Tests in Australia

Driving: set by your state or territory

Your licence comes from the state or territory you live in, and so do its tests. In NSW you can do the Driver Knowledge Test online through Service NSW, enrolling from 15 years and 11 months, though you still have to be 16 to get your learner licence. If you'd rather sit it in person, it's a computer test at a service centre that you book and pay for each time. Victoria's learner permit test is run by VicRoads, and Queensland needs you to pass a written road rules test before you can apply for a learner licence at 16.

The hazard perception test sits at a different point in each place. In NSW you pass it before the driving test for your P1 licence, and if you're under 25 you need to have held your learner licence for 10 months first. Queensland learners do theirs online: 25 video clips in one sitting, with a free practice version. In WA you sit it at 16 and a half after six months on your learner's permit, and as of October 2026 it costs $29.90, then $24.10 for each resit. Only after that can you book the practical driving assessment.

The Australian citizenship test

Home Affairs runs one citizenship test for the whole country. As of October 2026 it has 20 multiple-choice questions in 45 minutes, and to pass you need at least 15 right, including all 5 questions on Australian values. Miss one values question and you fail, whatever your total.

Every question comes from the official booklet, Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond. You can read the booklet in several languages, but the test itself is only in English. Home Affairs has a free practice test online with 20 questions in the same format, though the real test uses different questions.

English tests for visas

For a visa, the Department of Home Affairs decides which English tests count and what score each visa needs. Pearson says PTE Academic is accepted by Home Affairs for migration visas, and IELTS General Training is the version IELTS describes for people migrating to countries like Australia. Its four parts take just under three hours in total.

Health workers often meet a second set of rules. The OET is common in nursing and medicine, but OET's own site doesn't spell out which Australian bodies accept it, so check the visa page and your registration board before you book.

University and selective school entry

Many undergraduate medicine, dentistry and clinical science courses in Australia and New Zealand ask for the UCAT ANZ. It's a computer test of just under two hours with four parts: verbal reasoning, decision making, quantitative reasoning and situational judgement. In 2026 the testing window ran from 1 July to 5 August, and bookings closed on 5 June.

Graduate-entry medicine uses the GAMSAT instead, written by ACER. It has two essays and two multiple-choice sections, one on humanities and social sciences and one on biological and physical sciences, and there are two test cycles a year.

Selective school entry is run by each state, not nationally. In NSW, students usually sit the Selective High School Placement Test in Year 6 for a Year 7 place, and from 2026 it's held only in NSW, so families overseas or interstate have to come back to sit it.

Professional exams

Doctors trained overseas on the AMC's standard pathway start with the MCQ exam: 150 questions, each with five options, in one 3.5-hour session at Pearson VUE centres around the world. After that comes the AMC Clinical Exam. Overseas dentists go through the Australian Dental Council in stages, an initial assessment, a written exam and then a practical exam, all in English.

Pilots sit theory exams for each CASA licence level. Pharmacists, teachers and other professions have their own tests too, such as KAPS for overseas pharmacists and LANTITE for teaching graduates.

Questions people ask

FAQ