CELPIP approved by DHA: Australia visa scores and how to send your results

• CELPIP is accepted in Australia — the facts
• The exact CELPIP scores DHA requires, by English level
• Score requirements by visa subclass
• Validity: how old can your result be?
• CELPIP Online is not accepted
• CELPIP vs MET (and IELTS, PTE) for Australia
• Always verify your subclass

Is CELPIP accepted in Australia? The DHA approval facts

On 7 August 2025, Australia's Department of Home Affairs changed the list of English tests approved for visa purposes and added CELPIP General to it. That means one CELPIP General result can serve two countries: Canada (where CELPIP is IRCC-designated for Express Entry, PNPs and citizenship) and Australia (where DHA accepts it for skilled and employer-sponsored visas).

Three practical points before you book anything:

• Only the CELPIP General test counts. The two-skill CELPIP General LS does not satisfy Australian visa requirements, because every Australian visa that requires a test needs all four skills.
• Tests must be taken in person at a test centre, not online — see the restrictions below.
• The minimum CELPIP score depends on the visa subclass, not on some single "pass mark". The tables below give the numbers by level and by visa.

The CELPIP DHA level you need: Competent, Proficient and Superior English

DHA grades English evidence into four levels — Functional, Vocational, Competent and Proficient "plus" Superior. Each level is published on its own page on the DHA site, and each names the CELPIP score needed. These are the CELPIP General scores as published by DHA for tests taken on or after 7 August 2025 (source links included, so you can always check the current version):

Because CELPIP's 1–12 scale maps directly to Canada's CLB scale, the same result reads across: CELPIP 7 = CLB 7 (Competent), CELPIP 9/8/10/8 (Proficient) targets CLB 9–10, and CELPIP 10+ is where CLB 10 lives. If you're also targeting Canada you can plan one score to cover both countries — see the CRS points guide.

Two details people miss on the Proficient and Superior rows: the writing bar is high (CELPIP 10 for Proficient and 12 for Superior — the maximum), and the asymmetry is deliberate. Don't assume "9 everywhere"; check the exact per-component numbers, because every component rule is 'at least' — your weakest skill is what decides the level you can claim.

Score requirements by visa subclass

DHA's own visa pages set the level per subclass. Below is what the official pages state for the visas people most often ask about — always re-check your own subclass page before booking, because instruments change.

Reading the 485 requirement correctly

The 485 table is easy to misread. DHA lists it as "CELPIP General: overall 8" with each component at 6. The '8' is an overall benchmark: missing it with, say, a 5 in one skill and a 10 everywhere else is not a pass, because the per-component minimums stand independently — no component may fall below 6, and your overall must still be at least 8.

Skilled migration: why the 65-point floor matters

For points-tested visas (189, 190, 491), Competent English is only the eligibility floor, not a competitive score. You need at least 65 points at invitation, and departmental round data shows invited scores running higher in most occupations. Proficient English adds 10 points (CELPIP 9/8/10/8), Superior adds 20 points (CELPIP 10/10/12/10). Whether a Proficient attempt is worth a re-test depends on your age, qualification and experience points — run your own numbers on the official points calculator before you decide.

How to send your CELPIP scores to DHA

Your CELPIP result is issued as a digital score report through your CELPIP account, and Australia's Department of Home Affairs accepts a CELPIP General result as evidence of English when the test was taken at a secure test centre. DHA does not accept at-home or online versions of the test, so a CELPIP Online result cannot be used for a visa application.

• Take the test in person. Book CELPIP General at a secure test centre — CELPIP Online is excluded.
• Check the test date. Only tests taken on or after 7 August 2025 count for Australian visa purposes.
• Keep the digital report. It is released online in 8 business days (3 with express rating) and shows your level for each of the four skills.
• Submit it the way DHA asks. The current evidence requirements are set out on DHA's English language requirements page — follow that page, not a third-party summary (including this one).

One CELPIP General sitting can support more than one application while it is valid, so the same report can cover a skills assessment and a visa lodgement.

Validity: how old can a CELPIP result be for DHA?

Two clocks run at once, and the tighter one governs:

• CELPIP's own validity is 2 years from the score-report date.
• DHA generally asks for scores achieved within the 3 years before you lodge (some visas are tighter; the 485 has its own period).

So while DHA's window may be 3 years, a score 2–3 years old may have already expired at the source. In practice: sit the test close to your application. Results from tests taken before 7 August 2025 remain usable as evidence until 6 August 2028, if the test is one DHA accepted before that date — but CELPIP scores issued before 7 August 2025 are not affected by the change of rules in the same way, because that change ADDED CELPIP to the accepted list.

CELPIP Online is not accepted

The scores above count only for tests taken at a secure test centre. DHA explicitly excludes fully online (remote-proctored) tests, naming CELPIP Online among tests that are not accepted for Australian visa purposes. The same page lists the MET equivalent restriction (MET Digital taken at-home), so whichever of the two you book for Australia must be centre-based. Related pitfalls worth knowing: the General LS variant fails the four-component requirement, and the exact evidence rules — which document you upload and within what timeframe — live on each visa's own DHA page.

CELPIP vs MET (and IELTS, PTE) for Australia

MET (Michigan English Test) joined the approved list on the same date, 7 August 2025. The two tests serve different situations:

• Both countries in one test? Take CELPIP General. It's IRCC-designated for Canada and DHA-accepted for Australia, so one result covers both. MET does nothing for Canadian immigration.
• Claiming Proficient or Superior points in Australia? Take CELPIP (or IELTS/PTE). MET is published for Competent-level requirements — its 56/55/57/48 “Competent” row appears in DHA materials (for example the 482 Core Skills table: MET 49/47/45/38 for Vocational-level outcomes) — but MET scores cannot reach the Proficient/Superior bands because DHA's extended requirements for those levels list CELPIP, IELTS, PTE, C1 Advanced, LANGUAGECERT, OET and TOEFL, not MET.
• You need fast professional results for nursing-related visas? Compare carefully on both: some occupations and state criteria weigh English differently. See our MET for nursing states guide and the MET–IELTS conversion.

Short version: CELPIP has a wider ceiling (it can claim every DHA level including Superior) and a second country bundled in; MET suits Australia-only applicants at Competent level who prefer its 0–80 format. If Canada is even a remote possibility, CELPIP's one-result-two-countries economics usually win.

CELPIP requirements by visa subclass

Each page below gives the exact CELPIP scores DHA requires for that subclass, the points each level earns, and what to watch for:

• Subclass 189 — Skilled Independent
  Competent English: CELPIP 7 in each ability
• Subclass 190 — Skilled Nominated
  Competent English, plus state or territory nomination
• Subclass 491 — Skilled Work Regional
  Competent English for the provisional regional pathway
• Subclass 485 — Temporary Graduate
  Overall 8 with at least 6 in each component
• Subclass 482 — Skills in Demand
  Minimum 5 in each component (Core Skills stream)

Always verify your subclass

English requirements come from legislative instruments that DHA updates, and state nomination criteria (for 190/491) sometimes sit on top of the federal minimum. The official sources for every number on this page are: DHA's English language visa requirements hub and its four level pages (Functional, Vocational, Competent, Proficient, Superior), the per-visa pages linked in the table above, and celpip.ca's own Australia pathway page. If anything here conflicts with the official pages — the official pages win.

Last reviewed: 29 September 2026.