PTE - Alternative to IELTS for Australian Immigration
With the current points-table for the main Australian skilled visa, you can reach almost 30% of the minimum requirements just by optimising your score on the English exam.
Most international students or migrants arriving in Australia only know about IELTS, the most popular and relevant English certification authority. The problem is that this test is very inconsistent and old-school.
I've heard many stories similar to mine: In 2007 when I first had to take IELTS to get a work visa to Australia, I got a score of 7 in writing (1 to 9 possible).
Fast forward to 2016, after living and working several years abroad, I was ready to apply for my permanent residency visa. I had enough points to apply for the independent skilled visa, but I knew that the better you score, the faster your visa would be processed.
So I decided to take IELTS to try and get the best score and 20 points for my visa application. I studied hard. I practised a lot.
Come the exam day and I got out of there positive I would get the score I needed. To my surprise, not only this didn't happen, but I actually got a worse score in writing than I did almost ten years before.
I was a little bit shocked and decided I wanted to contest that score. Another surprise, I would have to pay $200 and wait up to 8 weeks. But the worst part: No feedback would be given, just someone else taking a look and you would get a new score or the same one.
I started researching and found several people complaining about the same. And thanks to that, I listened to their advice and decided to give PTE a go.
That's how the company defines its service:
PTE Academic is proudly the most unbiased English test thanks to world class AI.
Long-story-short, I took the exam a week later and got the maximum score. It all felt more natural and realistic, and the company much more organised and transparent.
I heard the same from many others, so here's something that might help you someday.
Thanks,
Beto