People with an interest in the business of language testing might want to keep an eye on this REOI from the Australian Department of Home Affairs.
Opened in 2022, it concerns the updating of acceptable tests for Australian visas. Currently, visa applicants may submit IELTS, PTE-Academic, OET, Cambridge C1 advanced or TOEFL scores (TOEFL scores only from tests administered before July 26).
This REOI may result in the acceptance of other test scores, though it isn’t clear which testing companies have expressed interest. Assuming that wholly at-home tests are off the table, I’d love to see both the CAEL and “Skills for English” tests accepted. Not because some tests are better than other tests, but because more choice in the market is generally a good thing.
I can’t find it in writing, but I think the results of this REOI will be implemented in mid 2024.
Always one step ahead of their Canadian brothers and sisters, the Australians broke up the IELTS monopoly on language testing for visas back in 2014/15 (yes, I know the OET was accepted in some cases back then).
There are a few fun features of the REOI that made me chuckle. I’ll highlight those in a separate post.