How Long Is a PTE Score Valid in Australia?

Quick Answer:

A PTE Academic score report is valid for two years from your test date. That is Pearson’s rule, and once two years pass you can no longer view or send the score. Whoever reads your score then applies their own window: 12 months for a 485 visa, two years for a student visa and most universities, and three years for skilled and PR visas.

Send your score to Home Affairs and your skills assessor before the two-year mark. A three-year visa window may not help you once Pearson stops releasing the report.

Search this question and you will find three answers: two years, three years and one year. All three are correct, because three kinds of organisation set rules here. Pearson decides how long your score report exists. Your university decides how old a test it will accept. Home Affairs sets a different window for each visa, and it counts that window back from a different date for each one.

This page puts every rule you are likely to meet in one place, with the date each one counts from. We link the primary source for each rule at the bottom of the page.

Every rule in one table

The right-hand column matters as much as the number. A two-year rule that counts back from your course start date is stricter than one that counts back from the day you apply, because courses start months after applications close.

Pearson’s two years: what expires

Pearson’s position is short: “A PTE Academic score is valid for two years from the test date.” Its help centre spells out what that means in practice. After two years you lose access to the result, and you can no longer assign it to a university or government department through your my PTE account.

That creates a gap. Home Affairs accepts tests up to three years old for skilled visas, but Pearson’s system stops sending your score after two. Neither Pearson nor Home Affairs publishes guidance on a result that falls into that gap, so do not rely on it. Share your score with every body that needs it while it sits inside Pearson’s two years.

Universities: two years to your start date

Australian universities set their own rule, and most set it against the day your course begins:

• UNSW: uses fixed cut-offs. For a Term 1 start, the test must be dated on or after 1 January two years earlier; for Term 2, 1 May; for Term 3, 1 August.
• University of Sydney: tests must be “no more than two years old at the date of course commencement”.
• University of Melbourne: within 24 months of when you plan to start, and the scores must come from one sitting.
• Monash: the English measure must be completed “within three years before the course commencement date”.

Run the numbers on a real case. You sat PTE on 10 January 2025 and apply to the University of Sydney in October 2026 for Semester 1, 2027, which starts in late February. The score is 21 months old when you apply and more than two years old when the course begins, so Sydney’s rule makes it too old, even though Pearson still shows it as valid on the day you submit. The same test would pass UNSW’s Term 1 cut-off of 1 January 2025. Two universities, one test, two answers: check your own institution’s page, and if your test sits close to the line, see our February 2027 deadline guide for how much time a re-sit needs.

Student visa: two years before you lodge

For the subclass 500 student visa, the legislative instrument (LIN 25/090) requires a test taken “in the 2 year period immediately before the day on which the visa application is made”. If you provide the result after lodging, the two years count back from the day Home Affairs decides your application instead.

For a PTE Academic test taken on or after 7 August 2025, the scores are 47 overall for direct entry, 39 with at least 10 weeks of ELICOS, or 31 with at least 20 weeks. The full breakdown is in our student visa score guide.

Graduate visa (485): 12 months

The 485 has the shortest window of any visa students commonly apply for. LIN 25/089 requires a test taken “within the period of 1 year before the day on which the applicant made the application”. For a PTE test from 7 August 2025, you need 55 overall with at least 40 in Listening, 42 in Reading, 41 in Writing and 39 in Speaking.

The score you used for your student visa will almost always be more than a year old by the time you graduate. Plan a fresh test for the last few months of your course.

Skilled and PR visas: three years, counted back from your invitation

Home Affairs accepts a test taken “in the 3 years before your visa application” for Competent, Proficient and Superior English. For the points-tested visas (189, 190 and 491) the date that matters is your invitation, because Home Affairs assesses your points at the time it invites you to apply. Its procedural instruction for the 189, released under Freedom of Information in 2023, says the language test used to show Competent English “must have been undertaken within the 3 years immediately before the date of the invitation to apply.” Confirm how this applies to your own case with a registered migration agent.

That has a real cost. EOIs can sit in the pool for months. A test that was two and a half years old on the day you lodged your EOI can pass the three-year mark before an invitation arrives, and take 10 or 20 points with it.

These are the PTE Academic scores for a test taken on or after 7 August 2025. Our guide to PTE scores for 189, 190 and 491 explains how each level feeds the points test, and why a 90 can become a 65 covers the per-skill bands in detail.

Results from before 7 August 2025

Home Affairs changed its approved tests and score tables on 7 August 2025. It states that results “from a test taken on or before 6 August 2025 may be used as evidence of English proficiency for visa purposes until 6 August 2028, inclusive.” Two conditions apply to those older results.

• They are read against the old table. Superior English under the old table is 79 in each skill, Proficient is 65 in each and Competent is 50 in each. Do not compare a 2024 score with the new per-skill numbers above.
• Your visa’s own window still applies. The 6 August 2028 date is an outer limit. A July 2025 result was too old for a 485 by July 2026, whatever the transition date says.

If your score will expire mid-application

You cannot extend a PTE score or ask Pearson for a grace period. Work through it in this order:

1. Find the date your rule counts back from. Lodgement for a student visa or 485, invitation for a points-tested visa, course start for most universities.
2. Share the score now if it is still inside Pearson’s two years. Assign it to Home Affairs, your skills assessor and your university today, not the week you need it.
3. Book a re-sit if the score will be too old on that date. Pearson returns most results within two business days, and the fee in Australia is AUD $490 at the time of writing. Book the date before you feel ready, because centres fill up. Our booking guide covers the process.

Frequently asked questions:

How long is a PTE score valid?

Pearson treats a PTE Academic score as valid for two years from your test date, and after two years you can no longer view or send it. The body reading your score sets its own window on top of that: one year for a 485 visa, two years for a student visa and most universities, and three years for skilled and PR visas.

Is a PTE score valid for three years for Australian PR?

Yes. Home Affairs accepts an English test taken in the three years before your visa application for Competent, Proficient and Superior English. For points-tested visas (189, 190 and 491), Home Affairs assesses your points at the date you are invited to apply, so count the three years back from your invitation. Share the score with Home Affairs while it is still inside Pearson’s two years.

How long is a PTE score valid for an Australian student visa?

For a subclass 500 student visa, you need a test taken in the two years before the day you lodge the visa application. If you provide the result after lodging, the two years count back from the day Home Affairs decides your application.

How long is a PTE score valid for the 485 Temporary Graduate visa?

One year. You need a test taken in the 12 months before you apply for the 485, which usually means sitting a fresh test in the final months of your course rather than reusing the score from your student visa.

Can I still use a PTE score from before 7 August 2025?

Yes, until 6 August 2028 at the latest. Home Affairs reads those results against the old score table (for example, 79 in each skill for Superior English), and your visa’s own window still applies inside that date. A July 2025 result is also no longer viewable or sendable through Pearson after July 2027.

Can I extend my PTE score validity?

No. Pearson offers no extension or grace period on the two-year score report, and none of the visa windows can be extended. If your score will be too old on the date that matters, the only fix is to sit the test again.

Next step

Open your my PTE account and check two things: the date you sat the test, and which institutions and departments you have already shared it with. If any score you rely on is within six months of the window you need, sit a scored mock test this week so you know whether a re-sit is a formality or a project.