Australia Just Raised the English Score for Nurses and Doctors.
Here Is the New Number.
Essential for internationally trained nurses, doctors, and allied health professionals targeting Australia
AHPRA is the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. It oversees the registration of nurses, doctors, pharmacists, physiotherapists, and other regulated healthcare professions in Australia. In 2024 and 2025, AHPRA updated its English language requirements for internationally trained applicants. If your preparation is based on older guidance, the requirements have changed.
The new requirements by profession
| Profession | IELTS | PTE Academic | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registered Nurse, Enrolled Nurse, Pharmacist, Physiotherapist, Midwife | 7.0 per component | 65 per skill | Every component individually. The overall band does not count. |
| Medical Doctor | 7.5 overall, 7.0 per component | 79 overall, 65 per skill | Medical Board of Australia sets its own thresholds. Verify with MBC for your specialty. |
Requirements are set by AHPRA and individual National Boards. Always verify on the AHPRA website or with your specific National Board before booking.
The component score rule is where most applications fail
An IELTS overall of 7.5 with a 6.5 in Speaking does not meet the requirement. A PTE overall of 75 with a 58 in Writing does not meet the requirement. Every single component must clear the minimum independently. A high overall does not compensate for one weak section. This is the single most common reason healthcare professionals' AHPRA applications stall.
Why the requirements changed
AHPRA's 2024 review followed investigations that identified clinical communication as a contributing factor in adverse patient outcomes involving internationally trained practitioners. The raised thresholds were not designed to exclude applicants. They were a direct response to evidence that practitioners at the lower end of the previous requirements were sometimes struggling in high-stakes clinical environments where precise language matters as much as clinical knowledge.
The OET option
AHPRA also accepts the Occupational English Test, known as OET. OET is specifically designed for healthcare professionals. It tests English in clinical contexts: patient consultations, medical records, referral letters, and handover notes. The required score is Grade B in all four skills. For candidates who find IELTS Academic content difficult to connect to their day-to-day work, OET tests the language of their actual profession. Both tests lead to the same AHPRA registration outcome.
IELTS or OET: which one to choose
OET materials are clinical and profession-specific. If you are practising in a clinical setting right now, the scenarios feel familiar and the vocabulary overlaps with your work. IELTS Academic is more general but has a much larger prep library and more available test dates in most countries. If you have more than three months to prepare, OET is worth considering. Under that timeframe, IELTS has the wider support ecosystem.
Go deeper
IELTS or PTE? The Honest Comparison for UK Applications.
Both IELTS and PTE Academic are accepted by healthcare registration bodies across multiple English-speaking countries. Here is how they compare in format, result speed, and preparation demand.
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The WizardTeacher Team
Research based on official exam board documentation
WizardTeacher articles are researched from official exam board materials, publicly available marking criteria, and student performance data. Every article is reviewed before publishing.