IELTS – English Language Competency Requirement

IELTS or International English Language Testing System, is an international standardized test of English language proficiency. It will test the person’s competency in English in four components namely: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking.

The requirement of DIAC at the time of our application was a test result showing a minimum score of 6 in each of the four components of the IELTS test. Worth noting however is that some skills assessing bodies would have further requirements such as a higher minimum score. CPA Australia needs a minimum score of at least 7 in each of the four components of the IELTS test before a skills assessment can precede any further.

There are two types of IELTS examination, general and academic module. The latter is much harder as it has a longer reading component and a different writing component (that would require interpretation of graphs and data). Normally DIAC only requires a general module however there are some skills assessing bodies that would require an academic module. CPA Australia for this case needs the academic module.

As the application for skilled migrant visa is based on points (this will be discussed further on the topic Lodging an EOI for a 189 visa), it is would be good if you can be able to get the highest score possible in your IELTS as you could claim points in English proficiency as follows:

With this, we wasted no time in enrolling Babes to sit down for an IELTS exam.  British Council was our service provider as they had a better schedule than IDP. An examination fee of S$320 was charged to us; it was a hefty amount so the wife was determined to get it nailed it in one try.

Perhaps the preparation for IELTS will merit a separate post so I will not touch on this for now.

Proud to say, the wife was more than prepared for the examination, she was able to meet the requirements of CPA Australia and at the same time claimed 10 points for English proficiency.

IELTS result