Starting May 5, 2024, the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) will be recognized as valid for all Australian visa purposes.
Following the previous decision of the Australian Department of Home Affairs (DHA) to temporarily suspend the TOEFL for Australian visa applications, they can now submit their results as part of their Australian visa application, VisaGuide.World reports.
Australian Applicants Can Submit TOEFL Scores From May 5, 2024
The decision not to accept the results of the TOEFL exams came in July 2023 after several revisions were made to the test by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), whose updated version was launched during the same period.
ETS has revealed that while tests taken between July 26, 2023, and May 4, 2024, are not valid for visa purposes, they have been accepted for admissions and any exams taken before July 26 last year are valid for visas for two years.
Australia Remains Preferred Choice for Indian Students & Working Professionals
According to Sachin Jain, Country Manager, ETS India and South Asia, Indian students and working professionals see Australia as one of the preferred choices to work and study. He further noted that last year, over 120,000 Indian students studied in Australia.
With the recognition of the TOEFL iBT test, ETS will support learners seeking educational opportunities in Australia, as well as skilled workers, through TOEFL iBT, the world’s most widely accepted English proficiency test.
TOEFL is a standardized test to measure the English language ability of non-native speakers who wish to enrol in English-speaking universities.
More than 12,500 institutions also accept it in more than 160 countries, and it is universally approved in the following countries:
- United States
- Canada
- Australia
- New Zeland,
- United Kingdom
TOEFL continues to be accepted by 100 percent of Australian universities and more than 12,500 institutions worldwide.
Besides TOEFL, Australia accepts scores from the following tests undertaken at a secure test centre for English language visa requirements:
- International English Language Testing System (IELTS), including One Skill Retake (OSR)
- Pearson Test of English (PTE)
- Cambridge English (CAE) (also known as C1 Advanced)
- Occupational English Test (OET), noting this is a test developed for health professionals
In June 2023, ETS implemented several changes to the TOEFL test, and as part of these updates, the test duration was reduced. Instead of the previous duration of three hours, the TOEFL test takes less than two hours to complete.