For 4 of the 5 English levels Home Affairs uses, your PTE Academic overall score is not assessed at all — each of the 4 components has to reach its own minimum separately. Competent English asks for 47 listening, 48 reading, 51 writing and 54 speaking. Superior English asks for 69, 70, 85 and 88. Only Functional English is written as an overall band, and there the figure is 24.
That distinction costs people visas. A PTE Academic result can show a comfortable overall number while a single component sits below the line, and the component Home Affairs reads most strictly at the higher levels is speaking — not reading or listening, where most preparation time goes.
PTE Academic minimums at each Home Affairs English level
The scores below are for tests taken on or after 7 August 2025, taken from the Home Affairs page for each level and checked on 21 October 2026. The Competent English page states the rule in a single line: «In each of the 4 test components, at least:».
| Home Affairs level | Listening | Reading | Writing | Speaking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Functional English | Overall band 24 — the only level set as an overall score, not per component | |||
| Vocational English | 33 | 36 | 29 | 24 |
| Competent English | 47 | 48 | 51 | 54 |
| Proficient English | 58 | 59 | 69 | 76 |
| Superior English | 69 | 70 | 85 | 88 |
Which level your visa needs is a separate question from which score you hold, and the levels are not interchangeable. We set the levels side by side across all accepted tests in our hub page on choosing an English test in 2026, and level by level in the 5 English levels and the exact scores each one takes.
Why the overall score is not an average
Pearson addresses this directly on its own page about how the overall score is produced. Its words: «It is not calculated by simply averaging your four communicative skill scores.» The page adds that the test is not a set of 4 sealed sections either — «Some question types can contribute to more than one score area».
So an overall 65 does not tell you whether you hold Proficient English. It can sit above the Proficient band while speaking stops at 70, which is 6 points short of the 76 the level requires. The reverse happens too: an overall score that looks thin can still clear a level if all 4 components happen to land above the line.
The component that decides your case changes with the level
Reading the table down the columns shows something preparation plans usually miss. At Vocational English the hardest number is reading, and speaking is the easiest of the 4. From Competent English upward that inverts, and the speaking requirement then pulls further and further ahead of the rest.
| Level | Highest component | Lowest component | Gap between them |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vocational English | Reading 36 | Speaking 24 | 12 points |
| Competent English | Speaking 54 | Listening 47 | 7 points |
| Proficient English | Speaking 76 | Listening 58 | 18 points |
| Superior English | Speaking 88 | Listening 69 | 19 points |
At Superior English the speaking requirement stands 19 points above the listening requirement. A candidate who prepares all 4 skills evenly to the level of the lowest number will clear listening and reading and miss speaking by a wide margin.
Results from before 7 August 2025 work on 1 figure, not 4
Older PTE Academic results are read against a different table, and that table uses a single number applied to every component. Home Affairs states the end date for them plainly on its English language page: «Test results from a test taken on or before 6 August 2025 may be used as evidence of English proficiency for visa purposes until 6 August 2028, inclusive.»
| Level | PTE Academic taken on or before 6 August 2025 | Usable until |
|---|---|---|
| Functional English | Total band 30 | 6 August 2026 — this window has already closed |
| Vocational English | 36 in each component | 6 August 2028 |
| Competent English | 50 in each component | 6 August 2028 |
| Proficient English | 65 in each component | 6 August 2028 |
| Superior English | 79 in each component | 6 August 2028 |
Functional English is the exception, and it is the one most people get wrong. Its own page sets a shorter window and a shorter recency rule: «Test results from a test taken on or before 6 August 2025, may be used as evidence of English proficiency for visa purposes until 6 August 2026, inclusive.» The same page requires that «You achieved one of the test scores in Table 2 or Table 3 in the 12 months before your visa application.» That date has passed, so an older PTE Academic result no longer proves Functional English, whatever the total band says. For the other 4 levels the 2028 date still stands.
Set the 2 tables against each other at the top level and the change is not a tightening across the board. Superior English used to ask 79 of every component. It now asks 88 of speaking, 9 points more, while listening dropped to 69, which is 10 points less. For a strong listener with a cautious speaking score, the newer table is harder. How long any result lasts for your own application is covered in our page on how long an English test result stays valid.
Ahpra reads a PTE result differently from Home Affairs
If your plan ends in registration as a health practitioner rather than only a visa, note that the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) does use an overall score, together with component minimums. For PTE Academic taken on or after 23 April 2026 it asks for an overall 63 with 58 listening, 59 reading, 60 writing and 76 speaking. Ahpra's own wording on the change: «Changes to the minimum scores required are in effect from 23 April 2026.»
Speaking 76 therefore appears in both systems, at Proficient English for a visa and for Ahpra registration. The rest of the numbers do not line up, so a result that satisfies one decision-maker says nothing about the other.
What this means for you
- Read your score report component by component against the level your visa needs. The overall figure on the report is not the number assessed for 4 of the 5 levels.
- Find your weakest component first, then compare it with the single highest requirement at your target level. That gap, not the average, is the work in front of you.
- If your target is Proficient or Superior English, assume speaking is the binding constraint until your own score report proves otherwise.
- If you hold a result from on or before 6 August 2025 and your target is Vocational, Competent, Proficient or Superior English, check it against the older single-figure table as well. It may already clear the level, and it remains usable until 6 August 2028.
- If your target is Functional English, an older result is no longer evidence: that pathway closed on 6 August 2026, and the test has to fall inside the 12 months before your application.
- Which level applies to your visa subclass, and whether any concession is open to you, is a question for your own registered migration agent. This page sets out published rules only.
Frequently asked questions
Does Home Affairs look at my PTE overall score at all?
For Functional English, yes — that level is written as an overall band 24. For Vocational, Competent, Proficient and Superior English the published tables give a minimum for each of the 4 components, and the Competent English page puts it as «In each of the 4 test components, at least:».
My PTE overall is above the level I need, but 1 component is below. Does that pass?
Not at the 4 levels that are set per component. The published minimum applies to each component separately, so a component below the line is below the line whatever the overall score shows.
Why is my PTE overall score higher or lower than the average of my 4 skills?
Because it is not an average. Pearson writes that the overall score «is not calculated by simply averaging your four communicative skill scores», and that «Some question types can contribute to more than one score area».
Which PTE component is hardest to reach for an Australian visa?
Measured against the published minimums rather than against difficulty, speaking is the highest requirement at Competent, Proficient and Superior English: 54, 76 and 88. At Vocational English the highest requirement is reading 36 and speaking is the lowest at 24.
Can I still use a PTE result from 2025 for Functional English?
No. The Functional English page closes that option on 6 August 2026 and requires the test to sit inside the 12 months before the visa application. An older result can still be used for Vocational, Competent, Proficient and Superior English until 6 August 2028.
Is PTE Core accepted instead of PTE Academic for an Australian visa?
The tests are listed for different destinations, and mixing them up is a common and expensive mistake. We compare the 2 versions, and who accepts each, in our Russian-language page on PTE Core versus PTE Academic.
Do these numbers apply to a PTE test taken at home?
No. Home Affairs states: «The department does not accept evidence from English language tests that are delivered completely online», and names the excluded at-home versions of several tests on its English language page.
How long do the current PTE minimums stay as they are?
Home Affairs does not publish an end date for the current table. The scores above were checked against the department's level pages on 21 October 2026; check the source pages before you book, because the tables changed on 7 August 2025 and can change again.
Sources
All pages below were opened and checked on 21 October 2026.
- Department of Home Affairs, English language — accepted tests, excluded online versions and result validity: immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/help-support/meeting-our-requirements/english-language
- Department of Home Affairs, Functional English: immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/.../english-language/functional-english
- Department of Home Affairs, Vocational English: immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/.../english-language/vocational-english
- Department of Home Affairs, Competent English: immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/.../english-language/competent-english
- Department of Home Affairs, Proficient English: immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/.../english-language/proficient-english
- Department of Home Affairs, Superior English: immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/.../english-language/superior-english
- Pearson, How is my PTE overall score calculated: pearsonpte.com/articles/how-is-my-pte-overall-score-calculated
- Ahpra, Accepted English language tests: ahpra.gov.au/Registration/Registration-Standards/English-language-skills/Accepted-English-language-tests.aspx
Green School (formerly Green English), an online school in Australia, has prepared students for English exams since 2018 and has worked with 3,500+ students across all the tests above. If you are deciding which component to put your hours into, start from your own score report and the level your visa needs, then take the published tables as the target.