	Overall/Total in General	Overall/Total with 10 Weeks of ELICOS	Overall/Total with 20 Weeks of ELICOS
IELTS (Academic or General)	6.0	5.5	5.0
PTE Academic	47	39	31
OET	1210	1090	1020
TOEFL iBT	67	51	37
CELPIP General	7	6	5
LANGUAGECERT Academic	61	54	46
MET	53	49	44
C1 Advanced	161	Not accepted

Note: For visa subclass 500 the English test must be taken within 2-year period before the date of the visa application if the evidence provided with the application otherwise within 2-year of the visa decision.

English language test requirements for subclass 500 do not apply for:

The citizen of, and hold a valid passport of Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, UK or USA.
Visa applicant enrolled only in and any of the course that is:
- registered to be delivered in a language other than English;
- an ELICOS;
- a registered school course;
- a registered post-graduate research course.
Visa applicant who is:
- a Foreign Affairs student; or
- a Defence Student; or
- (a Secondary exchange student.
Visa applicant who, in the 2 years before applying for a Subclass 500 (Student) visa, in Australia, has successfully completed
- Senior Secondary Certificate of Education, or
- a substantial component (at least 50%) of a course at AQF Certificate IV level or higher that is delivered in English.
Visa applicant who has successfully completed a minimum of 5 years of study in English undertaken in one or more of the following countries:
Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland, UK and USA.

Functional English

From 7 August 2025, Functional English skill wherever required, for example second instalment of visa fees for not having at least functional English level, can be demonstrated any of the following ways:

The citizen of, and hold a valid passport of Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, UK or USA.
Completed study where all instruction was conducted in English for
- all years of primary education and at least 3 years of secondary education; or
- at least 5 years of secondary education; or
- in Australia, at least 1 year of full-time study or equivalent part-time study towards a degree, or a higher degree, or a diploma, or an associate diploma.
Achieved at least any of the following band score (average/overall/total):

IELTS	PTE	OET	TOEFL iBT	CELPIP	LANGUAGE CERT	MET
4.5	24	1020	26	5	38	38

Online Test Restrictions

The department does not accept evidence from English language tests that are delivered completely online (also known as ‘remote-proctored’ or ‘at-home’).

Examples of online tests that department do not accept for Australian visa purposes include:

Skilled Independent & Pathway

Employer Sponsored

State Nominated

Skilled Family Sponsored

Study Visa

Training Visa

Partner Visa

Parent Visa

Aged Parent Visa

Business Visa

Skilled Independent & Pathway

Employer Sponsored

State Nominated

Skilled Family Sponsored

Study Visa

Training Visa

Partner Visa

Parent Visa

Aged Parent Visa

Business Visa