Every row below is a legal way to add points to the Australian skilled migration test. None of them is secret and none of them is a trick — they are simply not equally efficient. This page ranks them by two honest measures, dollars per point and weeks per point, shows the arithmetic behind every figure, and states the catch for each one as prominently as the cost. We sell NAATI CCL preparation, which is exactly why the working is shown rather than the conclusion alone.
- On raw dollars per point the NAATI CCL is sixth of ten — another year of work, a 491 or 190 nomination, a partner English test and an English tier step all cost less per point. We sell CCL preparation and the table still says that.
- What the CCL actually wins on is control: it is the only mid-table option whose outcome depends on nothing but your own performance, on a date you choose. A nomination depends on a state inviting you; a year of work costs a year.
- A CCL fail costs the full $814 again — no re-sit discount — and "eight weeks" assumes you already speak the language, not that you're learning one.
- State and regional nomination look almost free on a fee basis, but the fee buys an application, not an outcome — the invitation itself is not guaranteed or scheduled by you.
- A professional year (5 points, ~$10,000-$14,000, ~44 weeks) and a specialist STEM qualification (10 points, years and tens of thousands of dollars) are two of the least efficient rows in the table on points-per-dollar.
The short version
Every factor in the Schedule 6D points table is worth the same points regardless of how you reach it — but reaching it is never equally cheap or equally fast. This page treats "cheapest" literally: for every option, what does it cost, how long does it take, and what does that work out to per point. Every cost below is an estimate, labelled as one, and every catch is stated in the same sentence as the number, not buried in a footnote.
Every option, ranked
Sorted cheapest first by dollars per point, with no thumb on the scale. Note where the CCL lands: sixth. Three of the rows above it — another year of work, a 491 nomination, a 190 nomination — are cheaper per point than sitting the CCL, and two more are about level with it. We sell CCL preparation, so we will say the uncomfortable part plainly: on raw dollars per point, the CCL does not win. What the raw number hides is who controls the outcome, and that is the subject of the next section.
| Option | Points | Cost (estimate) | Time (estimate) | $/point | Weeks/point |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Another year of skilled employment | up to 5 per band | $0 direct cost | 52 weeks | $0 | ~10.4 |
| Regional nomination (491) | 15 | ~$200-420 application fee, once invited | Same as above, plus a 5-year regional-living commitment | ~$20 on the fee alone | Not meaningfully comparable — see below |
| State nomination (190) | 5 | ~$200-420 application fee, once invited | ~12-20 weeks after invitation — the wait to be invited is separate and unpredictable | ~$60 on the fee alone | ~3.2 on the fee alone |
| Partner: competent English | 5 | ~$490 (one test sitting) | ~6-8 weeks | ~$98 | ~1.4 |
| English: proficient → superior | 10 | ~$490/attempt, often 2+ attempts | ~6-12 weeks per attempt cycle | ~$100-150 realistically | ~1.2-2 |
| NAATI CCL | 5 | $814 (one sitting) | ~8 weeks incl. 4–6-week result wait | ~$163 | ~1.6 |
| Partner skills assessment | 5 | ~$1,000-1,500 | ~12-20 weeks | ~$250 | ~3.2 |
| Professional year | 5 | ~$10,000-$14,000 | ~44 weeks | ~$2,400 | ~8.8 |
| Regional study (on top of the study requirement) | 5 | Full course tuition if pursued for points alone | ~92 weeks minimum (the study requirement underneath it) | Very high if pursued for points alone | ~18.4 |
| Specialist STEM qualification | 10 | Tens of thousands of dollars | 2-4 years | Very high | ~10-20 |
Read every "$/point" and "weeks/point" figure above as exactly what it is: an estimate divided by a points value, not a promise. The rows below the table explain why several of the smallest-looking numbers are the least trustworthy ones in it.
Showing the working
The NAATI CCL row: one sitting costs $814, for 5 points. That is $163 per point. The test itself is short; the honest timeline is preparation plus the booking window plus the 4–6-week result wait, which for someone already comfortable in both languages commonly totals around eight weeks — 1.6 weeks per point. Every other number in the table above is built the same way: a cost estimate, divided by the points it buys, next to a time estimate divided the same way.
Why the cheap-looking rows aren’t actually cheap
Sorted purely by sticker price, the extra year of employment and the 491 regional nomination look like the best deals on the page — $0 and roughly $20 a point. Neither number is dishonest, and neither is the real story.
The free year of employmentis free only if you haven’t already reached the 20-point combined employment cap. Once you're at or near it, an extra year adds nothing at all to this factor — its real weeks-per-point for someone near the cap isn't 10.4, it's infinite. And $0 is only the cash outlay; the row still costs you an entire year of your life, which the table's own "weeks/point" column already shows is the worst time-efficiency on the page even before the cap makes it zero.
State and regional nomination price only the application. Before you can pay that fee, a state has to actually invite you — and most states now run an invitation-only model where meeting the minimum criteria gets you into a pool, not an outcome. The wait to be invited at all is not scheduled by you, is not guaranteed to happen, and commonly runs far longer than the 12-20 weeks it takes to process a nomination once you clear that bar. A 491's 15 points come with a further, much larger cost the table can't price in dollars or weeks at all: a five-year commitment to live in a regional area. Both nomination rows are real and often worth pursuing — they are just not "cheap" in the way a $20-per-point figure implies on its own.
The CCL’s own catch, stated plainly
This page would not be honest if it applied that scrutiny to every other row and waved the CCL through. Its catch is real and worth stating with the same weight as its cost:
That is the entire basis for ranking it first: not that it is magically free of risk, but that for the specific person this comparison is for — someone who already speaks a second language and wants a bounded, self-directed, predictable way to add points — the cost and timeline are both small, both known upfront, and both entirely within that person's own control. No partner, no employer and no state government has to agree to anything.
Professional year, regional study and specialist STEM
These three sit at the expensive end of the table on purpose, and none of them should be read as "avoid" — they are read as not primarily points strategies. A professional year costs roughly $10,000-$14,000 and 44 weeks for 5 points — about $2,400 a point — and earns its cost back through the structured work experience and industry placement it provides, not through the points alone. Regional study only exists on top of the underlying Australian study requirement, so its honest cost is really the cost of the whole qualification; if you were enrolling in Australia anyway, choosing a regional campus adds 5 points at close to zero marginal cost, but chasing a whole degree purely for the points is one of the worst trades on this page. A specialist STEM qualification — a masters by research or doctorate — is a multi-year, tens-of-thousands-of-dollars commitment for 10 points, and belongs in an academic or career decision, not a points shopping list.
The two partner options
Partner competent English and a partner's skills assessment both share one condition that overrides their price entirely: you need a partner, and the points depend on your partner's action, not yours. Partner English is genuinely cheap — one test sitting, around $490, for 5 points — when your partner doesn't already have it and is willing and able to sit the test. A partner's skills assessment costs more (roughly $1,000-1,500) and takes longer (12-20 weeks), and only pays off if their occupation is on the list and their assessment comes back positive. Neither is available to a single applicant, and neither is fully within your own control even if you have a partner.
Combining more than one
Nothing here is exclusive. A common, efficient combination for someone short of the pool floor is a NAATI CCL pass run in parallel with whichever other factor still has headroom for their situation — pursuing a state nomination while sitting the CCL costs nothing extra in time, because the two processes don't compete for the same weeks. The comparison above is about which single lever gives the best return on its own; most real applications end up pulling two or three of these levers at once.
Our conflict of interest, stated directly
NaatiGuru sells NAATI CCL test preparation, so a page on this site ranking ways to gain points deserves scrutiny rather than trust by default. An earlier draft of this page did put the CCL at the top of the table. We ran the arithmetic properly and it does not belong there — it is sixth on dollars per point — so the table was re-sorted rather than the estimates re-tuned. That is the whole reason every figure here is labelled an estimate, every source is linked below, and the CCL’s own catch is given the same prominence as its cost. If the honest ranking were bad for us we would still have to print it, which is the only thing that makes the rest of the page worth reading. Check the arithmetic yourself; it is built to be checked, not believed.
How to actually choose
Start by ruling out what doesn't apply to you at all — a professional year if you're not an accounting, ICT or engineering graduate, partner points if you have no partner, specialist STEM study if a further degree isn't realistic. Whatever remains, compare it honestly against the CCL using the CCL cost calculator and the points gap finder together — one shows what the CCL would actually cost you, the other shows how many points you actually need. If you already speak a second language and the gap is small, the detailed guide to the CCL's five points and the full cost-versus-benefit breakdown are the next two pages worth reading.
Quick check
Frequently asked questions
Sources
Points figures are the Commonwealth's, from Schedule 6D of the Migration Regulations 1994, verified 15 September 2026. The NAATI CCL fee is NAATI's own published schedule fee. Every other cost on this page — English test fees, skills assessment fees, state nomination fees, professional year pricing — is a general market estimate drawn from provider and government pricing at the time of writing, not a guaranteed current figure; confirm the current fee directly with the relevant provider or government body before committing money.
- Points table — SkillSelect — Department of Home Affairs
- Migration Regulations 1994, Schedule 6D — General points test — Federal Register of Legislation
- NAATI CCL fees — NAATI
- Professional Year Program pricing — Australian Computer Society (ACS)