Before the format, before the score you need — the one fact that should change how you prepare, if nothing else does: the NAATI CCL is entirely spoken. You never read a dialogue off a page, in Tamil or in English, and nobody reads one aloud at you either. Everything below — the two dialogues, the 63/90 pass mark, the $814 fee — sits on top of that one design fact, and candidates who prepare by reading transcripts rather than listening to them are training the wrong skill for the exam they're about to sit.
- CCL = Credentialed Community Language. You interpret two everyday spoken dialogues between an English speaker and a Tamil speaker — nothing is read aloud, so script-reading speed is not scored.
- It's worth 5 points on the skilled-migration points test, for subclasses 189, 190 and 491 — often the deciding margin.
- You pass with 63/90 overall AND at least 29/45 on each dialogue.
- It costs AUD $814 per attempt (GST included), with no discount for a resit — so passing the first time is worth protecting.
A spoken test, not a reading test
The Credentialed Community Language (CCL) test measures one specific skill: consecutive interpreting. You listen to a short segment of a conversation in one language, then say your interpretation of it in the other language, from memory. Nobody hands you a script to read, in either language — you never see the dialogue in print, before or during the test. You're the person in the middle of a real conversation — the doctor and the patient, the banker and the customer — making sure both sides understand each other, entirely by ear and by voice.
The exact format
The test contains two dialogues. Each dialogue is a conversation of roughly 300 words, broken into segments of about 35 words. After each segment, the audio pauses and you interpret what was just said into the other language.
- 1Two dialogues, ~300 words eachEveryday scenarios — health, legal, banking, education, community services.
- 2Delivered in ~35-word segmentsThe recording pauses after each segment so you can interpret.
- 3Both directionsSome segments go English→Tamil, others Tamil→English, within the same dialogue.
- 445 marks per dialogue, 90 totalEach dialogue is scored independently, then combined.
How it's scored
Graders reward accuracy— did every piece of meaning survive the trip? — and penalise omissions, additions, and distortions, especially of numbers, dates, money amounts, and names. None of that is about which script you read comfortably; it's about what you hear and what leaves your mouth a few seconds later.
Hear one segment, both ways
Here's a typical opening line a doctor might say, and the kind of Tamil rendering that earns full marks. Tap play — the model answer underneath it is set in Tamil script and transliteration together, the way every dialogue on this site is:
What it costs, and why a resit is expensive twice over
| Cost | Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| NAATI CCL test fee | $814 | per attempt, GST included |
| Re-sitting after a fail | $814 again | no discount — full fee, plus weeks of waiting |
| Focused prep (e.g. naaticcltamil.com) | $59 one-time | or $29/mo · cancel anytime |
Confirm the current fee on naati.com.au before you book — NAATI revises its schedule periodically. What doesn't change is the arithmetic: a resit is not a discounted second try, it's the same $814 again, on top of however many weeks a new slot and new results take. Preparing properly the first time is the cheaper move by a wide margin.
What passing actually buys you
A CCL credential adds 5 points to your Skilled Migration score, for the General Skilled Migration subclasses — 189, 190 and 491 — where the points test applies. In a system where invitations can hinge on a single point, five points is enormous: it can be the difference between an indefinite wait and an invitation in the next round.
Quick check: have you got the basics?
Estimate your own result
Drag the sliders to your honest accuracy on each dialogue and see where you'd land:
Drag to your honest accuracy on each dialogue. You pass with 63/90 overall and at least 29/45 on each.