IELTS test centres in Australia: Gold Coast, Cairns, Newcastle, Wollongong and Townsville

IDP IELTS Australia lists a centre in each of the Gold Coast, Cairns, Newcastle, Wollongong and Townsville, and its finder showed 20 centres. Each of those five offers One Skill Retake. The Gold Coast page says Speaking is by video call. Bring your current original passport and arrive at least 30 minutes early.

IDP IELTS Australia runs IELTS in Australia, and its finder is the place to look. It says what it offers and how it is organised.

The finder links to a dates page for each of these cities:

You can narrow the list by state, and you can switch on a filter that only shows centres offering One Skill Retake. IDP also says most centres offer it now.

One thing to know about the count. The finder showed 20 centre cards, and it links dates pages for seventeen cities, three of which (Rockhampton, Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba) have no card among the 20. A different IDP page, written for people planning to move to Canada, says IDP has 50 test centres in Australia. We cannot say which count is current. Our reading: the finder may show only part of the list at first, so the 20 cards below are the ones we could read, not a full count.

Each of these cities has an IDP centre on the finder. The table gives the centre name and address as IDP prints them, whether One Skill Retake is offered, and what the city's dates page listed when we read it. A dates page shows sessions, not the next available date.

A few details from the city pages. Every session we read in these five cities showed the same price, which we cover on IELTS test fees in Australia. In Newcastle, Cairns, Wollongong and Townsville, we counted the sessions listed and every one fell on a Saturday. The Gold Coast listing was longer and covered more days. This is a snapshot, so the finder decides what is open for you.

Our reading: if you live in a regional city, a Saturday-only list means fewer choices, so book earlier and compare with a nearby city. If your deadline is tight, look at the next city's dates page too.

This is the whole card list the finder showed, in the order it printed it. A centre with no One Skill Retake line on its card shows Not shown in the last column, which means the card did not say, not that the centre does not offer it.

Some cards carry another organisation's name instead of IDP's, such as AIL in Box Hill and Melbourne CBD and the UTAS English Language Centre in Hobart and Launceston. Their phone numbers differ from the national line on the other cards, so use the number printed on the card for your centre.

The Gold Coast has its own centre page. It adds details that the finder does not.

The video call is the detail to note. IELTS.org describes the Speaking test as a face-to-face interview with an examiner. IDP's Gold Coast page says its Speaking test runs by video call. Our reading: the format depends on the centre, so check your booking before you plan how to practise. Our IELTS speaking tips page covers both.

IDP gives the booking steps in its guide to what an IELTS test costs. They are in the order you do them.

1. Find your closest IELTS Test Centre.
2. Choose your preferred test date and whether you need IELTS Academic or General Training (what’s the difference?).
3. Click “Book now”
4. Complete all the steps in the registration form (don’t worry, you can always cancel your booking)
5. On the payment page, you will see the test fee for your IELTS test.

You will also need an ID. IDP says to upload a clear scan when you book, and to bring the same document on the day.

These come from IDP Australia's test day page. IDP says check-in may vary between venues, so confirm the details with your own centre.

The "If you cannot attend" row is only the first step, and IDP's pages give three different windows. Its test-day page says to contact your test centre 5 days before the test if you cannot attend for medical reasons. The same page says a medical certificate provided within five days of the test date may qualify you for a refund minus the local administrative cost, and that if you are away on the test day with no prior notice you lose your full fee. Its cancellation page says exception requests must reach your centre within 14 days of the scheduled test date. That page also says an approved exception is offered a free transfer to a future test date and that refunds are not offered under the exceptions policy, so the test-day page's refund wording may not apply to bookings made on or after 1 July 2025. Our reading: contact the centre as early as you can, keep written proof, and ask which policy applies.

For the full list of what you can and cannot take in, read IDP's page before the day. For the cost and refund rules, see IELTS test fees in Australia.

The finder showed a list of centres, and it may not show every centre. If your town is not among them, you have a few realistic options. These steps are ours.

1. Open the dates page of the nearest city on the list and compare it with the next-nearest. Dates and prices are shown for each session, and sessions differ by city.
2. Check the Saturday-only pattern. Several regional centres listed only Saturday sessions when we read them, so a weekday session in a larger city might be the easier one to book.
3. Ask your centre when and how the Speaking test is held, because that can change how long you need to be away from home.
4. Count the days to your deadline, not just the test date. Results time is on each session, and a test taker needs the result to apply.

The full list is on IDP's finder. We do not list centres we have not read. Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra each appear on the finder, and so do Darwin, Hobart and Launceston. The finder decides what is open.

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