PTE Score for Australian Migration Points: Competent, Proficient, Superior

Home Affairs checks four separate PTE Academic component scores against three English levels, on a table that changed on 7 August 2025. This covers the exact thresholds for Competent, Proficient and Superior English, the points each earns, and what happens to older test results. Figures as at September 2026.

Read the full guide, with official sources →

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Chapters

  1. 0:00 PTE points test: four numbers, not one score
  2. 0:16 Competent English — 0 points
  3. 0:30 Proficient English — 10 points
  4. 0:45 Superior English — 20 points
  5. 0:58 One component below threshold fails the whole level
  6. 1:15 Every component has to clear its own threshold
  7. 1:31 Tested before 7 August 2025? Different numbers
  8. 1:44 Old-table results stay usable
  9. 1:58 All four scores must be from the same test sitting
  10. 2:08 Short on one component?
  11. 2:22 Where to read more

Transcript

Home Affairs doesn't check one PTE score. It checks four separate numbers — Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking — against a table that changed on 7 August 2025.

Competent English is the baseline for most skilled visas — subclass 189, 190, 491 and others. It earns zero points, but every one of these four scores has to be met.

Proficient English earns 10 points. On PTE Academic, for a test taken on or after 7 August 2025, that's Listening 58, Reading 59, Writing 69, Speaking 76.

Superior English earns 20 points. It needs Listening 69, Reading 70, Writing 85, Speaking 88 — all four, on the same test result.

Here's where people slip. Say your result is Listening 72, Reading 69, Writing 68, Speaking 71. Three components clear Proficient. Writing doesn't — it needs 69, and lands one point short at 68.

That result meets Competent English, because all four clear 47, 48, 51, 54. It does not meet Proficient. Home Affairs checks every component against the same table — never an average, never three out of four.

If you tested on or before 6 August 2025, you're on a different, older table — a flat 50 for Competent, 65 for Proficient, 79 for Superior, in every component.

Those older results aren't void. Home Affairs can still accept a PTE result from on or before 6 August 2025 as evidence until 6 August 2028, depending on the visa.

All four component scores have to come from the same test sitting. Home Affairs doesn't combine your best Listening from one date with your best Writing from another.

If one component falls short, the options are the same either way: sit the full PTE test again, or try a different accepted test — TOEFL iBT, IELTS or OET — if it suits you better.

The full guide, with the official sources, is on migratio.com.au. The link is in the description.

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