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English Test Points Converter
Choose your test, enter the lowest of your four component scores, and the tool shows the tier that gives you — competent, proficient or superior — plus what it is worth in points. The complete table for all five accepted tests sits below, with your row picked out.
Which test did you sit?
Your lowest score across the four skills
Not your average and not your overall band — the lowest of listening, reading, writing and speaking, because that is the one Home Affairs actually checks against the minimum.
That clears the proficient threshold in every one of the four skills, worth 10 points on the GSM points test.
+ the NAATI CCL, separately
The CCL is not an English test and is never a substitute for one — you need competent English regardless of whether you hold a CCL pass. A CCL credential adds a flat 5 points on top of whatever your English scores, taking a proficient english result of 10 to 15 points from these two factors alone.
All five tests, side by side
Each cell is the minimum required in every one of the four components — your row is highlighted.
| Test | Competent 0 pts | Proficient 10 pts | Superior 20 pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| PTE Academic← you | 50 | 65 | 79 |
| IELTS (Academic or General Training) | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| TOEFL iBT | L12 R13 S18 W21 | L24 R24 S23 W27 | L28 R29 S26 W30 |
| OET | B | — | A |
| C1 Advanced (CAE) | 169 | 185 | 200 |
OET has no proficient row: B in each sub-test is competent, A in each is superior, and nothing in between is recognised on this table.
How your total is built
These two factors alone will not reach the 65-point pool mark — age, employment and qualifications still have to do most of the work. Score the whole test on the full points calculator.
Why “minimum in each component” is the whole game
All five accepted tests report four separate skill results, and the Department checks each of them independently against the same line. Nothing is blended, nothing is rounded up, and being close in three skills earns no credit when the fourth falls under. That is exactly why the calculator asks only for your lowest score instead of an overall band: the overall band is not what gets assessed, and repeating it back to you would flatter a tier you do not hold.
It also changes where preparation should go. Pushing your strongest skill higher rarely moves the tier at all. Finding the single component that is holding the result down, and working on that alone, usually does — and for people who read and listen in English all day at work, the drag is often speaking or writing, simply because neither comes up under time pressure in ordinary working life.
The CCL is a second, additive factor — not a substitute
This is the one point on the page where a mix-up would be a factual error rather than a matter of emphasis, so it is worth saying twice. Item 6D91 rewards a different ability altogether: carrying meaning accurately between English and another language, at speed, from a single hearing. Passing the CCL tells nobody anything about your English band, and a high English band tells nobody anything about whether you could pass the CCL. They are assessed separately and they pay separately.
If Tamil is already a language you speak fluently, then the CCL weighed against another attempt at a harder English band is usually the comparison that matters, because the two routes carry very different odds for the same person. What NAATI charges for the CCL route is set out in the current fees guide.
A worked example
Picture a candidate with two very strong components, a solid third, and a fourth that lands just below the proficient line. Averaged out, that looks like a near-superior result and it is easy to plan around. The Department does not average it. The one weak component caps the whole thing at competent English, worth no points, and the remedy is targeted practice on that single skill rather than another general attempt at the whole test. Catching this before somebody builds a points plan on a tier they do not have is the reason the calculator above asks for your lowest score and nothing else.
What this tool will not tell you
It will not tell you whether a particular centre’s result will be issued in time for your EOI, how long your result stays valid for visa purposes (each testing body publishes its own rule — check theirs), or whether another attempt is worth the money for the gap you are trying to close. It certainly cannot predict what you would score next time. All it does is convert a result you already hold, or are confident of reaching, into the points it is worth today.
Frequently asked questions
Is the English threshold an average of my four scores?+
It is not, and this is the misreading that costs people the most. The requirement applies separately to listening, reading, writing and speaking: each one has to reach the threshold on its own. Three excellent components will not lift a fourth that fell short, and there is no averaging step anywhere in the process — your weakest skill sets your tier, full stop.
How many points does proficient or superior English add?+
Items 6D22 and 6D21 of Schedule 6D put proficient English at 10 points and superior at 20. Competent English scores nothing on its own — it is the level you must reach before you may apply at all, so treat it as the entry gate rather than the bottom rung of a scoring ladder.
Does the NAATI CCL replace the English test requirement?+
No, and it is worth being blunt because the two get muddled constantly. The CCL measures interpreting between English and another language; it is not an English proficiency test and NAATI issues no English rating through it. You still have to meet at least competent English separately to lodge a skilled visa application, and the CCL's 5 points sit on top of whatever your English score earns, not in place of it.
Why does OET only offer two options here?+
Because only two of its grades appear in the table. OET reports a grade from A to E for each of its four sub-tests, and Home Affairs recognises exactly two of them for this purpose: a B across the board is competent English, and an A across the board is superior. Nothing in between maps to proficient, so offering a proficient option would mean inventing a row that does not exist.
Which test is easiest to reach superior English on?+
Nobody can answer that honestly for you. The tests are not simple substitutes for one another, and the component that feels effortless to one candidate is the one that sinks another. What holds across all of them is that superior English is a demanding bar in every single skill — many fluent, working professionals do not clear it on a given attempt — and each retake costs money with no promise of a better outcome.
Where does Home Affairs publish these thresholds?+
On the Department's English language requirements page, which this tool reproduces exactly; the points attached to each tier come from Schedule 6D of the Migration Regulations 1994. Both sources are linked below together with the date they were last checked, and both are worth confirming before you make a decision on the strength of a result here.
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Read the detail
- NAATI CCL vs PTE: Sometimes the Honest Answer Is Just PTE
5 points, pass/fail, once, versus 0/10/20 by band. Most readers here should do both — but if Tamil interpreting under time pressure genuinely isn't your strength, PTE alone can be the smarter bet. Here's how to tell.
- The 5 PR Points Don't Care Which Language Got You There
5 points, same value on the 189, 190 and 491, in any recognised community language — Tamil included. The points system gives you no reason to second-guess sitting the language you already speak.
- The 2026 Points Test Reform and Your NAATI CCL: What Actually Changes, and When
A points test reform has been announced but not legislated, and no commencement date exists. Meanwhile the 5 Credentialed Community Language points are a live entitlement today — which is exactly why waiting is the riskier choice.
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