{"id":93605,"date":"2025-08-25T02:10:20","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T02:10:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/93605\/"},"modified":"2025-08-25T02:10:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T02:10:20","slug":"migrants-raise-concerns-over-australias-english-language-tests-for-visa-applicants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/93605\/","title":{"rendered":"Migrants raise concerns over Australia’s English-language tests for visa applicants"},"content":{"rendered":"

Apsara Raj speaks fluent English but the government doesn’t seem to believe her.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It doesn’t matter that English is her first language, or that she has spent 13 years living and working in Australia.<\/p>\n

She has to prove her language skills each time she moves onto a new visa.<\/p>\n

“I’ve spent almost three grand just doing English tests,” she said, estimating that she has taken about half a dozen.<\/p>\n

“How is it that my scores have always been the highest and I have to constantly prove that I have a good command of the English?”<\/p>\n

Ms Raj’s experience navigating Australia’s visa system, like that of many migrants, has been complicated and affected by her personal circumstances.<\/p>\n

But the need to repeatedly take English tests is largely due to the fact that language certification documents can “expire”, just like other visa documents like health reports and police checks.<\/p>\n

“Some of it definitely makes sense,” the Malaysian national said.<\/p>\n

“But if you can speak the language and you have a really good command of it, and you’ve declared that it’s your first language, there shouldn’t be requirements to constantly do this.”<\/p>\n

Strain, stress and delays\"A<\/p>\n

Apsara Raj says waiting for visa approval can be an agonising experience. (ABC News: Lachlan Bennett)<\/p>\n

According to the government, language certification is required for many visa types, such as work and student visas, to help manage “immigration risk” and ensure foreigners can fully participate in Australian society.<\/p>\n

Different visas require different standards of English, which an applicant can prove by spending upwards of $400 on one of nine approved tests.<\/p>\n

The Department of Home Affairs did not directly address questions about why language certifications expire but that is not the only concern that migrants have raised with the ABC.<\/p>\n

Do you know more about this story? Email\u00a0bennett.lachlan@abc.net.au<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Dominic Dagbanja has serious concerns about the impact of English tests on migrants. (Supplied: Dominic Dagbanja)<\/p>\n

Curtin University senior law lecturer Dominic Dagbanja has written extensively about Australia’s migration system and provided evidence to a Senate inquiry.<\/p>\n

“[The tests] put a lot of financial strain on migrants. They stretch them. They exclude them from being able to enter professions,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Meanwhile, these tests become a source of economic gain for industry players who are involved in conducting the test.”<\/p>\n

Dr Dagbanja also argues that the disconnect between everyday English and what is actually measured means certain tests can be passed “without necessarily possessing the competent level of English”.<\/p>\n

Can AI English tests be trusted?\"A<\/p>\n

Language tutor and influencer Varun Dhawan welcomes the changes to the PTE marking system. (Supplied: Varun Dhawan)<\/p>\n

Allegations that there are techniques to manipulate the marking system have been levelled at one of the most popular tests, Pearson Test of English (PTE).<\/p>\n

Many migrants say they prefer PTE because it is computer-based and marked by artificial intelligence (AI), which can reduce the risk of human bias.<\/p>\n

But AI isn’t without its problems, according to Varun Dhawan, who runs Language Academy Australia and an educational YouTube channel with more than 540,000 subscribers.<\/p>\n

“AI is smart, but it’s not as smart as humans,” Mr Dhawan said.<\/p>\n

“I’ve seen people who had an excellent command over the language but were not able to get the scores.”<\/p>\n

Mr Dhawan focuses on language education and test preparation, but some content creators peddle tricks to “hack” the AI marking system.<\/p>\n

Common methods that purportedly boost scores include imitating a British accent, speaking “like a robot”, talking non-stop and \u00a0“templated” responses.<\/p>\n

Major overhaul of scoring system\"An<\/p>\n

The Department of Home Affairs says language tests help reduce “immigration risk”. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

The proliferation of these techniques was such a concern that Pearson upgraded its automated scoring system in 2022 and introduced “an additional layer of human-in-the-loop quality assurance” in 2024.<\/p>\n

Further changes to the PTE Academic tests were made in 2025, with both humans and AI now used to mark about a third of exam questions.<\/p>\n

Pearson did not respond to questions about the alleged manipulation of its AI but in a 2024 report, it said it would focus on “the maintenance and expansion of testing integrity, alongside reliability, validity and fairness measures”.<\/p>\n

Mr Dhawan said students who were solely relying on “strategies or shortcuts” were now struggling to get high scores.<\/p>\n

“Students who actually possess good command over the language are really getting the scores,” he said.<\/p>\n

The Department of Home Affairs says it “monitors service quality to ensure fraud and integrity issues are tracked and minimised”.<\/p>\n

It has also started accepting four new tests and overhauled what scores it will accept from different exams to prove certain standards of English.<\/p>\n

“Some score equivalencies were increased and others decreased to more accurately meet the department’s proficiency requirements and ensure consistency between all test providers,” a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

Western passports ‘exempt’ from some tests\"A<\/p>\n

Australia relies on migrants to help fill skills shortages. (AAP: Dean Lewins)<\/p>\n

Dr Dagbanja remains concerned that people who have completed degrees at Australian universities or worked in the country often have to re-take tests.<\/p>\n

He also questions why people holding a passport from the UK, US, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand are assumed to have a “competent” standard of English and so are exempt from taking tests for certain visas.<\/p>\n

These countries all have a strong English-language culture, however, Pew Research Centre found 9 per cent of Americans over five years old are not proficient in English and 14 per cent speak another language at home.<\/p>\n

“Asian countries where English is the official language of teaching instruction and everything else, you still have to do a test irrespective of the fact that all of your education and working experience will have been in English,” Dr Dagbanja said.<\/p>\n

The Department of Home Affairs said it implemented a “non-discriminatory universal visa system” and visa applicants “must satisfy all legislative criteria to be granted a visa, regardless of their nationality or country of origin”.<\/p>\n

“The department manages various English testing exemptions across a range of visa subclasses. Exemptions considered by the department include, but are not limited to, citizenship but can also include education, where content is delivered in English.”<\/p>\n

Why do people fail the English test?\"A<\/p>\n

Indian international student Chintan Ray understands the need for language tests but is confused by some of the requirements. (Supplied: Chintan Ray\u00a0)<\/p>\n

Chintan Ray has done four English tests, with two different providers, since moving from western India to Australia in 2022.<\/p>\n

He is confident in his English ability but said it could be tough to do a test in a room where a dozen other people were all speaking at the same time.<\/p>\n

“There might be anywhere from 12 to 20 people,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It might be that you’re just distracted by all the noise that’s in the testing room and you’re not able to focus properly on the test.”<\/p>\n

Mr Ray said for a test that costs $475, “The headphones are really bad”.<\/p>\n

“I might miss out on like nuances in the test because of the noise that is going around and the equipment failure,” he said.<\/p>\n

Oscar Ibarra, who runs tutoring business Best English Coach, said most migrants need to take the test several times before they pass.<\/p>\n

“One of the main reasons students struggle to pass the exam is last-minute preparation,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Sometimes they may not have been aware of the exam requirement, or the government may have changed the rules regarding the timing and scores needed for different visas.<\/p>\n

“These rules and timelines can vary by state and change frequently.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“As a result, students often find themselves with very little time to prepare \u2014 some have only 15 days, others a month, and some even less, especially if they juggle one or two jobs.”<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Visa applications often require many different forms and certifications. (ABC News: Romy Stephens)<\/p>\n

Higher test scores are important for “points-based visas”, where more points are allocated based on your English skills.<\/p>\n

Mr Ibarra said preparation could be made more challenging because different states and visa pathways “have slightly different expectations”.<\/p>\n

Dr Dagbanja would like to see further reform.<\/p>\n

“Australian values around fair play, equality of treatment, egalitarianism and all of that ought to reflect in the way that Australia treats migrants who are making a significant contribution to the Australian economy,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Apsara Raj speaks fluent English but the government doesn’t seem to believe her.\u00a0 It doesn’t matter that English…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[256,254,64,63,2555,69330,69331,1366,4213,19931,44,69329,69332,22473],"class_list":{"0":"post-93605","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-education","13":"tag-english-tests","14":"tag-ietls","15":"tag-language","16":"tag-learning","17":"tag-migration","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-pearson","20":"tag-pte","21":"tag-visa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}