IELTS for teachers moving to Australia: the scores, the exemptions and how to pass

Who has to sit IELTS

Both AITSL and the state regulators start from where you studied, not your passport or first language. If your teaching qualification (and, for AITSL, your full four years of study) was completed in Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom or the United States, you're normally treated as meeting the English requirement through study. Everyone else plans on a test.

The study exemption has fine print. For AITSL, all four years must have been completed in those countries, the teaching qualification must be recognised, and every part of it, practicum included, must have been done there. A doctorate counts as at most two years. Credit transfer or advanced standing can stop you reaching four years. So a teacher who did a degree in India and a PGCE in England may still need IELTS for AITSL, even though the PGCE was in an exempt country. The NT's rule refers to English-speaking Canada specifically.

The scores, body by body

Which tests count

If you're taking one test for both the visa and registration, take IELTS Academic at a test centre and aim for the AITSL profile. That one result can then serve AITSL, NESA, VIT and, if your overall is 7.5, WA and the NT, provided it's still within each body's validity window when you apply. AITSL wants the test taken within 24 months of your application, so don't sit it years ahead.

One Skill Retake and combining sittings

IELTS One Skill Retake lets you resit a single band, say Speaking, without redoing the whole test. AITSL accepts it. The VIT accepts it if you book the retake within 60 days of your original test and the test was 'IELTS on a computer'. NESA goes further and lets you combine results from more than one sitting, as long as each skill reaches its level. AITSL, by contrast, wants all scores on one Test Report Form (a One Skill Retake updates that form).

NESA's exemption route

NSW is the only regulator we checked that publishes a structured exemption. NESA may exempt you from testing if it would be unreasonable to make you sit one and you can show at least two of five criteria with evidence. That route is for NSW accreditation only. It doesn't help with AITSL.

1. 3+ years teaching English in a school or early childhood service in a country where English is the main official language (reference letter needed).
2. 3+ years in professional work needing effective English communication (reference letter needed).
3. All secondary schooling (Years 7 to 12 equivalent) completed in an eligible country.
4. Teacher registration or licensing in an eligible country.
5. Study at diploma level (AQF 5) or above in an eligible country.

How teachers prepare for Speaking and Listening 8

An 8 in Speaking means fluent, flexible English with only occasional slips. Fluent teachers who use English every day at work can still fall half a band short if they don't know what the examiner is scoring. The four criteria are fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy, and pronunciation. Treat it like a teaching observation: learn the rubric, then practise against it.

What a pass is worth

Passing IELTS gets you through two gates: the visa skills assessment and state registration. After that, your pay is set by the state scale. In NSW a classroom teacher earns $92,882 to $133,422 from October 2026, and in the NT $96,180 to $136,997 from January 2026. For a NSW graduate step, that's about $2,794 a fortnight after tax for a resident. See our best state to teach guide and, if you trained in India or South Africa, our country guides for Indian teachers and South African teachers.