CELPIP Score Requirements for Subclass 189 (Skilled Independent)

• What CELPIP level 189 needs
• DHA English levels in CELPIP terms
• What each level is worth
• Subclass 189 at a glance
• Why a higher CELPIP score matters
• 189 vs 190 vs 491
• Rules and exclusions
• Family members and English
• Practise free

Subclass 189 is Australia's Skilled Independent visa: a permanent visa that does not need a state or territory nomination and does not tie you to a particular region. It is points-tested and invitation-only, which makes the English requirement more than a box to tick. Your CELPIP result does two jobs at once — it decides whether you are eligible at all, and it feeds points into the ranking that decides whether you are ever invited.

This page sets out the exact CELPIP levels the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) accepts for 189, the points each level adds, and the rules that catch people out. If you are still choosing between Australia and Canada, the CELPIP for Australian visas page compares the two systems side by side.

What CELPIP level does subclass 189 need?

For subclass 189, DHA requires at least Competent English at the time of invitation. In CELPIP General terms that is 7 in Listening, 7 in Reading, 7 in Writing and 7 in Speaking.

Two details matter here. First, the requirement is assessed per ability: there is no averaging, so a strong Listening score cannot lift a Writing score of 6. Second, the requirement is locked to the time of invitation, not to the day you lodge your expression of interest and not to the day the visa is granted. A result that expires between invitation and decision is a problem, which is why the timing of your test matters as much as the score.

Because CELPIP maps one-to-one onto the Canadian Language Benchmarks, CELPIP 7 is also CLB 7. If you are more used to CLB numbers, our CELPIP to CLB and CRS calculator converts a set of four CELPIP scores into CLB levels, and the CELPIP test format page explains how the four component scores are produced from the 20 graded sections.

DHA English levels in CELPIP terms

DHA publishes four English levels for skilled visas, each defined per ability. Here is the full table in CELPIP General terms, with the points each level adds on the skilled points test:

Read the Superior row carefully, because it is the one people mis-remember. Superior English is not 10 across the board: it needs 12 in Writing, which is the top band of the CELPIP scale, alongside 10 in the other three abilities. Proficient English is likewise uneven — it needs 9 Listening, 10 Writing, and 8 in Reading and Speaking. Only the Competent and Vocational rows use a flat score in all four abilities.

For subclass 189 specifically, the floor is the Competent row. The Vocational row does not satisfy 189 and sits below the eligibility line, though it is worth knowing where it sits because other visa streams use it.

For reference, the CELPIP scale runs from 1 to 12, and level 7 is described in the official guidebook as adequate proficiency in workplace and community contexts — a useful reality check on how much work Competent English actually represents.

What each CELPIP level is worth

The points test awards English points once, at the level of your lowest-scoring ability — there is no partial credit for three abilities at 9 and one at 7. That single rule drives most of the strategy around the CELPIP score for 189.

Two things follow from that table. Competent English is worth nothing in points terms — it only makes you eligible. And the jump from Competent to Proficient is the single largest block of points most applicants can actually control, because it depends on a test you can sit again rather than on your age, your occupation or your work history.

Subclass 189 at a glance

English sits inside a wider set of requirements. These are the headline requirements and costs:

For how this fits into the wider process, including the steps before an expression of interest and the costs that surround them, see our Australian PR process and cost guide.

Why a higher CELPIP score matters for 189

It is tempting to treat Competent English as the target and stop there. There are two reasons not to.

First, the points. Proficient English is worth 10 points and Superior English 20 points. Against a 65-point minimum, that is between a sixth and a third of the entire requirement, earned from a single test. Nothing else on the points test is as quick to change as a language score.

Second, the ranking. SkillSelect EOIs are ranked, and invitations go to the highest-scoring candidates in each occupation, subject to a ceiling on places. Meeting the 65-point minimum makes you eligible to be invited — it does not make you likely to be invited. In practice the floor is rarely enough on its own, and English points are often the difference between sitting in the pool and being issued an invitation. If you are converting Canadian scores instead, the same ranking logic applies to Express Entry, and our Express Entry CRS points guide covers that side.

There is also an insurance argument. Because English points are taken at your lowest ability, aiming exactly at a threshold is fragile: a single bad Writing task on test day puts you back at Competent and costs you 10 or 20 points. Building in a margin above the level you are targeting is cheaper than re-sitting the test while an invitation window is open.

189 vs 190 vs 491: English requirements compared

The three main skilled destinations differ in what they grant and in what they demand of a nominating state, but not in the CELPIP level DHA sets as the English floor:

So the English bar is the same across all three. What changes is the nomination, the location restriction and the permanence. Points above the Competent floor are still worth chasing in each case, because all three are invitation-driven and ranked the same way. Where the requirements genuinely diverge is in the temporary and employer-sponsored streams — for example the requirements listed on our Australian visa English requirements page differ substantially between subclasses.

Rules and exclusions that trip people up

• CELPIP Online is not accepted. DHA does not accept online or at-home tests at all, and CELPIP Online is named on that excluded list, alongside IELTS Online, LANGUAGECERT Academic Online, MET Digital (at-home), OET@Home and TOEFL iBT Home Edition. Your test must be taken at a secure test centre.
• CELPIP General is the accepted test. DHA added CELPIP General to its accepted list on 7 August 2025. CELPIP General LS covers only Listening and Speaking and is used for Canadian citizenship rather than for this pathway, so it cannot produce the four-ability result 189 needs.
• Older tests may still be usable. Depending on the subclass, tests taken before CELPIP was added to the list may still be valid for up to three years, and results from tests taken on or before 6 August 2025 can be used until 6 August 2028.
• CELPIP results themselves last two years. That is Paragon's own validity rule, and it is the clock that matters when you are timing a test against an expected invitation.
• MET cannot claim Proficient or Superior. DHA does not publish Proficient or Superior requirements for MET, so a MET result can never be used to claim either of the two levels that carry English points.
• Results take time. CELPIP results are available online in 8 business days, or 3 business days with express rating, so plan the test well before a round of invitations you are targeting.

Family members and the second-instalment charge

English does not only affect the main applicant. Family members included in a 189 application who are 18 or over and do not have functional English attract a second-instalment charge of AUD 4,885. Functional English for CELPIP is an overall band score of at least 5.

Note the difference in structure between the two tests of English on a 189 application: the main applicant is assessed against the four per-ability DHA levels for eligibility and points, while family members are assessed against a single overall functional English threshold. If you are budgeting, the Australian PR process and cost guide sets the second-instalment charge alongside the other government charges.

Practise for the level you need

PrepSettle practice sets use the official CELPIP General structure — six Listening parts, four Reading parts, two Writing tasks and eight Speaking tasks — so you can rehearse the sections that decide your lowest ability. No login and no cost.

• CELPIP Listening practice — 6 parts, 38 questions
• CELPIP Reading practice — 4 parts, 38 questions
• CELPIP Writing practice — email + survey
• CELPIP Speaking practice — 8 timed tasks

English level definitions and visa requirements on this page are reproduced for study purposes from Department of Home Affairs published material. Always check immi.homeaffairs.gov.au for the current requirements before you apply. PrepSettle is independent and not affiliated with the Department of Home Affairs, CELPIP or Paragon Testing Enterprises.