Points Test Reform: What Is Confirmed, What Isn’t, What You Can Do Now

If you are studying in Australia and thinking about permanent residence, your feed has probably shown you a post like this: a new points test, a start date in 2027, and a list of new point values. Some posts even tell you what to do before that date arrives. 

The government has confirmed that the points test will change. It has not published a start date, and it has not published a single new point value. Everything else you are reading is a guess. 

This article separates the two. First, what is confirmed, with the source for each point. Then what is not confirmed. Then what you can do now, whichever version of the test decides your future. 

Three skilled visas use the points test:  

• the Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189),  

• the Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190) and  

• the Skilled Work Regional visa (subclass 491).  

You do not apply for these visas directly. You submit an Expression of Interest in SkillSelect, the Department of Home Affairs online system, and you wait for an invitation.  

Today, the test gives points for your age, your English, your work experience, your qualifications, your Australian study and a few other things. You must be under 45 and score at least 65 points to be eligible. Your points are checked on the day you are invited, not on the day you lodged your Expression of Interest. 

Here is everything the government has actually said, in the order it said it. 

1. The test will be reformed. The 2026-27 Federal Budget, released in May, included a Home Affairs measure titled “Boosting Productivity”, with the subtitle “better selecting migrants and recognising their skills”. It says the Government will reform the permanent migration points test to better identify migrants who drive productivity and Australia’s long-term prosperity. 

2. The reformed test will favour three things. The same Budget measure says the test will be optimised to select better educated, higher-skilled and younger migrants overall. Those are the government’s words. It does not say how many points each of those things will earn. 

3. The design work is done. On 17 September 2026, the Minister for Home Affairs, Tony Burke, told the National Press Club: “we have redone the points test in consultation with Treasury”. He did not give a start date. 

4. Construction trades will score like a degree. In the same speech and on the same day, the Minister said the new test will be able to give particular skills an uplift, “so that they will be viewed as though they were a higher level of qualification”. His example was specific: “anyone who is skilled in the housing trades will get the same number of points as though it were a university qualification”. He did not list which occupations count as housing trades. If you are training in a construction trade, this is the one concrete change on the record, and it is in your favour. 

5. A bigger change needs a law that does not exist yet. The Minister also said the government wants a wider expression of interest system for the parts of the program driven by employer and student demand. In his words: “I can only do that part of it if we have legislation, and at this point we don’t.” 

That is the complete list. Every other detail you have seen is not on it. 

None of the following appears in any government document. Not in the Budget, not in the Minister’s speech, not on the Department’s website. 

• A start date. The government has not said when the new test begins. Not 1 July 2027, not any other date. Earlier this year, several websites promised a new test in July 2026. July came and went and the test did not change. 

• New point values. No number for age, English, experience, qualifications or anything else has been published. 

• A higher pass mark. There is no announcement that 65 points will become 70. 

• Points for salary. Nothing published gives points for a job offer or a salary level. 

• Rules for people already waiting. The Minister has not said how existing Expressions of Interest will be treated when the new test starts. 

The only consultation paper on this reform was released by the Department in April 2024. It asked questions. It did not propose numbers. It received 204 submissions, and the Department has not published an outcome. 

Here is how you will know a real change has arrived. The points test is written into the Migration Regulations. A change to it is made by an amending regulation, published on the Federal Register of Legislation, with a commencement date written into it. The Department then updates its points table. Until both of those exist, any list of “new points” is a prediction, whoever wrote it.

Many of the posts you are seeing tell you to retest your English before 2027. 

Today, English is one of the largest single items in the test. Competent English (IELTS 6 in each band, or the equivalent in another test the Department accepts) is the minimum to be eligible, and it earns 0 points. Proficient English (IELTS 7 in each band) earns 10 points. Superior English (IELTS 8 in each band) earns 20 points. Against a pass mark of 65, the difference between Competent and Superior is 20 points. Few other items in the test move your score that far. 

The evidence the government is working from also matters. The Department’s 2024 discussion paper cites research from the Australian National University: over ten years, points-tested migrants who speak English “very well” earn about 30 per cent more than those who speak it “not well”. The paper names English, alongside education and experience, as one of the strongest predictors of a migrant finding skilled work. The Budget says the new test will select for exactly those outcomes. 

So we can’t tell you that a higher level of English “will be required”. Nobody has published that. But one thing is for sure: English is the lever you control most directly. Every official statement so far describes a test that rewards what predicts success. A stronger result today is worth points under the current test, and it cannot hurt you under the next one. 

One practical detail. Your English result must come from a test taken within the three years before you apply for the visa. If you test now, plan your timeline around that window, or be ready to sit the test again. 

Whichever version of the test decides your invitation, these steps hold. 

1. Know your score under the current test. Use the Department’s points table, not a calculator on someone’s website. If your number today is below 65, or close to it, that is the problem to solve first. 

2. Sit your English test while you are still in study rhythm, and aim one band higher than you need. Test centres book out at exactly the time everyone needs them. 

3. Start your skills assessment now. For some occupations it takes months. The Budget money for faster assessments is real, but the queue you join today is today’s queue. 

4. If you are in a construction trade, take note. The Minister’s example was specific. Keep every record of your training, your work hours and your supervisor’s details. A trade assessment is built on evidence. 

5. Keep your Expression of Interest accurate, and keep your visa in order. Points are checked at invitation. A birthday, an expired test result or an expired visa changes everything. 

6. Do not delay a decision because of a rumour. If you are eligible today and your state opens a nomination round, apply. Waiting for a test that has no start date is a plan built on nothing. 

7. When a post gives you a number, ask one question: which document says so? A real rule always has one. If the answer is “sources say” or “it is expected”, close the post.

IDP students can speak to a registered migration agent from Bravo Migration, IDP Australia’s migration services partner. The consultation looks at your points under the current test, where your realistic gains are, and what to do in what order. If you are working with an IDP counsellor, ask them to book it for you.

Sources

• Australian Government, Budget 2026-27, Budget Paper No. 2, Home Affairs measure “Boosting Productivity”, subtitled “better selecting migrants and recognising their skills”: budget.gov.au 

• The Treasurer, media release “12 months of economic reform”, 19 August 2026: ministers.treasury.gov.au 

• Minister for Home Affairs, speech to the National Press Club, 17 September 2026, official transcript: minister.homeaffairs.gov.au 

• Department of Home Affairs, Review of the points test discussion paper, April 2024, and the consultation page recording 204 submissions: homeaffairs.gov.au 

• Department of Home Affairs, points table for the Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189), current settings including English points and the 65-point pass mark: immi.homeaffairs.gov.au 

Written by Erica Carneiro, Registered Migration Agent, MARN 0532487, Co-Founder and Director of Bravo Migration, the migration services partner of IDP Australia. This article is general information, current at the date of publication. It is not immigration advice for your circumstances. Visa settings and the points test can change; check the official sources or speak to a registered migration agent before acting.