Exams Required to Study in Australia

For admission to universities in Australia, international students who are not native English speakers must take some English language proficiency exams. These tests are also a requirement for visa purposes. As English is the mode of instruction in most Australian universities, it is commonly believed that students with strong English language skills are likely to excel academically.

Many major exams are accepted by the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) for visa purposes: IELTS, TOEFL, CAE, PTE and GMAT.

You might be offered a conditional offer letter based on your scores and academic background. You might be asked to enrol in preparatory courses to strengthen your English language proficiency. Although, this might not be the case for many of the top universities in Australia with a highly competitive admission process. To become a part of the Australian international students group, IELTS is the stepping stone in the process. 

International English Language Testing System, commonly known as IELTS, is one of Australian universities' most widely accepted English language proficiency exams. Every university has its overall score requirement related to the IELTS exam, which may vary depending on the level and area of study.

IELTS is conducted in more than 800 centres, and the application fees are 15,500 INR. The scores are valid for two years from the examination date. An overall score of 6.0 or 6.5 is necessary for admission to Australian universities. Applicants with an overall band score of 7 or above are considered competent. Students planning to apply for the exam can do so on the official website of the British council or the IDP education website or offline by downloading the application form and submitting it through courier services.
 

Test of English as a Foreign Language or TOEFL is an English Language proficiency exam of 120 marks. It is divided into 4 sections, reading, listening, writing and speaking. Each section is of 30 marks. The fee to appear in the exam is around  INR 14,198, which can vary depending on the test location. TOEFL is quite popular in India and is conducted across 4,500+ test centres. Interested applicants can apply for the exam online or offline through the official app or website. Generally, a score of 90n in TOEFL-iBT is required for admission to most of the top universities in Australia. Students with a total score of 100-110 are more likely to get into the institution of their choice.

Pearson Test of English, commonly called PTE, is a computer-based 3-hour long exam conducted across various cities in India. The exam is designed to test 4 skills of the applicants, including reading, writing, speaking and listening. It is a 90 points test. An overall score of 72 or above is considered satisfactory, while scores between 74-84 are considered competitive for admissions. Simply creating an account on the official PTE account is considered registering for the exam. The registration fee for PTE is 13,300 INR.

The University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations offers the Cambridge Advanced English test (CAE). In standard 11 or 12 of higher education, students preparing to apply for undergraduate programmes in Australia frequently take this exam. But it's important to remember that the results are only good for two years.

You can take this test on paper or a computer at a nearby testing facility. It consists of five papers on the use of English in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. In India, the CAE test is available at about 25 sites.

You can obtain the CAE exam application online. Currently, India charges 6,000 INR for registration. The scorecard of the CAE exam is published in the form of grades corresponding to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) level. Scores between 60-79 receive a C1 certificate and are considered fairly good. Scores above 80 are considered outstanding and correspond to a C2 level.

GMAT exam stands for Graduate Management Admission Test. The test has four sections, analytical writing, integrated reasoning, quantitative reasoning and verbal reasoning. Applicants are provided 3 hours and 7 minutes to complete the test. Students must complete the integrated reasoning and analytical writing sections within an hour, which is 30 minutes for one section. After this, students get 62 minutes to complete the quantitative reasoning and 65 minutes for the final verbal reasoning section. The minimum score requirement varies from university to university. But marks above 600 are considered to be a good GMAT score.

The Scholastic Aptitude Test or SAT is assessed for several streams of education, including arts, management and commerce. It consists of two compulsory sections – evidence-based reading and writing and, Mathematics. The essay section is optional. But the University you want to apply for will specify if they require you to submit essay scores on SAT based on the degree you want to pursue.

Universities in Australia require a minimum score of 1200 on the SATs. Some universities even set the exam bar as high as 1500 points. Your SAT results are valid for five years from the test's date.

Students who wish to study in Australia may contact our expert counsellors at any Meridean Overseas Education Consultants (MOEC) branch. Our expert counsellors will provide support and guidance for admission to Australian Universities. Students can also take free online counselling through our website. Please mail us at application02@meridean.org or 1800-1230-00011.