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ENGLISH LEVELCompetentHome Affairs
Competent English: the PTE score and every other test
What Home Affairs counts as Competent English, in the test you plan to take, for tests taken on or after 7 August 2025. Quoted from Home Affairs and checked on 3 Oct 2026.
ENGLISH LEVEL
Competent
Home Affairs definition
PTE EACH SKILL
47–54
L 47 · R 48 · W 51 · S 54
IELTS EACH SKILL
6
Academic or General Training
POINTS
0
skilled points table
SHORT ANSWER
47–54
each skillPTE Academic
LISTEN47
READ48
WRITE51
SPEAK54
At least 47 in listening, 48 in reading, 51 in writing and 54 in speaking.
6
each skillIELTS Academic
LISTEN6
READ6
WRITE6
SPEAK6
At least 6 in each of listening, reading, writing and speaking.
16–19
each skillTOEFL iBT
LISTEN16
READ16
WRITE19
SPEAK19
At least 16 in listening, 16 in reading, 19 in writing and 19 in speaking.
7
each skillCELPIP General
LISTEN7
READ7
WRITE7
SPEAK7
At least 7 in each of listening, reading, writing and speaking.
Home Affairs asks for at least competent English for the 186 Direct Entry stream, and at the time of invitation for the 189, 190 and 491. See the 189 page.
Home Affairs keeps the older scores for results from the previous version of each test.
PTE ACADEMIC
IELTS ACADEMIC
TOEFL IBT
CAMBRIDGE C1 ADVANCED
L
R
W
S
L
R
W
S
L
R
W
S
L
R
W
S
50
50
50
50
6
6
6
6
12
13
21
21
169
169
169
169
Passports that need no test
Home Affairs: you can show that you are a citizen of, and hold a valid passport issued by, Canada, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland or the United States of America.
If you're short
01Find the weak skillUse the checker above. This level is set per skill, so one low skill fails it.
02Check the date on your resultHome Affairs has one table for tests taken on or after 7 August 2025 and another for earlier tests.
03Resit the whole test or use a retakeSome tests have a one skill retake that Home Affairs accepts for eligible visas. Check the page for your visa.
BOOK OR PREPAREThe link goes to the provider's own site. How this works
Pearson PTEOfficial PTE Academic booking and test centre finder
0 points on the points test. The English level Home Affairs names for the 186, 189 and 190 visas, and for the 491 at invitation. It earns no points on the points test.
The points are from the Home Affairs points tables for the 189, 190 and 491 visas, which show the same English points. For the full picture across every level, see the PTE score chart and PTE points for PR.
Common questions
For tests taken on or after 7 August 2025, at least 47 in listening, 48 in reading, 51 in writing and 54 in speaking. Home Affairs sets no overall PTE score at this level.
At least 6 in each of listening, reading, writing and speaking, in IELTS Academic or IELTS General Training.
Home Affairs says PTE Academic has the same name as the previous version of the test, but the test and scores are different. It publishes one table for tests taken on or after 7 August 2025 and another for tests on or before 6 August 2025.
Within the 3 years before your visa application, depending on the visa subclass. Home Affairs: “You achieved one of the test scores in Table 1 or Table 2, in the 3 years before your visa application, depending on the visa subclass.”
Home Affairs: you can show that you are a citizen of, and hold a valid passport issued by, Canada, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland or the United States of America.
Competent English scores 0 on the Skilled Nominated (190) points table, so it meets the requirement but adds no points.