Australia migration

PTE score for Australia PR: points, cut scores and visa guide

Australian skilled permanent residence is a points competition, and your PTE score is the fastest lever you fully control. PTE Academic is accepted by the Department of Home Affairs, and your English can be worth 0, 10 or 20 points. The per-skill scores changed on 7 August 2025, so older “PTE 79 for Superior” advice is now wrong. Here is exactly how it works, with the official numbers and the points maths.

Last reviewed: 14 June 2026. General information only, not migration advice. Always confirm your case on the official Home Affairs site or with a registered migration agent.

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The basics

What 'PTE for Australia PR' actually means

There is no single “PR exam score.” Permanent residence runs through SkillSelect: you submit an Expression of Interest (EOI), score points across several categories, and wait for an invitation to apply. English proficiency is one of those points categories, and PTE Academic is one of the accepted tests to prove it.

Only PTE Academic counts for skilled migration — PTE Core is a different test and is not accepted. The three migration English levels are defined by the points they earn: Competent (0 points), Proficient (10) and Superior (20). Lower bands (Functional, Vocational) exist for some visas but earn no points. See the full bands on our PTE score chart.

Not sure how PTE compares to other English tests? Our PTE vs IELTS comparison covers every difference from scoring to test format. If you need PTE for university instead, see university PTE requirements worldwide.

The points test

The full SkillSelect points table

You need at least 65 points to be invited, and 65 is only the door: competitive occupations often sit well above it. Here is every category, with the exact official values.

Category	Detail	Points
Age	18 to 24	25
	25 to 32	30
	33 to 39	25
	40 to 44	15
English	Competent	0
	Proficient	10
	Superior	20
Overseas skilled work (last 10 yrs)	Under 3 years	0
	3 to 5 years	5
	5 to 8 years	10
	8 years or more	15
Australian skilled work (last 10 yrs)	Under 1 year	0
	1 to 3 years	5
	3 to 5 years	10
	5 to 8 years	15
	8 years or more	20
Education	PhD (recognised)	20
	Bachelor (recognised)	15
	Diploma or trade (Australian)	10
	Qualification recognised by your assessing authority	10
Specialist education	STEM Masters-by-research or PhD (Australian)	10
Australian study requirement	Met	5
Professional Year	Completed in Australia	5
Community language (NAATI / CCL)	Recognised credential	5
Regional study	Studied while living in regional Australia	5
Partner skills	Skilled partner (age, English, skills assessment)	10
	Partner with Competent English	5
	Single, or partner is a citizen / PR	10
Nomination or sponsorship	Subclass 190 (state nomination)	5
Nomination or sponsorship	Subclass 491 (state or eligible family)	15

Combined work experience (overseas plus Australian) is capped at 20 points. You can claim only your highest qualification. Subclass 189 receives no nomination points. Verified against the Home Affairs points tables, 14 June 2026.

The 20-point swing

Why English usually decides the invitation

Going from Competent to Superior is a 20-point jump, the single largest lever most applicants still have. You cannot get younger, and changing your work history or qualifications takes years. A better test result takes weeks.

The arithmetic is stark: a candidate stuck at 60 points with Competent English reaches 80 with Superior, which is often the difference between “never invited” and “invited in the next round.” Proficient (10 points) is the common middle target; Superior (20) is the goal for competitive occupations. Our guide to pushing every skill into the Superior band covers the how.

If you are targeting Proficient (10 points), see our PTE 65 strategy. Aiming higher? The PTE 90 strategy guide covers the final push. Either way, start with a free mock test to benchmark where you stand today.

The numbers

PTE Academic cut scores for each English level

Tests on or after 7 August 2025. These are per-skill minimums: you must hit every number, not an average.

English level	PR points	Listening	Reading	Writing	Speaking
Competent	+0	47	48	51	54
Proficient	+10	58	59	69	76
Superior	+20	69	70	85	88

The Writing 85 and Speaking 88 wall. For Superior, those two are the real barrier. Listening 69 and Reading 70 are comparatively reachable, so most candidates who fall short of Superior are short on Writing, Speaking, or both.

The old-vs-new trap. Before 7 August 2025, Superior was a flat 79 in all four skills. Reading and Listening got easier (down to 69 and 70), while Writing and Speaking got harder (up to 85 and 88). If you read “you need 79 for Superior” anywhere, it is out of date. Drill the Speaking 88 hurdle on our speaking practice hub, and sharpen individual tasks with Repeat Sentence drills, Describe Image practice, and Re-tell Lecture exercises.

For Writing 85, see our writing section guide and practise Write from Dictation to boost both writing and listening scores. The speaking section overview explains how each task feeds your overall speaking score.

The Superior English wall

Writing 85 and Speaking 88 are the two hardest thresholds. Most candidates who miss Superior are short on one or both. Focus your preparation on speaking drills and writing practice before retaking.

Test equivalence

PTE vs IELTS, OET, TOEFL and Cambridge

If you are choosing a test or converting an existing score, here is the official equivalence at each level (per-skill, tests on or after 7 August 2025).

Level	PTE Academic (L/R/W/S)	IELTS	OET (L/R/W/S)	TOEFL iBT (L/R/W/S)	Cambridge C1 (L/R/W/S)
Competent	47 / 48 / 51 / 54	6.0 each band	290 / 310 / 290 / 330	16 / 16 / 19 / 19	163 / 163 / 170 / 179
Proficient	58 / 59 / 69 / 76	7.0 each band	350 / 360 / 380 / 360	22 / 22 / 26 / 24	175 / 179 / 193 / 194
Superior	69 / 70 / 85 / 88	8.0 each band	390 / 400 / 420 / 400	26 / 27 / 30 / 28	186 / 190 / 210 / 208

Home Affairs does not accept any at-home or fully online test (IELTS Online, TOEFL Home Edition, OET@Home and similar): the test must be sat at a secure test centre. For TOEFL you must select “Taking TOEFL for Australia” when you register, or the result is not accepted. Weighing PTE against IELTS? See our full PTE vs IELTS comparison for scoring, format and study-time differences.

Visa subclasses

Which visas use the points test

Subclass	Name	Type	Nomination	English in practice
189	Skilled Independent	Permanent	None (independent)	Competent to enter the pool, Proficient or Superior to be competitive
190	Skilled Nominated	Permanent	State nomination (+5)	Competent minimum, states often expect Proficient or higher
491	Skilled Work Regional	Provisional (PR via 191)	State or family (+15)	Competent minimum, a higher score helps competitiveness

All three require an EOI in SkillSelect and the 65-point minimum, and the 190's 5 and 491's 15 nomination points count toward that 65. The 491 is provisional but is the standard stepping stone to permanent residence via the subclass 191, after you meet its residence and income conditions (a pathway, not a guarantee).

Employer-sponsored visas (186, 482, 494) are sponsored rather than points-tested in the same way, and generally require Competent English, with some concessions and exemptions. PTE Academic is accepted across these skilled and employer-sponsored subclasses. Occupation lists and state nomination criteria change often, so always confirm your specific occupation and state.

Single-skill retakes

PTE Academic now offers single-skill retakes. If you cleared three skills at Superior but fell short in one (usually Speaking or Writing), you can retake just that skill instead of the whole test. This saves time, money and the risk of regressing in the skills you already passed.

Logistics

Validity, sending scores and booking

Validity is 3 years for migration. The test must not have been taken more than 3 years before you apply. This is the migration rule, and it overrides the general 2-year PTE validity that some sites quote.
Old tests still work, for a while. A test sat on or before 6 August 2025 can still be used against the old scores until 6 August 2028, depending on the visa. Tests from 7 August 2025 use the new per-skill scores.
When to provide your score. For 189, 190 and 491 you build your English result into your EOI, so it counts at the time of invitation. Employer-sponsored streams usually need it by time of application.
How scores reach Home Affairs. You send your PTE Academic score report to the Department through your Pearson account, and Home Affairs accepts PTE Academic directly.
Booking basics. PTE Academic is sat at a secure Pearson test centre, with results typically in about 2 business days. Rebooking a single skill is common when one skill is short.

Not sure how long you need? Our guide on how long to prepare for PTE covers realistic timelines. Read our exam day tips before booking. You can also use the PTE score calculator to model different scenarios and see where your overall score lands.

The maths

Worked points examples

Three illustrative cases showing how English changes the outcome. These are examples, not migration advice.

Why English is usually the cheapest 20 points

Priya, 30, software engineer

Age (25 to 32)30
Bachelor degree (recognised)15
Overseas skilled work, 6 years10
Single10
English at Competent0
Running total65

Total 65, the bare minimum and likely not competitive for ICT. Lift English to Superior and that 0 becomes 20: total 85. Same person, one better test result, moves from borderline to strong.

Proficient vs Superior on the margin

Arjun, 34, accountant (190 pathway)

Age (33 to 39)25
Bachelor degree15
Overseas skilled work, 4 years5
State nomination (190)5
Partner with Competent English5
English at Proficient10
Running total65

Total 65. Swap Proficient for Superior and English goes 10 to 20: total 75. In a capped occupation that extra 10 can decide the round, but reaching Superior here means clearing Writing 85 and Speaking 88, not just nudging Reading.

How nomination and English stack

The 491 regional rescue

Age (40 to 44)15
Bachelor degree15
Overseas skilled work, 8+ years15
English at Proficient10
Running total55

Total 55, below the threshold. Add 491 state nomination or eligible family sponsorship (+15) and you reach 70, invitable on the regional pathway. Note: combined work experience is capped at 20 points.

Run the same maths with your real numbers using the PTE score calculator, then see exactly which skill is holding you back with our free 10-minute diagnostic. The official Home Affairs points calculator is the source of truth for your total.

The strategy

Stuck one skill short? Here is how to fix it

Because PR English is per-skill, a single weak skill (almost always Writing 85 or Speaking 88 for Superior) caps your whole level and costs you 10 or 20 points. The fix is a process, not luck.

1. Diagnose, do not guess. A full mock that scores all four skills tells you whether you are one skill short or several. Start with a free scored mock or the quick diagnostic.
2. Attack the wall skills. For Speaking 88, fluency and pronunciation dominate, so drill Read Aloud, Repeat Sentence, Describe Image and Retell Lecture on our speaking hub. For Writing 85, form gates your score to zero if you break word limits, then grammar, range and structure decide the rest.
3. Consider a single-skill retake. If only one skill is short, a targeted retake can be faster and cheaper than resitting the whole test.
4. Follow the full Superior playbook. Our Superior strategy guide walks through each skill (remember the modern Superior is 85 / 88, not a flat 79).
5. Use high-frequency questions. Real PTE questions repeat. Our most repeated PTE questions list gives you the exact items that keep appearing, so you can practise them directly.

The reassuring part: Listening 69 and Reading 70 are the most attainable Superior skills, so many candidates already clear those and only need focused Writing and Speaking work. If you feel stuck despite practising, read why am I not improving in PTE to identify common plateaus.

FAQ

PTE for Australia PR, answered

Only PTE Academic. PTE Core, PTE General and PTE Home are not accepted by the Department of Home Affairs for skilled migration. See our PTE Core vs PTE Academic comparison for the differences.

It depends on the points you want from English. Competent (Listening 47, Reading 48, Writing 51, Speaking 54) meets the basic requirement but earns 0 points. Proficient (58 / 59 / 69 / 76) earns 10. Superior (69 / 70 / 85 / 88) earns 20. See our full PTE score chart for all bands.

Per skill. You must meet every component minimum. One skill below the line drops you to the level below, no matter how high your overall is.

0 for Competent, 10 for Proficient and 20 for Superior, under the SkillSelect points test.

65 points to be invited. Meeting 65 does not guarantee an invitation, because rounds are competitive and popular occupations often need more.

No. That was the old standard. Since 7 August 2025, Superior English is Listening 69, Reading 70, Writing 85 and Speaking 88, not a flat 79 in every skill.

Three years. The test must not be more than 3 years old when you apply. This migration rule is different from the general 2-year PTE validity some sites quote.

Yes. PTE Academic is accepted for all three points-tested skilled visas, and for employer-sponsored visas such as 186, 482 and 494.

English points are the same across all three (0 / 10 / 20). The difference is nomination: 190 adds 5 points, 491 adds 15, and 189 adds none.

Usually yes, at Competent English level, though some concessions and exemptions apply. Confirm the exact requirement on the specific subclass page.

Only if you claim partner points. For 5 or 10 partner points your partner generally needs Competent English. Otherwise dependants may only need to show Functional English for the visa itself.

Speaking 88 and Writing 85 are the usual barriers. Listening 69 and Reading 70 are more attainable for most candidates. Focus on speaking drills and writing practice to break through.

PTE Academic offers single-skill retake options, which can be efficient if only one skill is short of your target level.

You send your PTE Academic score report to the Department through your Pearson account, and Home Affairs accepts PTE Academic results directly.

Both are accepted and map to the same English levels. PTE is computer-scored with fast results, so the better choice depends on your strengths. See our PTE vs IELTS comparison.

No. A higher score lifts your points and your competitiveness, but invitations depend on your total against everyone else in your occupation in each round.

Yes, against the old scores, until 6 August 2028, depending on the visa. Tests on or after 7 August 2025 use the new per-skill scores.

Start with a free mock test to identify your weakest skill, then drill targeted practice. Most PR candidates benefit most from speaking and writing practice since those have the highest Superior thresholds.