In September 2026 the cheapest English test accepted for an Australian visa is CELPIP-General at A$355. IELTS costs A$490, PTE Academic costs A$499, OET costs A$587, and NAATI CCL — which is not an English test at all, but a community-language credential worth 5 migration points — costs A$814.
Those are the figures published by the test owners themselves, checked on 21 September 2026 and, for the Pearson prices, on 26 September 2026. The gap between the cheapest and the dearest accepted English test is A$232 for the same legal effect: a score the Department of Home Affairs will read. Below is the full table, what the fee does and does not include, and the three tests where no Australian price is published at all.
What each English test costs in Australia in 2026
| Test | Fee in Australia (AUD) | What the fee covers | Where the price is published |
|---|---|---|---|
| CELPIP-General | A$355 | All four components in one computer-delivered sitting, about 3 hours | Price shown against each Australian sitting on celpip.ca |
| IELTS Academic | A$490 | Full test, paper or computer; no separate registration or late-booking fee | IDP IELTS fee page, updated 24 March 2026 |
| IELTS General Training | A$490 | Same price as Academic; the format differs, the fee does not | IDP IELTS fee page |
| PTE Academic | A$499 | One two-hour computer test at one of 37 Australian test centres | Pearson test centres and fees page, Australia |
| OET (full test) | A$587 | All four sub-tests, in the healthcare profession you choose | OET support centre |
| NAATI CCL (not an English test) | A$814 | The CCL test itself; fee set for 1 July 2026 – 30 June 2027 | NAATI fees page, 2026–2027 schedule |
| Cambridge C1 Advanced | — not published centrally | About 4 hours, digital or paper | Cambridge English publishes no fee on its C1 Advanced page; each exam centre sets its own |
| LANGUAGECERT Academic | — not found | Accepted for Australian visas since 7 August 2025 | No Australian-dollar fee found on the owner's site on 21 September 2026 |
| Michigan English Test (MET) | — not found | Accepted for Australian visas since 7 August 2025 | No Australian-dollar fee found on the owner's site on 21 September 2026 |
| TOEFL iBT | — not published as a figure | Must be booked as "Taking TOEFL for Australia" to count for a visa | ETS shows the fee only inside its country selector, which did not return a figure for Australia when we checked |
We have left four cells empty rather than fill them with a number from a comparison blog. A fee you cannot open on the test owner's website is not a fee you can plan around, and the four tests concerned are the four that almost nobody in Australia sits anyway.
The fee you pay is rarely the only fee
Every test owner sells something after the test as well: a retake of one part, a remark, a review. These are the published add-ons, and they are the numbers people forget when they compare A$355 with A$490.
| Test | Extra service | Fee (AUD) |
|---|---|---|
| IELTS | One Skill Retake — resit a single component | A$310 |
| IELTS | Enquiry on Result (remark) | A$240 |
| IELTS for UKVI | Academic or General Training, UKVI version | A$505 |
| OET | One sub-test on paper, if you have sat the full test before | A$315 |
| OET | Two sub-tests / three sub-tests | A$415 / A$515 |
| PTE Core (for Canada) | Taken in Australia | A$499 |
| NAATI CCL | Test review (per application) | A$187 |
| NAATI CCL | Practice test marked by an examiner (unmarked practice tests are free) | A$165 |
Two things follow from this table. First, an IELTS One Skill Retake at A$310 is cheaper than a second full sitting but dearer than a first CELPIP sitting. Second, a failed OET Writing paper is the most expensive single component to fix in Australian testing: A$315 for one sub-test, and Writing is the component where the regulator and the visa ask for different numbers — we set that out in our article on OET scores for AHPRA registration and for your visa.
What the test owners actually say
IDP, one of the IELTS partners, states the Australian price plainly: "The cost for an IELTS English test in Australia is $490." The same page adds a caveat worth reading before you book a regional centre: "in some locations, the test fee can be slightly higher."
OET's support centre gives its figure in the same direct form: "The full OET Test (four sub-tests including Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking) costs AU$587."
NAATI's fee page carries a date range, which matters if you are budgeting for next year: "All fees and charges listed in Australian currency ($AUD) and are valid from 1 July 2026 until 30 June 2027." NAATI also notes that all prices include GST where applicable and are subject to change without notice.
Paying less by testing at home is not an option
The obvious way to cut the cost would be an at-home version of the same test. For Australian visa purposes that route is closed, and the Department of Home Affairs words it without any room for interpretation: "The department does not accept evidence from English language tests that are delivered completely online (also known as 'remote-proctored' or 'at-home')."
The department names the online versions it will not accept: CELPIP Online, IELTS Online, LANGUAGECERT Academic Online, MET Digital taken at home, OET@Home and TOEFL iBT – Home Edition. So the A$355 you see on the CELPIP site buys a seat in a test centre in Sydney, Parramatta, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth or Adelaide — not a session at your kitchen table. If you live outside those six cities, travel is a real line in your budget, and we listed the centres and their addresses in our guide to taking CELPIP in Australia.
Which of these the Department of Home Affairs accepts
Price only matters if the score counts. For tests taken on or after 7 August 2025, the department accepts nine tests: Cambridge C1 Advanced, CELPIP-General, IELTS Academic, IELTS General Training (both including One Skill Retake), LANGUAGECERT Academic, the Michigan English Test including Single Section Retake, OET, PTE Academic, and TOEFL iBT booked under the "Taking TOEFL for Australia" pathway.
NAATI CCL is on none of those lists, because it is not an English test. It is a credentialled community language credential that adds 5 points in the points test, and it is taken on top of an English test rather than instead of one — the arithmetic is in our article on where your migration points actually come from. Which test is right for which purpose is the question our hub page answers: the best English tests in 2026.
What this means for you
If you need a score for an Australian visa and nothing else, CELPIP-General at A$355 is the cheapest accepted option on the published prices, ahead of IELTS at A$490 and PTE Academic at A$499. Cheapest is not the same as easiest: CELPIP asks for a Writing score of 10 out of 12 at Proficient level, which is a high bar, and the department's list of approved tests names CELPIP-General only, so a CELPIP-General LS result (Listening and Speaking alone) will not do.
If you are a health practitioner, the comparison is different. The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency does not accept CELPIP, so the A$355 option is not open to you for registration purposes — the accepted list and the scores are in our article on English test scores for AHPRA registration. That means OET at A$587, PTE Academic at A$499 or IELTS Academic at A$490, and it is worth checking both the registration table and the visa table before you book, because they are not the same numbers.
If you are coming to study, your university's entry requirement and your student visa requirement are two separate thresholds, and the September 2026 migration announcement raised the cost of getting either one wrong. We set out what changed in English requirements for studying in Australia.
If you speak a second language, the A$814 NAATI CCL fee buys 5 points in the points test. Whether that maths works for your application is a question for your own registered migration agent; we can only point at the published rules.
And what does preparation cost?
The test fee is usually the smaller half of the bill. At Green School, an online school in Australia (formerly Green English), group preparation for IELTS, PTE and CELPIP is A$397 per month at the regular price, and one-to-one lessons start at A$65 per week for one lesson; current offers are shown on the Exam Preparation course page and the Private Lessons page. Preparation for OET, NAATI CCL, LanguageCert, MET and DET is taught one-to-one from the same starting rate.
Green School has taught English since 2018 and has worked with more than 3,500 students across all exams. We are a Silver member of the CELPIP Network and have prepared students for CELPIP since February 2024. The NAATI CCL Russian course was written by Tatiana Green, Director of Green School and author of the NAATI CCL course.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest English test for an Australian visa?
On the prices published in September 2026, CELPIP-General at A$355 is the cheapest test the Department of Home Affairs accepts. IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training are A$490, PTE Academic is A$499, and OET is A$587.
How much does IELTS cost in Australia in 2026?
A$490 for both IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training, according to IDP. IELTS for UKVI is A$505, IELTS Life Skills is A$390, a One Skill Retake is A$310 and an Enquiry on Result is A$240. Fees in some regional locations can be slightly higher.
How much does PTE Academic cost in Australia?
A$499. PTE Core, used for Canadian immigration, is also A$499 when taken in Australia, and the PTE Home tests for UK visas are A$420 each. Pearson lists 37 test centres across Australia.
Why is NAATI CCL more expensive than an English test?
Because it is a different product. CCL is a credentialled community language test that adds 5 points to a points-tested visa application; it does not replace an English test and it is marked by human examiners in a language pair. The fee is A$814 for the 2026–2027 year.
Can I take a cheaper online version of these tests?
Not for an Australian visa. The department does not accept tests delivered entirely online and names CELPIP Online, IELTS Online, LANGUAGECERT Academic Online, MET Digital taken at home, OET@Home and TOEFL iBT – Home Edition as examples it will not accept.
Do these fees include a resit if I miss my score?
No. Every test fee in the first table covers one sitting. A resit costs the full fee again, except where the test owner sells a partial retake — IELTS One Skill Retake at A$310 and OET single sub-tests from A$315, the latter only if you have already sat the full test.
How long do these prices stay valid?
NAATI's schedule runs to 30 June 2027 and is the only one with a published end date. The other owners state that fees can change without notice, so check the booking page on the day you pay. We checked every figure on this page on 21 September 2026, and the Pearson prices again on 26 September 2026.
Sources
- Department of Home Affairs — English language visa requirements (accepted tests, online test restrictions). Checked 21 September 2026.
- Department of Home Affairs — Proficient English, Table 1 (CELPIP 9/8/10/8 for tests taken on or after 7 August 2025). Checked 21 September 2026.
- IDP IELTS — How much does IELTS cost? (page updated 24 March 2026). Checked 21 September 2026.
- Pearson PTE — test centers and fees, Australia. Checked 26 September 2026.
- OET — How much does the OET Test cost? Checked 21 September 2026.
- CELPIP — Take the CELPIP Test in Australia (price shown per sitting). Checked 21 September 2026.
- NAATI — Fees 2026–2027. Checked 21 September 2026.
- Cambridge English — C1 Advanced (no fee published on the exam page). Checked 21 September 2026.
- ETS — TOEFL iBT test fees (fee shown only via country selector). Checked 21 September 2026.
This page describes published test fees and published government rules. It is not migration advice: check your own situation with your own registered migration agent, and confirm the fee on the booking page before you pay.