For registration: Ahpra’s standard
What everyone needs to register with the Medical Radiation Practice Board. The same tests and scores apply to every National Board except the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board.
For a skills assessment: ASMIRT’s rules
Only if you also need ASMIRT’s skills assessment for a skilled-migration visa. ASMIRT sets its own scores and timing, and they don’t replace Ahpra’s.
1. English for registration (Ahpra)
Checked 7 November 2026 against Ahpra’s English language skills pages.
English is one of the Board’s registration standards, and Ahpra checks it when you apply for registration. ASMIRT’s English rules for a migration skills assessment are separate and different. The standard has been in effect since 18 March 2025. The minimum scores below are for tests taken on or after 23 April 2026.
| Test | Minimum scores | With two sittings, no score in either sitting below |
|---|---|---|
| IELTS Academic | Overall 7; listening 7, reading 7, writing 6.5, speaking 7 | 6.5 in any component |
| OET | listening 350, reading 360, writing 350, speaking 360 | listening 320, reading 340, writing 350, speaking 350 |
| PTE Academic | Overall 63; listening 58, reading 59, writing 60, speaking 76 | listening 53, reading 54, writing 60, speaking 66 |
| TOEFL iBT | Total 91; listening 22, reading 22, writing 23, speaking 24 | listening 19, reading 19, writing 23, speaking 22 |
| Cambridge C1 Advanced | Overall 178; listening 175, reading 179, writing 180, speaking 194 | listening 168, reading 168, writing 180, speaking 187 |
| Cambridge C2 Proficiency | Overall 185; listening 185, reading 185, writing 176, speaking 185 | 176 in any component |
- Two sittings. Use one sitting, or two sittings no more than 12 months apart with the same test provider (results from different providers can’t be combined). With two sittings you still have to reach every component minimum: for IELTS, PTE Academic, TOEFL iBT and Cambridge you can reach them across the two sittings (Ahpra’s OET row says you must achieve the required minimum in each component). The overall minimum must be met in each sitting for IELTS, PTE Academic and TOEFL iBT; OET and Cambridge must test all four components in each sitting; and no component in either sitting may fall below the floor shown for that test.
- How long a result counts. Test results count for two years before the date you lodge your registration application. Older results can still count if, since the test, you have worked continuously in a recognised country as a registered health practitioner (or in another relevant health, disability or aged-care role where English was the main language), or been continuously enrolled in a Board-approved program of study that started within 12 months of the test, and you apply within 12 months of finishing that work or study. With two sittings, the time runs from the earlier one.
- At-home tests are not accepted (the OET computer-based test taken at a test centre is).
- For registration, any profession’s OET is accepted.
- For TOEFL iBT, select “Taking TOEFL for Australia” when you register: that is the version National Boards accept.
- The IELTS One Skill Retake is accepted, within 60 days and within the same 12-month window.
- Tests taken before the change. Tests taken on or before 22 April 2026 are judged against Ahpra’s earlier scores (Table 1): IELTS Academic overall 7, with 7 in listening, reading and speaking and 6.5 in writing; OET B in listening, reading and speaking and C+ in writing; PTE Academic overall 66, with 66 in listening, reading and speaking and 56 in writing; TOEFL iBT total 94, with 24 in listening, 24 in reading, 24 in writing and 23 in speaking; Cambridge C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency 185, with 185 in listening, reading and speaking and 176 in writing. With two Table 1 sittings, no component in either sitting may fall below 6.5 (IELTS), C+ (OET), 56 (PTE Academic) or 176 (Cambridge), or, for TOEFL iBT, 20 in listening, 19 in reading, 24 in writing and 20 in speaking. If your two sittings fall either side of 23 April 2026, the first must meet Table 1 and the second Table 2.
- Some of the standard’s pathways rely on study or work in a recognised country: Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, Malta, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, plus 23 other listed countries and territories, most of them in the Caribbean, all named in the standard. South Africa was removed from Ahpra’s list of recognised countries on 18 March 2026, so study or work in South Africa no longer counts as a recognised-country pathway for the English standard. Expect to need an English test, and check Ahpra’s English pages for the pathways that apply to you.
Sources: Ahpra: accepted English language tests · Ahpra: English language skills
2. English for an ASMIRT skills assessment (migration)
From ASMIRT’s guidelines of June 2026 and its October 2026 guide and its July 2026 application form, checked 7 November 2026. ASMIRT’s overseas assessments page says it is under review and that the page and its links will be live by 20 November.
If you hold a passport from the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, the United States of America or the Republic of Ireland, you send ASMIRT a certified copy of your passport instead of a test result.
Your result must be from within the last two years and must still be current for at least three months after the date you submit.
| Test | ASMIRT minimum |
|---|---|
| IELTS Academic | Overall 7.0, no element below 7.0, in a single test |
| OET | Overall B, no element below B, in a single test, in your profession (for example radiography) |
| PTE Academic | Overall 66, no element below 66, in a single test |
| TOEFL iBT | Total 94, with listening 24, reading 24, writing 27 and speaking 23 |
| Cambridge English Advanced (CAE) | No element below 185, in a single test |
- ASMIRT’s documents don’t say whether at-home tests are accepted, so ask ASMIRT before you book one.
- ASMIRT’s English rules apply to its skills assessment only. Registration uses Ahpra’s English standard, with different scores and rules, and ASMIRT itself reminds applicants that registration needs its own current English evidence.
Source: ASMIRT: overseas assessments. More on the assessment itself: ASMIRT skills assessment.
Using one test for both
Our reading of the two sets of rules above, not a ruling by either body: one result can serve both only if it meets both. ASMIRT wants a single test (for IELTS, 7.0 in every element) that is still current three months after you submit to ASMIRT. Ahpra counts a result for two years before you lodge your registration application, and in some cases accepts two sittings.
Check the dates against both applications before you book, and confirm with Ahpra and ASMIRT if you’re unsure.
Next steps
Registration pathways and outcomes
How the Board decides your qualification pathway
ASMIRT skills assessment
Experience, documents, fees and outcomes
GdayRadiographer is an independent preparation provider. We are not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia, Ahpra or ASMIRT.