English is the requirement people worry about most and prepare for worst. They book a test before checking whether they need one, sit the wrong test, or sit the right test at home and find out afterwards that it does not count.

Bottom line up front: for New Zealand residence there are two ways to meet the English requirement, a test or a qualification, and from 24 August 2026 any test must be sat in person at a test centre. Remote and at-home tests are no longer acceptable. A degree from the right country can remove the test entirely, which is the option most people never check (Immigration New Zealand instructions, Amendment Circular 2026-21).

New Zealand, the test route

For a Skilled Residence application, acceptable results and the minimum scores are (SR2.10.5):

Test Minimum score
IELTS, General or Academic Overall 6.5 or more
TOEFL iBT Overall 79 or more
PTE Academic Overall 58 or more
B2 First, or B2 First for Schools Overall 176 or more
OET Grade C+ or higher in all four skills

Three conditions sit around that table, and each one catches somebody.

The test must be sat in person at a test centre. Tests taken remotely, including at-home versions, are not acceptable (SR2.10.1). This is new as of 24 August 2026, and it is the change most likely to invalidate a result somebody has already paid for. If you booked an at-home test on the basis of older advice, change the booking.

The result must be no more than two years old when the application is lodged. That stretches to five years for Skilled Migrant Category applicants holding a valid occupational registration (SR2.10.1). Provisional, trainee, intern or limited registration does not count for that extension unless specifically listed.

Two years is shorter than a migration plan. People sit a test early, feel organised, then find it has expired by the time the job, the points and the invitation all line up. Sit it when you are close, not when you are keen.

New Zealand, the qualification route

This is the part worth reading twice, because it can save you a test entirely.

A qualification comparable to a New Zealand level 7 bachelor’s degree, gained in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom or the United States, as a result of at least two academic years of study in one or more of those countries, meets the standard on its own. At level 8 or above, one academic year is enough (SR2.10.1).

There is also a citizenship route: citizenship of Canada, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom or the United States, provided you have spent at least five years in work or education in one or more of those countries, or in Australia or New Zealand (SR2.10.1).

Where a qualification is being used as evidence, an International Qualification Assessment from NZQA is generally required unless the qualification is on the List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment, or unless a New Zealand registration body has already assessed it as comparable to a listed qualification (SR2.10.1).

Two things follow. First, if you studied your degree in New Zealand, you have very likely already met the English requirement and need no test at all. Second, an immigration officer can still ask for a test result in any case, and where they do, the test decides it (SR2.10.1).

Australia, and why I am not putting a table here

Australia runs its own system, with its own accepted tests, its own scores, and different requirements by visa subclass and by stream. A score that satisfies one Australian visa does not necessarily satisfy another, and the settings differ from New Zealand’s in ways that make a side-by-side table more dangerous than useful.

So rather than reproduce numbers that move, the honest answer for Australia is to read them from the source for your exact subclass: the Department of Home Affairs English language requirements page, and the requirements page for the visa you are actually applying for.

What does transfer between the two countries is the shape of the mistakes. Booking before checking. Sitting a test that the visa does not accept. Letting a valid result expire during a long process. Assuming a degree taught in English counts, when the rule is about where the qualification was gained rather than the language of instruction.

That last one deserves emphasis, because it is the most common false assumption I meet. Studying in English is not the test. The country list is the test.

What I would actually do

Check the qualification route before you book anything. If you hold a degree from one of the listed countries, or you studied in New Zealand, you may be finished already.

If you do need a test, book an in-person sitting at a test centre. For New Zealand this is now the only acceptable form.

Time it against your likely lodgement date, not against your enthusiasm. Two years goes quickly when a job search and an invitation round sit in the middle.

If you hold an occupational registration, check whether you qualify for the five-year validity before assuming a result has expired.

Match the test to the visa, in the country you are applying to. New Zealand’s accepted tests and Australia’s are not the same list, and the score you need is set per visa.

Do not sit the hardest test to be safe. People take Academic IELTS when General would do. It costs more and it is harder, for no gain.

If you are not sure whether you need a test at all, send me a few details about your qualifications and I will tell you before you spend money on one.

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