English Points for Australian PR: Competent, Proficient, Superior

English is worth up to 20 points in the skilled migration points test — the second-largest factor after age — and it is also where a single wrong assumption does more damage than anywhere else in the table. Get the next two sections exactly right, because most of what goes wrong with English points comes down to one of them.

The critical point: competent scores zero

Say this plainly, because it is the fact people get backwards most often: competent English is not a scoring row. It is the minimum standard of English every points-tested skilled visa requires you to hold before you are eligible to apply at all. Meeting it makes you eligible. It does not add a single point to your score.

Passing the English requirement and scoring English points are two different claims, and conflating them is the most common English-related mistake on this whole site — see it laid out for every factor in the full points table.

The two tiers that actually score

Only two tiers put points on the board: proficient, worth 10 points under item 6D22, and superior, worth the maximum 20 under item 6D21. There is no partial credit between them and no tier above superior — 20 is the ceiling for this factor, however far past the threshold your result sits.

Minimum in every component, not an average

This applies identically to every test on the accepted list. There is no test where a strong result in three skills compensates for a weak fourth. If you are close to a threshold, the number that matters is your lowest component score, not your overall or average result.

The full threshold table, test by test

Five tests are accepted for the points test's English tiers, each with its own component scale. All figures below are minimums in every component listed.

Notes on each test

A reform that took effect on 7 August 2025 narrowed and reset the accepted-tests landscape: only a specified set of tests counts for visa purposes now, and — this catches people out — online or at-home versions of any test are not accepted for this purpose, only the in-person, test-centre sitting. If you are booking a test specifically to claim English points, confirm you are booking the in-person version before you pay.

• IELTS — either the Academic or General Training version is accepted; band scores are whole or half bands.
• PTE Academic — computer-marked, scored 10–90 per component, usually the fastest to get results back.
• TOEFL iBT — the component thresholds are uneven by design (writing sits highest at every tier), which matters if writing is your weaker skill.
• OET — graded A to E, originally built for health professionals and using health-context test material; only reaches competent (B) or superior (A) for points purposes, with no proficient row.
• Cambridge C1 Advanced (CAE) — scored on the Cambridge English Scale, added to the accepted list in the August 2025 reform.

How long a result lasts

A Competent, Proficient or Superior English result is valid for three years from the test date for visa purposes. A separate transitional rule, following the August 2025 reform, lets results from a test taken on or before 6 August 2025 continue to be used through to 6 August 2028 — worth checking if your test predates the reform and you are unsure which validity rule applies to you.

The same expiry logic that catches age points in the EOI pool applies here too: if a competitive score depends on an English result that will have expired by the time you are likely to be invited, the same “measured at invitation, not lodgement” rule means it is worth timing a retest rather than assuming the original result will still count.

Which test suits whom

There is no single best test — the right one depends on which skill you find hardest and how quickly you need a result. PTE’s fully computer-marked format and typically faster turnaround suit people confident across all four skills who want a quick result. IELTS remains the most widely recognised and has the largest network of test centres and preparation material. OET suits health professionals already fluent in clinical vocabulary, but its lack of a proficient tier means it is an all-or-nothing bet against the superior threshold. The only reliable way to choose is a practice test in more than one format and an honest look at your weakest component under each test's specific structure.

The cost of the retake ladder

Each test costs money to sit and takes time to result, and a result that misses a threshold in one component by a fraction of a band means paying and waiting again for the whole test — there is no single-component resit for any of these five tests. Two or three attempts to reach a target tier is not unusual, particularly for superior English, where every component has to clear a high bar simultaneously. Budgeting for a possible second sitting, and choosing a test whose format suits your weakest skill from the start, is cheaper than assuming the first attempt will land.

The CCL is additive, not an alternative

This is worth isolating in its own section because getting it wrong would be a real factual error, not just an omission. A NAATI Credentialled Community Language (CCL) pass adds 5 points under a completely separate item, 6D91. It sits alongside your English score in the points test — it does not replace it, discount it, or exempt you from it in any way.

For someone who already speaks a second language NAATI tests, the practical takeaway is to treat the CCL as a genuinely separate, additional row rather than an easier path around the English requirement. How the CCL and an English test actually compare as investments goes through cost and time side by side, and the partner points guide covers the related fact that a partner's own CCL pass earns nothing at all under Part 6D.11 — only the primary applicant's counts here or there.

Common mistakes

• Claiming proficient points on a competent result. Double-check every component against the table above, not just the headline score your test report emphasises.
• Averaging instead of checking the minimum. Your tier is set by your lowest component, always.
• Sitting an online or at-home test for points purposes. Since 7 August 2025 these formats are not accepted for this purpose, regardless of the score achieved.
• Assuming an expired result still counts. Check the three-year validity window, or the transitional 6 August 2028 date if your test predates the reform, before you rely on it.
• Treating the CCL as an English-requirement substitute. It is a separate row worth 5 points — it does not touch your English score or your English eligibility.

A worked example

Two applicants sit PTE Academic. Both need superior English for a target of 80+ points in a competitive occupation.

Applicant B's overall average looks close to Applicant A's, and would look competitive on a report card. Under the points test it is worth exactly half as much, because one component — speaking, at 72 — misses the superior threshold of 79. This is precisely the gap the English points converter exists to catch before an EOI is submitted on a wrong assumption.

Quick check

Frequently asked questions