IELTS for Australia
AHPRA IELTS requirements for nurses in Australia: 7.0 in every band
AHPRA's English standard for nursing registration: IELTS Academic 7.0 in all four components, one sitting (or two within six months). Why IELTS became the stable choice after the April 2026 test shake-up.
CD IELTS Prep Editorial Team · Published 31 August 2026 · Updated 31 August 2026 · 8 min read
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To register as a nurse or midwife in Australia through the test pathway, AHPRA requires IELTS Academic with a minimum of 7.0 in each of the four components — Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. Scores can come from one sitting, or two sittings within six months under specific conditions. IELTS Online and General Training are not accepted.
What exactly does AHPRA require?
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Test type | IELTS Academic, taken in a test centre |
| Listening | 7.0 minimum |
| Reading | 7.0 minimum |
| Writing | 7.0 minimum |
| Speaking | 7.0 minimum |
| Sittings | One sitting, or two within six months subject to AHPRA's conditions |
| Not accepted | IELTS Online (at-home) and General Training |
The skills-assessment stage has its own bar: ANMAC accepts IELTS Academic at 7.0 overall and in each component, with results under two years old, from a single test provider, taken at an authorised test centre. In practice the target is the same four 7.0s.
What changed in April 2026 — and what didn't
On 23 April 2026 AHPRA updated its accepted test scores based on new concordance research: OET requirements are now expressed numerically (minimum 350 in Listening and Writing, 360 in Reading and Speaking), and the PTE Academic Speaking requirement jumped from 66 to 76. The IELTS Academic requirement was left completely unchanged. For nurses choosing a test in 2026, IELTS is the option whose goalposts did not move.
How do you actually reach 7.0 in every band?
A four-sevens profile fails on its weakest module, so preparation should be diagnostic rather than general. In Listening, band 7.0 needs roughly 30 of 40 raw marks; in Academic Reading a similar margin — which means you can measure your gap precisely with timed practice papers and a band calculator, then spend remaining weeks only on the module that is short.
- Sit a full timed mock first to find your weakest module — do not guess it.
- Writing is the most common 6.5 trap: train Task 2 to a plan-first routine and get criterion-level feedback on every essay.
- Use the two-sittings-within-six-months provision as a safety net, not a plan — check AHPRA's exact conditions before relying on it.
- Practise on screen: Australian IELTS is computer-delivered, and interface familiarity is free marks under time pressure.
Find your weakest module with a full computer-delivered mock — free to start.
Take a mock testCommon questions
Does AHPRA accept IELTS General Training?
No. Only IELTS Academic taken at a test centre counts toward AHPRA's English standard. General Training and at-home IELTS Online results are not accepted.
Can I combine two IELTS sittings for AHPRA?
AHPRA allows scores from two sittings within six months under specific conditions. Read the current English Language Skills standard carefully before planning around it.
Is OET or PTE easier than IELTS for AHPRA?
The April 2026 update raised the PTE Speaking requirement to 76 and re-expressed OET numerically, while IELTS stayed at 7.0 across the board. No route is objectively easier — but IELTS is currently the most stable target.
What about the skilled-migration points test?
Visa points are separate from registration: IELTS 7.0 in every component is Proficient English (10 points) and 8.0 in every component is Superior (20 points) under the Home Affairs points test. Registration at four 7.0s already earns you the Proficient tier.