Australia to accept PTE and CAE as IELTS alternatives from 5th November 2011

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TEST providers in competition with the International English Language Testing Sytem are about to gain entry to the student visa market. However I am unsure as to what this would mean in light of the visa reports that are to be implemented over the next six months… where it is recommended by Mike Knight and accepted by DIAC that the onus of student meeting the english requirement will shift in some ways from set DIAC requirements to the judgment of the Universities… Anyways the report in today’s THE AUSTRALIAN states in an article titled COMPETITION COMES TO IELTS…

After November 5, immigration officials will accept results from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), Pearson’s PTE Academic test and the Cambridge English Advanced test, the HES understands.

Under current rules, student visa applicants from so-called high-risk countries, such as China and India, must show an IELTS result as evidence of English proficiency.

In May, Immigration Minister Chris Bowen announced an end to the IELTS monopoly over tests for student visas.

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship has been working with test providers on a table of equivalent scores for each test.

DIAC began a review of the IELTS monopoly in 2008. The monopoly remains intact for some other visa categories.

The monopoly is no longer so significant because policy change has made it harder for overseas students to secure skilled migration visas, which still require an IELTS result.

This change, and the related decline in offshore visa applications, has reduced the size of the English test market.

As well, the Knight reforms will give universities a streamlined visa process next year, meaning that would-be students from the biggest market, China, will no longer need to show English competence to secure a visa.

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Published by Ravi Lochan Singh

Ravi Lochan Singh is the Managing Director of Global Reach, a company that has been representing leading Universities from around the world for 32+ years. An alumnus of India's The Doon School, Delhi's SRCC and thereafter having completed an MBA from Bond University, Australia; he founded the company in 1991. Ravi has been working with various international bodies across countries in the development of the self-regulatory structures for the industry. His role with AAERI (the one of its kind agent body promoted by the Australian Government Departments) has earned him recognition as a major stakeholder in the education export industry. His blogs on education topics has significant following and his comments on matters of importance pertaining to his sector can ruffle settled notions. The blog is his personal expression and mayn't be read as official statements of organisations that he is associated with.

36 Comments

  1. IDP and IELTS are out and here come the new testing systems. You never know IDP will try to monopolies other testing too. Watch out!

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  7. Sir you told before high risk country cae not accept in Australia .so still it’s applicable for student n pr immigrant visa ? Plz reply me if possible

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      1. Sir Can u tell me the minimum pte score require for study visa for Australia
        Nd wt is the average fee of colleges and universities

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  8. Hi Sir, How are you. Sir I am so confused about PTE & IELTS. I want to know whether PTE is acceptable for PR in Australia.

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  9. hi sir i done bachelor of computer applications (BCA) and Master of computer science (M C A) which exam best for me PTE or CAE

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  11. Hi! sir i had compleated my bachelors from india and planning to persue MBA from australia. can i write PTE and apply to any australian university. or is it necessary to write IELTS.

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  14. sir i am planning to go to australia on the bassis of transport
    i was adviced to join CAE. my agent telling that he will help me in getting PR is it fine ?

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  15. Sir, I am applying for skilled migration through ACS. I have registered for PTE academic but so many friends told me that it is not acceptable yet, Can you please clarify if PTE academic will be acceptable as English proficiency test instead of IELTS or not. What is the required scope in case if PTE is acceptable.

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