OZ Planning To Appoint New English Language Exam Provider

09 Jul 2010

Australian immigration wants to get immigrants with high English language skills. Hence, they are planning to appoint TOEFL as a new provider of English language exam. For long, Australian immigration authorities chose IELTS as the English Language Exam provider to assess the English language ability.

As known, English language tests are conducted to assess the English language ability of the applicant for Australian work visas and those immigrants with ability of speaking English are granted more points in the points-based system of Australian immigration.

ETS, an American company that works as a provider of TOEFL tests expressed hopes that TOEFL will be considered by Australian immigration as there seems to be no reason for not using TOEFL for judging the English language abilities of prospective immigrants before granting them Australian visas. Chris Evans, the Australian immigration minister expressed his support to TOEFL as an alternative English language test provider selected by Australian immigration department as per the new immigration rules.

The new SOL (Skilled Occupation List) has resulted in reduction in the number of jobs in Australia to help strike a balance between employment and available workforce, thereby breaking the relationship between low end courses and permanent residency in Australia. The new SOL lead to considerable reduction in number of skills on high demand in Australia under Australia’s skilled migration program. So, those immigrants who possess skills in high demand will get more points and their applications for Australian work visas will be accepted.