The mistake we see most often with teachers planning a move to Australia is assuming an AITSL result means you’re approved to teach. It doesn’t: AITSL’s skills assessment is for your visa, not your right to stand in front of a class. That’s a separate approval, issued by the state or territory where you’ll work, with its own timeline and forms.
At a glance
- Two gates, not one: AITSL’s Teacher Migration Skills Assessment is for the visa; separate state registration (NSW’s NESA, Victoria’s VIT, and others) is required before you can actually teach.
- AITSL accepts Academic IELTS only — no PTE, TOEFL, Cambridge, IELTS Online or IELTS Indicator — at bands commonly reported as 7.0 Reading/Writing and 8.0 Speaking/Listening (matching NSW’s NESA figure for the same test), above the general skilled-visa English requirement; confirm current numbers on AITSL’s Application Guide before booking.
- AITSL’s application fee is AUD 1,154, plus AUD 904 if you appeal and AUD 255 for a Skilled Employment Statement, effective from 1 July 2025 and due to change again from 7 September 2026; assessments typically take 4 to 6 weeks.
- Victoria changed its process in July 2025: overseas qualifications must now be pre-assessed by VIT (AUD 292.84) before you can apply for registration — a step you can start from the UAE.
- The relevant occupations are 241111 Early Childhood, 241213 Primary, 241411 Secondary, 241311 Middle School and the special education codes — check which visa list currently carries yours before committing to a pathway.
Two locks on the same door
AITSL — the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership — is the Home Affairs-approved assessing authority for teaching occupations. Its Teacher Migration Skills Assessment checks your qualifications and English against a fixed standard so you can nominate a teaching occupation on a skilled visa. AITSL says plainly that this is separate from, and does not substitute for, the teacher registration you need from the state or territory where you intend to work. Passing one tells Home Affairs you qualify for a visa; passing the other tells a school you can be employed. Most teachers we talk to assume the AITSL letter is the finish line — it’s closer to the halfway point.
Which occupation, and which visa list
Three ANZSCO codes cover most teachers: 241111 Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teacher, 241213 Primary School Teacher and 241411 Secondary School Teacher. Two smaller groups also apply — 241311 Middle School Teacher/Intermediate School Teacher, and the special education codes (241511, 241512, 241513, 241599).
All of these sit on the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL), which drives the employer-sponsored Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482). For the points-tested visas — Skilled Independent (189), Skilled Nominated (190) and Skilled Work Regional (491) — Home Affairs works from an older list under a separate legislative instrument, not the CSOL, and doesn’t publish those occupations directly on its own page. Migration-agent sources consistently describe Secondary, Early Childhood and Special Needs teaching as generally understood to be on that points-tested skilled list, but we couldn’t confirm this against the primary legislative instrument. Check your own occupation against current Australia skilled migration settings first.
The AITSL Teacher Migration Skills Assessment
AITSL’s qualification test is straightforward on paper: an initial teacher education (ITE) qualification comparable to at least an Australian Bachelor degree (AQF Level 7), including at least one year of full-time study specific to your nominated stage of schooling. It’s a qualifications-based assessment — work experience, before or after your ITE qualification, isn’t considered.
English is where AITSL is stricter than most skilled-visa pathways. Outside a narrow study-option exemption (four full years of higher education, including ITE and supervised teaching practice, entirely within Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK or the US), you need an Academic IELTS Test Report Form. AITSL does not accept PTE, PEAT, ISLPR, TOEFL, Cambridge, IELTS Online or IELTS Indicator — only a paper-based or computer-delivered Academic IELTS at an official test centre. The bands commonly reported are 7.0 in Reading and Writing and 8.0 in Speaking and Listening, above the general “Proficient English” benchmark of 7.0 across all four bands used for skilled migration generally. NSW’s NESA page independently quotes the same figures, a useful cross-check — confirm current numbers on AITSL’s Application Guide before booking a test.
Fees, effective from 1 July 2025: AUD 1,154 to apply, AUD 904 to appeal, and AUD 255 for a Skilled Employment Statement, with no GST charged. AITSL notes these fees change again from 7 September 2026. Assessment-ready applications typically take 4 weeks, sometimes up to 6. A partial refund (AUD 946) is only available before your assessment starts; once it has, there’s no refund.
State registration: the second gate
Every state and territory runs its own teacher regulator, with its own qualification checks, English requirements and Working with Children Check. We’ve worked through NSW and Victoria below as examples; other states and territories have their own bodies and rules, not covered here.
| NSW (NESA) | Victoria (VIT) | |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | eTAMS (online accreditation system) | VIT’s own registration process |
| Qualification check | Comparable to AQF Level 7 (Bachelor) or higher, including one year of ITE at university level | Since July 2025, overseas ITE must be pre-assessed as equivalent (fee AUD 292.84) before applying for registration — doable from the UAE |
| Practicum | At least 45 days of supervised teaching practice, assessed as part of the qualification | Not specified on the page we reviewed |
| Early childhood extra step | Certificate of Equivalency from ACECQA | Not specified on the page we reviewed |
| English | Academic IELTS 7 (Reading/Writing), 8 (Speaking/Listening), unless exempt | An approved English test may be required if you studied outside Australia, NZ, UK, USA, Canada or Ireland |
| Typical first-time outcome | Provisional accreditation | Provisional Registration (Full only if you already held full AU/NZ registration in the past 5 years and taught 80 days there in that period) |
| Can you start it from the UAE? | NSW’s process has typically required applicants to be onshore to complete accreditation — verify this before you plan your move | The pre-assessment step, yes; the rest generally continues once you’re in Victoria |
Choosing a visa pathway
The Skilled Independent (189) grants permanent residence directly, with no sponsorship and no location restriction. The Skilled Work Regional (491) is a temporary, regional-tied visa that becomes a path to PR through the subclass 191 after three years, not PR itself. State nomination adds points — reportedly 15 for a 491, 5 for a 190 — though treat exact point values as a detail to reconfirm when you apply.
Home Affairs introduced a new four-tier prioritisation model for 189 invitation rounds in late 2025. Several migration-agent trackers place teaching in what they call Tier 2, a “high priority” band said to receive stronger, more regular invitation rounds — but we couldn’t confirm this against a primary Home Affairs notice, so treat it as worth checking with SkillSelect directly, not a settled fact, and not a reason to assume the 189 is now straightforward for teachers generally. The honest starting position is still that the regional 491 has traditionally been the more reliable route for teachers; the Tier 2 point is worth investigating further once you have a points score to test on our points calculator.
From the UAE: what this means for you
Start with the qualification checks, because they decide everything downstream. AITSL needs your ITE qualification matched to your nominated stage of schooling; VIT’s pre-assessment checks the same qualification against its own standard; NESA checks it again for the AQF Level 7 comparison and the 45-day practicum. Gather transcripts, degree certificates and practicum records once and reuse them across all three.
English is the step to plan around, not leave until last. AITSL and NESA both want Academic IELTS specifically — no Online sitting, no Indicator test, no PTE substitute — at 7.0 Reading/Writing and 8.0 Speaking/Listening. If you’ve already sat IELTS for another purpose, check whether it was the Academic version and whether it meets these particular bands.
On timing: AITSL’s own assessment runs 4 to 6 weeks once your file is complete, and Victoria’s pre-assessment can genuinely be started and finished from the UAE, ahead of relocating. NSW’s accreditation, by contrast, has typically needed you onshore, so budget extra time if NSW is your target.
Frequently asked questions
Does passing the AITSL assessment mean I can start teaching in Australia?
No. AITSL’s letter supports your visa application; it does not register you to teach. You still need registration from the state or territory where you’ll work — NESA in NSW, VIT in Victoria, or the equivalent body elsewhere — before a school can employ you.
Can I use PTE or TOEFL instead of IELTS for AITSL?
No. AITSL accepts only the Academic IELTS, sat on paper or computer at an official test centre. PTE, PEAT, ISLPR, TOEFL, Cambridge, IELTS Online and IELTS Indicator are all explicitly not accepted.
Should I aim for the 189 visa directly, or go the regional 491 route?
There’s no settled answer we’d state as fact. Migration-agent sources place teaching in a favourably placed SkillSelect tier for the 189 — worth checking with SkillSelect directly. Historically, the regional 491 has been the more reliable route for teachers; treat that as the honest starting assumption.
What to do next
If you’re weighing AITSL against state registration, or working out which occupation code and visa fit your qualifications, start with a free eligibility assessment. Call us on 04 357 7796, or book a 20-minute review through our contact page. We do not promise outcomes — AITSL, NESA, VIT and Home Affairs make the actual decisions — but we can help you get the order right. More pathway guides are in our guides library.
Sources
- Department of Home Affairs — Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL) — accessed 1 Sep 2026
- Department of Home Affairs — Skilled occupation list — accessed 1 Sep 2026
- AITSL — Application FAQs — accessed 1 Sep 2026
- AITSL — English language proficiency — accessed 1 Sep 2026
- AITSL — Fees — accessed 1 Sep 2026
- NSW Government / NESA — Internationally qualified teachers — accessed 1 Sep 2026
- NSW Government / NESA — English language proficiency — accessed 1 Sep 2026
- NSW Department of Education — Overseas trained teachers — accessed 1 Sep 2026
- Victorian Institute of Teaching — Interstate or overseas teachers — accessed 1 Sep 2026
- Victorian Institute of Teaching — Registration fees and payments — accessed 1 Sep 2026
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