PTE Accepted Countries and Visa Scores

PTE academic is acceptable in specific English-speaking countries like the UK and USA. It is estimated that there are 79 PTE-accepted countries worldwide.

As a newbie competing in IELTS and TOEFL in English tests, PTE has gradually been approved by reputable institutions like Oxford University and Harvard Business School, showing its importance in countries that accept PTE exams.

In addition to education, PTE is a trustworthy selection for those looking for international chances.

In this post, PTE Magic will show you the complete list of countries that accept PTE.

Let’s take a look.

Key Takeaways

• It is estimated that there are 79 PTE-accepted countries worldwide.
• In addition to education, PTE is a trustworthy selection for those looking for international chances.
• PTE Magic will show you the complete list of countries that accept PTE in this post.

Related:

• PTE preparation made easy

Top 10 Most Notable PTE Accepted Countries

Australia

You can use your PTE Academic scores to enter colleges or universities in the country of kangaroos. Even the Department of Immigration and Border Protection for visa applications in Australia also accept these PTE points.

Related:

• PTE scores for 485 visas
• PTE scores for 189 visas
• PTE voucher codes for Australia

Canada

It quickly caught the trend that PTE Academic is popular among the English exams. The top Canadian universities and colleges like McGill University, British Columbia University, and Toronto recognize the PTE scores. If you pass the test, you can even immigrate to Canada, accepted by IRCC—Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada.

Related:

• PTE Core vs PTE Academic

United States

The United States Department of State accepts the PTE Academic scores to apply for visa applications. To study abroad, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Harvard University, Stanford University, and many top universities as well as colleges in the US also recognize these scores.

United Kingdom

99 percent of universities and colleges in the UK accept the PTE Academic, including Imperial College London, the University of Oxford, and the University of Cambridge. Like the countries above, the UK government approves the PTE exam scores for visa applications. 

Related:

• PTE Academic UKVI

New Zealand

Joining the countries accepting the PTE Academic tests, New Zealand provides visas and widely opens the university doors for students and immigrants through the PTE exam. If you want to enter well-known universities in this country, such as the University of Canterbury, the University of Auckland, or Victoria University of Wellington, let’s start to review right now.

Singapore

Those who reach 55-62 scores in the PTE exam can take part in studying at Singaporean universities, including the Singapore Management University, the National University of Singapore, and Nanyang Technological University. Even this country’s government will also consider the test scores to grant a visa.  

Ireland

PTE scores are acceptable as an English Eligibility Criteria to study Irish universities and colleges, typically University College Dublin, the National University of Ireland, and Trinity College Dublin. These tests are mandatory to get a visa granted by INIS (the Irish Naturalization and Immigration Service).

Germany

Unlike the PTE-accepting countries listed above, Germany requires extra language proficiency tests from PTE Academic. However, you can still join in studying at the University of Freiburg, the University of Munich, or the University of Heidelberg through your PTE scores.

France

Similarly, in France, not all universities and colleges recognize PTE Academic, like Paris University or Bordeaux University. The different universities will require different PTE scores. You must even add language proficiency tests according to the requirements of some universities.

 Switzerland

You can entirely study at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology or Zurich University—the top universities and colleges in Switzerland if you pass the required PTE scores. It is noticeable that you may have to do additional language tests in addition to the PTE exam because the requirements of universities are different.

Other Countries That Accept PTE

Apart from the countries listed above, here are other countries that also accept PTE:

Asia Pacific

• Bahrain
• China
• Cyprus (North)
• Cyprus (South)
• Hong Kong SAR
• India
• Indonesia
• Iran
• Iraq
• Israel
• Japan
• Jordan
• Lebanon
• Malaysia
• New Zealand
• Oman
• Pakistan
• Philippines
• Saudi Arabia
• Singapore
• South Korea
• Taiwan Province
• Thailand
• Turkey
• United Arab Emirates
• Uzbekistan
• Vietnam

Europe

• Albania
• Austria
• Azerbaijan
• Belarus
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Italy
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Malta
• Monaco
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Russia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Ukraine

South America

• Argentina
• Brazil
• Colombia
• Mexico

Africa

• Egypt
• Libya
• Nigeria
• Somalia
• South Africa
• Uganda

Summary 

All countries that we list above accept the PTE scores for visa applications and immigration; however, you need to learn about the scores and extra requirements (if they have any) because every country has different preconditions for PTE exam points. Some PTE-accepted countries even require additional language proficiency tests. Pay attention to that!

PTE scores for immigration, country by country

“Which countries accept PTE” has two different answers depending on why you are asking. For study, the institution sets the score. For a visa, the government sets it — and those numbers are published, fixed, and the same for everyone. This section covers the visa numbers, which are the ones you can actually look up.

Before the tables, the distinction that costs people the most money: the four governments below do not all accept the same PTE test.

Country	Which PTE test the government accepts	Accepting body
Australia	PTE Academic	Department of Home Affairs — all work and migration visas
Canada	PTE Core — not PTE Academic	IRCC, for citizenship and permanent residence
United Kingdom	PTE Academic UKVI or PTE Home — not standard PTE Academic	UK Home Office, as approved Secure English Language Tests
New Zealand	PTE Academic	Immigration New Zealand

Booking the wrong version is the most common and most expensive mistake in this whole topic: an ordinary PTE Academic result cannot be used for a UK visa, and it cannot be used for Canadian permanent residence.

Australia: PTE Academic scores by English level

Australia rescaled its PTE requirements for tests taken from 7 August 2025. Results from tests taken on or before 6 August 2025 stay valid until 6 August 2028, so both sets of numbers are live right now. Most score lists online still show only the old column.

English level	Test taken from 7 Aug 2025	Test taken on or before 6 Aug 2025
Functional	Overall band score of at least 24	Overall band score of at least 30
Competent	Listening 47 · Reading 48 · Writing 51 · Speaking 54	50 in each of the four components
Proficient	Listening 58 · Reading 59 · Writing 69 · Speaking 76	65 in each of the four components
Superior	Listening 69 · Reading 70 · Writing 85 · Speaking 88	79 in each of the four components

Source: Australian Department of Home Affairs, English language requirements.

What changed in practice: under the new scale the components are no longer equal. Superior English now needs 88 in Speaking but only 69 in Listening — a 19-point spread where the old rule was a flat 79. If you are targeting Superior for points, Speaking is now the binding constraint, not Listening.

Canada: PTE Core scores by CLB level

IRCC converts PTE Core results to Canadian Language Benchmarks. These are the Federal Skilled Worker ranges:

CLB	Speaking	Listening	Reading	Writing
10 and above	89+	89+	88+	90
9	84–88	82–88	78–87	88–89
8	76–83	71–81	69–77	79–87
7	68–75	60–70	60–68	69–78

Source: IRCC, Express Entry language testing. Federal Skilled Trades and Canadian Experience Class use separate tables.

Why CLB 9 is the number to aim at: Express Entry awards extra skill-transferability points once you reach CLB 9 in all four abilities, which on PTE Core means roughly 84 Speaking, 82 Listening, 78 Reading and 88 Writing. The jump from CLB 8 to CLB 9 is worth far more CRS points than the jump from 7 to 8.

United Kingdom

The Home Office approves two Pearson tests as Secure English Language Tests: PTE Academic UKVI and PTE Home. The CEFR level you need depends on the visa route rather than on the test, and the Home Office publishes the required level per route in that route’s own guidance rather than in one central table. PTE Home covers the lower CEFR levels (A1, A2 and B1) used for family and settlement routes; PTE Academic UKVI covers the higher levels used for study and skilled work.

Source: GOV.UK, approved Secure English Language Tests.

New Zealand

Immigration New Zealand accepts PTE Academic as evidence of English. The required score depends on the visa category, and Immigration New Zealand publishes it in the instructions for each category. We could not verify a single central score table from an official Immigration New Zealand page, so check the score against the specific visa you are applying for rather than against a general figure quoted elsewhere.

PTE accepted universities: how to check a real score

Pearson states that PTE Academic is accepted by more than 4,000 institutions worldwide across 70+ countries, including 100% of universities in Australia, New Zealand and Canada and 99% of UK universities and colleges. Oxford, Yale and Harvard Business School are among them.

What no one publishes is a central list of required scores, because each university sets its own, and most set a different one per course. A master’s in engineering and a master’s in journalism at the same university will not ask for the same number. Any article that gives you one score per university is quoting a single course and presenting it as the whole institution.

The reliable method takes two minutes:

1. Open Pearson’s institution search and confirm the university accepts PTE at all.
2. Go to that university’s own admissions page for your course and find its English language requirement.
3. Check whether the requirement is stated as an overall score, a per-component minimum, or both — a per-component minimum is what catches most applicants out.
4. Check the accepted test version. Some UK institutions specify PTE Academic UKVI even where the visa route does not.

Rough guide only, not a requirement: undergraduate entry commonly sits in the 50s and postgraduate entry in the 58–65 range, with competitive programmes higher. Treat that as a way to judge whether your score is in the right region, never as the number to apply with.

Which PTE test do you actually need?

Your purpose	Test to book
Study at a university outside the UK	PTE Academic
Study in the UK on a student visa	PTE Academic UKVI
Australian skilled or work visa	PTE Academic
Canadian permanent residence or citizenship	PTE Core
UK family, settlement or spouse visa	PTE Home (A1, A2 or B1 as the route requires)
New Zealand visa	PTE Academic

All PTE tests are taken at a test centre — there is no at-home version. Results are valid for two years.

PTE accepted countries FAQ

Which countries accept PTE?

PTE Academic is recognised for academic programmes in more than 70 countries and by over 4,000 institutions. For visa and immigration purposes specifically, four governments accept a Pearson test: Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and New Zealand — each with its own required test version, as set out above.

Which countries accept PTE for immigration?

Australia (PTE Academic, all work and migration visas), Canada (PTE Core, for permanent residence and citizenship), the United Kingdom (PTE Academic UKVI or PTE Home as approved SELTs) and New Zealand (PTE Academic). Student visas are a separate question from skilled migration and often accept a different test version.

Is PTE accepted in the USA?

For study, yes — many US universities accept PTE Academic, including Harvard Business School and Yale, and you should confirm on the specific course page. For immigration, no: US visa categories do not use an English test score in the way Australian and Canadian ones do, so there is no PTE score to meet.

Is PTE accepted in the UK?

Yes, but only the right version. The Home Office approves PTE Academic UKVI and PTE Home as Secure English Language Tests. A standard PTE Academic result is not valid for a UK visa, even though UK universities widely accept it for admission.

Does Canada accept PTE Academic?

For study, many Canadian institutions do. For permanent residence and citizenship, IRCC accepts PTE Core, which is a different test with a different format. Booking PTE Academic for an Express Entry profile is a wasted fee.

What PTE score do I need for an Australian visa?

It depends on the English level your visa requires. For tests taken from 7 August 2025: Functional is an overall 24; Competent is 47 Listening, 48 Reading, 51 Writing, 54 Speaking; Proficient is 58, 59, 69, 76; Superior is 69, 70, 85, 88. Older results scored under the previous scale remain valid until 6 August 2028.

How long is a PTE score valid?

Two years from the test date. Express Entry checks your language result at two separate points — when you create your profile and when you submit the PR application — so it must still be inside two years at both.

Related PTE country guides

• PTE Accepted Countries for Nurses
• PTE for Australia: Fees, PR Scores & Centres
• PTE Test Centres by Country + Test Dates