CELPIP for Australia: the scores your visa needs

CELPIP General levels for tests taken on or after 7 August 2025. Points are from the points table for the Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189), which also requires at least Competent English at the time of invitation. Which level a visa asks for depends on the subclass, so check your visa's eligibility page. For Functional English, Home Affairs asks for "an overall band score of at least 5"; a CELPIP score report gives a level for each skill rather than one overall score, so confirm how your report will be read if Functional English is all you need.

Two things stand out. At Competent, Writing is the easiest skill to clear and Listening is the hardest: more than half of Writing attempts reached 7, fewer than a quarter of Listening attempts did. At Proficient that flips. Writing 10 was reached by about 1 attempt in 80, a quarter as often as Listening 9 or Speaking 8, and about a thirtieth as often as Reading 8. No Writing attempt reached 12 and no Speaking attempt reached 10, so none of the attempts we have measured would meet Superior in either skill.

If you are aiming for 10 points, a plan that spends equal time on the four skills puts most of it where you need it least. Our Writing practice tests and band 9 writing samples show what a high-level response looks like.

Practice attempts, not official results, and attempts rather than people: someone who practised twice counts twice. Listening and Reading are marked against the answer key; Writing and Speaking levels are estimates from our evaluation, described on how we evaluate. Blank submissions are excluded, and 362 of the 368 Speaking attempts contain a transcript of real speech.

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  The test date matters. CELPIP General joined the Home Affairs list on 7 August 2025. The list for tests taken on or before 6 August 2025 does not include CELPIP, so an older CELPIP result cannot be used for an Australian visa.
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  CELPIP Online does not count. Home Affairs does not accept tests delivered completely online and names CELPIP Online. Sit the test at a secure test centre.
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  Only CELPIP General is on the list. CELPIP-General LS, the Listening and Speaking test used for Canadian citizenship, is not.
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  Plan on two years, not three. Home Affairs accepts a result achieved in the 3 years before your visa application (12 months for Functional English), depending on the subclass. Paragon says CELPIP scores are valid for 2 years from the date the score report is issued. The shorter window is the one to plan around; CELPIP results explains when the report is issued.
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  You can sit it in Australia. Paragon's test finder lists CELPIP General test locations in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Parramatta, Perth and Sydney, as well as in many other countries. Check the finder on celpip.ca for current dates, because locations change.
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  Some passports need no test. For Competent and Vocational English, Home Affairs also accepts a valid passport from Canada, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom or the United States. Proficient and Superior, and so the 10 and 20 points, need a test result.

Requirements change. Everything here was read from immi.homeaffairs.gov.au and celpip.ca on 2026-09-30; confirm the current rule for your subclass before you rely on it.