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English test scores for an employer-sponsored Australian visa in 2026: Competent English for the subclass 186 and the IELTS concessions written into labour agreement templates

Does a labour agreement lower the English for a subclass 186 visa? IELTS 6 as standard, 5.0 and 5.5 in the templates (2026)

By Tatiana Green October 19, 2026 Competent English, DAMA, employer sponsored, EN, English test, Home Affairs, IELTS, labour agreement, subclass 186, subclass 482, visa English

For 2 of the 3 subclass 186 streams Home Affairs publishes a fixed level: at least Competent English, which is 6 in each of the 4 IELTS components. For the third — the Labour Agreement stream — it publishes no level at all, and says the agreement decides. The published agreement templates turn that into numbers: an IELTS overall of 5.0 under the meat industry template, 5.5 under the aged care template, and nil concession for the 186 under the company-specific template.

That last line is the one most people get wrong. A labour agreement can concede English — but whether it does, and for which visa, depends on which template the agreement is built from. If you are still choosing a test, start with which English test to take in 2026; this page is about the level a sponsored permanent visa asks for, and where that level moves.

What Home Affairs says, stream by stream

Subclass 186 stream What the eligibility page says Level published?
Direct Entry «You must have at least competent English to be granted this stream of the visa.» Yes — Competent English
Temporary Residence Transition «You must have at least Competent English. From 16 November 2019, there is no exemption to the English language requirement for this stream of the visa.» Yes — Competent English, and no exemption
Labour Agreement «You must have suitable English language skills, experience, skills and other attributes for the position. The labour agreement will provide guidance on these.» No — the agreement sets it

The temporary side says the same thing more plainly. On the Skills in Demand (subclass 482) Labour agreement stream page, Home Affairs writes: «English language requirements equivalent to the subclass 482 (Skills in Demand) visa will generally apply unless the labour agreement provides an English language concession.» So the concession is a real mechanism, named by the department — it just is not a single number you can look up.

The standard level: Competent English in numbers

This is the baseline the Direct Entry and Temporary Residence Transition streams point at. Home Affairs lists a minimum for each of the 4 components, for tests taken on or after 7 August 2025, at a secure test centre.

Test Listening Reading Writing Speaking
IELTS Academic 6 6 6 6
IELTS General Training 6 6 6 6
PTE Academic 47 48 51 54
CELPIP General 7 7 7 7
TOEFL iBT 16 16 19 19
Occupational English Test (OET) 290 310 290 330
Cambridge C1 Advanced 163 163 170 179
LANGUAGECERT Academic 57 60 64 70
Michigan English Test (MET) 56 55 57 48

2 details that decide applications. Citizens of 5 countries — Canada, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States — can meet Competent English with a valid passport from that country instead of a test; the Temporary Residence Transition stream is the exception where no exemption applies at all. And if you hold IELTS, check which version you sat before you rely on it: our breakdown of IELTS Academic against IELTS General Training shows which decision-maker accepts which.

What the published templates actually concede

Labour agreement templates are public documents, and each sets out its own English clause. The department puts it plainly in its Labour Agreement Guidelines: the criteria an agreement can vary «may include English, work experience, salary or age thresholds». Here is what 3 of the published templates say, as written.

Template Skills in Demand (482) concession Subclass 186 (ENS) concession
Company specific Category 2 and 3 locations: IELTS overall at least 5.0, no minimum in any of the 4 components. Category 1: nil Nil in Category 1, 2 and 3
Meat industry IELTS overall at least 5.0, no minimum per component IELTS overall at least 5.0, no minimum per component; or, for certain subclass 457 holders, evidence of functional English
Aged care industry, option 1 (non-CALD provider) IELTS overall 5.0, with 5.0 for speaking and listening and 4.5 for reading and writing IELTS overall 5.5, no minimum individual band scores
Aged care industry, option 2 (CALD provider) IELTS overall 4.5, no minimum individual band scores IELTS overall 5.5, no minimum individual band scores

The company-specific template words the 482 and 494 concession like this: «International English Language Testing System (IELTS) (or equivalent) overall test score of at least 5.0», «with no minimum score in any of the four individual test components», and «(unless registration or licensing requires a higher level of English)». The meat industry template uses almost the same formula and extends it to the 186: «an IELTS overall test score of at least 5.0, with no minimum score for each of the four (4) test components, or equivalent».

The aged care template is the one that moves the permanent visa, and it moves it to «overall score of IELTS 5.5 (or equivalent), and no minimum individual band scores» — under both of its options. Note what that is and is not: 5.5 overall with no component floor is a different shape of requirement from 6 in every component, not simply a lower number. Someone with 6.5 reading and 5.0 writing fails Competent English and can still clear 5.5 overall.

Who can ask for a lower level at all

The Guidelines tie the English concession to geography. Concessions «are available for businesses located in Category 2 and 3 regional areas», and a request from elsewhere seeking «a lower standard of English competency must be approved by the Minister». The business case has to show 3 things: that lowering the requirement «would not constitute a workplace health and safety risk», that overseas workers can still take part in the community and pass on skills to Australians, and that their English levels «will improve over the life of the agreement». Concessions also do not touch industry registration or licensing requirements — a point every template repeats.

One honest caveat about the paperwork. The Labour Agreement Guidelines on the department's site are dated December 2021 and still describe the temporary baseline as «the English language requirements in place for the short-term stream of the TSS visa». The Temporary Skill Shortage visa has since been replaced by Skills in Demand, and the current 482 page no longer has a short-term stream. The current visa pages, not the 2021 guide, are what state today's requirement. We are flagging the lag rather than guessing what it now maps to.

The Designated Area Migration Agreement (DAMA) page is a second place where people expect a number and find none: it explains the 2-tier regional framework and the extra occupations, and says nothing about English at all. The English clause lives in the agreement the region signed, and in the template it was built from.

What this means for you

The practical order of questions is the opposite of what most people assume. The level is not a property of the visa subclass alone — it is a property of the stream, and for the Labour Agreement stream, of the specific agreement your employer is party to.

  • Ask the employer which agreement and which template. «We have a labour agreement» does not tell you the English level. The template name does: a meat industry agreement and a company-specific agreement land in different places for the same 186 visa.
  • Ask whether the concession covers the permanent visa or only the temporary one. Under the company-specific template the concession is written for the 482 and 494 and is nil for the 186. A plan that works for the temporary visa can stop working at the permanent stage.
  • Check registration or licensing separately. Every template carves it out. If your occupation needs registration, that body's English requirement stands on its own and is usually higher.
  • If you are already on a 457 or 482 and heading for Temporary Residence Transition, plan for Competent English. That stream publishes the level and states there is no exemption to it since 16 November 2019.
  • Check the test itself, not just the score. Results have to come from an accepted test, taken the accepted way — see why a TOEFL iBT result can be rejected for an Australian visa, and where an IELTS One Skill Retake counts.

At Green School, an online school in Australia, the pattern we see with sponsored applicants is a test booked against the wrong target: the score needed for the agreement, when the file will be assessed against Competent English, or the reverse. The level is worth confirming in writing before the test is paid for.

This page describes published rules and published templates only. A signed agreement, not a template, governs a real nomination, and how any of it applies to your case is a question for your own registered migration agent.

FAQ

Does a labour agreement always mean less English?

No. It means the agreement sets the level instead of the visa page. Under the company-specific template the subclass 186 concession is nil, so the standard Competent English requirement is what applies. Under the meat industry template the same visa can be met with an IELTS overall of 5.0.

What is Competent English in IELTS terms?

At least 6 in each of the 4 components — listening, reading, writing and speaking — for a test taken on or after 7 August 2025 at a secure test centre. It is a per-component minimum, not an overall band.

Can I use an overall 5.5 for the subclass 186?

Only where an agreement says so. The aged care industry template sets «overall score of IELTS 5.5 (or equivalent), and no minimum individual band scores» for the ENS visa. Outside an agreement that provides for it, the published requirement is Competent English.

Does the concession apply to my whole family?

The English clauses in these templates are written about the nominee. On the Direct Entry stream, Home Affairs separately says a dependent applicant aged at least 18 should provide evidence of at least functional English, and that where this is not shown, the second instalment of the visa application charge becomes payable when the department asks for it.

My employer is in a capital city. Can we still ask for an English concession?

The Guidelines say concessions are available for businesses in Category 2 and 3 regional areas, and that a request for a lower standard of English competency from outside those areas must be approved by the Minister. That is a decision for the department on the employer's business case, not something an applicant can arrange.

Where do I check the current number?

The stream page for the visa you are applying for, plus the Competent English page for the scores. Both are linked below. For a Labour Agreement stream application, the agreement itself is the document that answers the question, and the employer holds it.

Sources