Every Way to Score Points for Australian Skilled Migration (189/190/491)

What the points test is

The General Skilled Migration (GSM) points test is the scoring system the Department of Home Affairs applies to Expressions of Interest (EOIs) for three visa subclasses: Skilled Independent (subclass 189), Skilled Nominated (subclass 190) and Skilled Work Regional, Provisional (subclass 491). Each factor below carries a published point value. An applicant's total score determines whether they are eligible to be considered in SkillSelect — it does not, on its own, guarantee an invitation. This guide lists every factor and every point value currently published, as a factual reference table. It does not recommend which factors to pursue, in what order, or how to plan a personal pathway to a higher score — that kind of individual assessment is what a registered migration agent (MARA) or immigration lawyer provides.

The full points table

The skilled employment rows are subject to a published combined cap: overseas and Australian skilled employment points are added together, but the combined total for employment experience cannot exceed 20 points, regardless of how many years are claimed across the two categories (Schedule 6D, Migration Regulations 1994, compilation 287, legislation.gov.au, accessed 17 July 2026). The 189, 190 and 491 nomination/sponsorship rows are mutually exclusive to their respective subclass — a 189 application does not carry a nomination bonus at all, since it is not state- or family-sponsored.

Age

Age is scored in five-year-plus brackets between 18 and 44, peaking at 30 points for the 25–32 bracket. No points are awarded from age 45 onward — an applicant aged 45 or older does not meet the age criterion for a GSM points-tested visa at all, independent of their score in every other category (Schedule 6D, Migration Regulations 1994, compilation 287, legislation.gov.au, accessed 17 July 2026).

English language ability

Three tiers are recognised, generally demonstrated through IELTS, PTE Academic, TOEFL iBT, Cambridge C1/C2 or OET, each mapped to Home Affairs' own equivalence tables: Competent (broadly equivalent to IELTS 6.0 in each band) earns 0 points, since it is the baseline requirement to be assessed at all; Proficient (broadly IELTS 7.0 in each band) earns 10 points; and Superior (broadly IELTS 8.0 in each band) earns 20 points, the maximum available for this factor.

Skilled employment: overseas and in Australia

The points test separately scores skilled work experience gained overseas and skilled work experience gained in Australia, both measured over the 10 years immediately before the EOI is submitted, and both requiring the work to be in the applicant's nominated occupation or a closely related occupation on the relevant skilled occupation list. Overseas experience tops out at 15 points (8+ years); Australian experience tops out at 20 points (8+ years). As set out above, the two are added together but capped at a combined maximum of 20 points.

Educational qualifications

Three tiers apply: a Doctorate from an Australian institution, or a recognised equivalent, earns the maximum 20 points; a Bachelor or Masters degree (or equivalent) earns 15 points; and a Diploma, trade qualification, or another award or qualification recognised by the relevant skills assessing authority (for trade occupations, commonly Trades Recognition Australia) earns 10 points. No points are awarded for an applicant with no recognised post-secondary qualification.

Australian study requirement

A separate 5 points is available where an applicant has completed at least two academic years (a minimum of 92 weeks) of study in Australia, in one or more CRICOS-registered courses conducted in the English language. This is assessed independently of the specialist education qualification and regional study rows below, each of which has its own criteria.

Specialist education qualification

A further 10 points is published for a Masters degree (by research, not coursework) or a Doctorate, completed at an Australian educational institution over at least two academic years, in a field designated by Home Affairs as a STEM or ICT discipline — specifically mathematics, natural and physical sciences, information technology, or engineering (Schedule 6D item 6D7A1 and reg 2.26AC(5A), Migration Regulations 1994, compilation 287, legislation.gov.au, accessed 17 July 2026).

Credentialled community language (NAATI CCL)

An applicant holding a current NAATI Credentialed Community Language (CCL) accreditation — a test of two-way community-level communication between English and one of the 55 other languages currently offered, distinct from a professional interpreter or translator certification — is awarded 5 points. CCL credentials issued since August 2022 are valid for five years from the date of issue (earlier credentials carried a three-year term), and the credential must still be current at the time points are claimed (naati.com.au for the CCL credential, accessed 25 July 2026; the 5-point value per Schedule 6D, Migration Regulations 1994, compilation 287, legislation.gov.au, accessed 17 July 2026).

Study in regional Australia

A further 5 points is published for study undertaken while living in, and studying at a campus located in, a designated regional area of Australia. This is a separate line item from the general Australian study requirement above, with its own regional-location criterion.

Professional Year in Australia

Completion of a Professional Year program in the applicant's nominated skilled occupation — currently offered in accounting, engineering and information technology — earns 5 points, provided the program was completed in Australia within the 48 months immediately before the invitation to apply for the visa. A "professional year" here is not any course an applicant chooses: the regulations define it as a course specified by the Minister in a legislative instrument (reg 2.26AC, Migration Regulations 1994). The approved programs combine classroom training with a workplace placement — the ACS Professional Year in IT, for example, runs 57 weeks including a 12-week internship (Schedule 6D, Migration Regulations 1994, compilation 287, legislation.gov.au, for the 5 points and the 48-month window, accessed 17 July 2026; acs.org.au for the ACS program detail, accessed 25 July 2026).

Partner points

Partner-related points sit in one of three states, and an applicant claims only one:

• 10 points where the applicant has a partner who is under 45, has at least Competent English, and holds a positive skills assessment in an occupation on the same skilled occupation list as the visa being applied for.
• 5 points where the partner has at least Competent English but does not meet the age or skills-assessment requirement above.
• 10 points where the applicant is single (has no spouse or de facto partner), or where the partner is an Australian citizen or Australian permanent resident.

Values per Schedule 6D items 6D111–6D113, Migration Regulations 1994, compilation 287, legislation.gov.au, accessed 17 July 2026.

State/territory nomination (190) and regional nomination or family sponsorship (491)

Two of the three subclasses this points test applies to carry an additional, subclass-specific bonus that sits on top of every factor above:

• Subclass 190 (Skilled Nominated): nomination by a participating state or territory government adds 5 points.
• Subclass 491 (Skilled Work Regional, Provisional): nomination by a state or territory government for a designated regional area, or sponsorship by an eligible family member already living in a designated regional area, adds 15 points.

Subclass 189 (Skilled Independent) carries no nomination or sponsorship bonus, because it does not require nomination or sponsorship by definition (Schedule 6D, Migration Regulations 1994, compilation 287, legislation.gov.au, accessed 17 July 2026 — confirming both the 5-point and 15-point figures).

The 65-point minimum versus the points that are actually invited

Home Affairs publishes a single figure as the eligibility floor for all three subclasses: 65 points — the pass mark set for all three subclasses by the Migration (LIN 19/210: Pool and Pass Marks for General Skilled Migration Visas) Instrument 2019, made under section 93 of the Migration Act 1958 and still in force (legislation.gov.au, F2019L01400, accessed 25 July 2026), not by the Schedule 6D points table itself. An EOI scoring below 65 is not eligible to be invited at all. That figure has not changed as of this guide's publication date.

Separately, the score an EOI actually needs to be invited in a given round is set by demand within SkillSelect for that occupation and subclass, not by the 65-point floor. For the subclass 189 invitation round held 4 June 2026 — the round still current on Home Affairs' SkillSelect page as of 15 July 2026 — the published per-occupation minimum invited points score ranged from 65 to 100 points across roughly 145 occupations, meaning the practical invitation threshold for that round varied substantially by nominated occupation. Home Affairs does not publish a single overall "cutoff" for a round, only a minimum invited score per occupation, and it does not publish how many invitations went to any individual occupation. This site's EOI round tracker reproduces the published per-occupation data as each round is released, and the 2026-27 onshore/offshore migration program guide sets out how the total number of available places has changed for the current program year.

A note on the points test itself

A reform to the structure of the points test was announced alongside the 2026-27 Federal Budget, handed down 12 May 2026. As of 25 July 2026 that reform remains at the consultation and proposal stage — detailed changes have not been announced, draft legislation has been flagged for later in 2026, and full implementation is not confirmed. The points table set out in this guide is the table currently in effect; it does not reflect any proposed future change, since none has been legislated as of the date this guide was last reviewed.

A note on sourcing

Every point value in the table above has been verified verbatim against Schedule 6D of the Migration Regulations 1994 (compilation 287) on the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), confirmed 17 July 2026 — the authoritative legislative source for the points test (items 6D11–6D131, including the STEM specialist item 6D7A1 read with reg 2.26AC(5A)). Home Affairs' own points-table and points-calculator pages (immi.homeaffairs.gov.au) returned HTTP 403 to automated fetching, but they restate the same Schedule; the 65-point pass mark is set separately by the Migration (LIN 19/210: Pool and Pass Marks for General Skilled Migration Visas) Instrument 2019 under s93 of the Migration Act 1958 (F2019L01400, confirmed in force 25 July 2026). Confirm current point values against Schedule 6D or Home Affairs' SkillSelect points calculator, or with a registered migration agent, before relying on any figure in an actual application.