Going to Australia without IELTS: which half of it is true
A university can waive an English test. The visa is a separate gate with its own list of nine accepted tests, and only five passports and two course types are exempt from it. Where "without IELTS" is genuinely possible, and where it is somebody selling you an offer letter you cannot use.
"Without IELTS" is one phrase covering two completely different claims, and the gap between them is where people lose an intake.
The true version: you can go to Australia without sitting IELTS, because IELTS is only one of nine tests the visa accepts. Plenty of Nepali students use PTE Academic instead and never touch IELTS.
The false version: you can go to Australia without any English test at all, because a university waived one. A university waiving a test settles admission. It does not settle the visa, and the visa is assessed by a different body against a different rule.
The nine tests the visa accepts
This is set in a legislative instrument rather than on a webpage, which is why almost no page in Nepal quotes it correctly. The Migration (English Language Tests and Evidence Exemptions for Subclass 500 (Student) Visas) Instrument 2025 names them:
| Test | Standard offer | With 20+ weeks ELICOS | Foundation or eligible pathway |
|---|---|---|---|
| IELTS Academic | 6.0 | 5.5 | 5.0 |
| IELTS General Training | 6.0 | 5.5 | 5.0 |
| PTE Academic | 47 | 39 | 31 |
| TOEFL iBT | 67 | 51 | 37 |
| LANGUAGECERT Academic | 61 | 54 | 46 |
| CELPIP General | 7 | 6 | 5 |
| MET | 53 | 49 | 44 |
| OET | 1210 | 1090 | 1020 |
| C1 Advanced | 161 | not accepted | not accepted |
So "without IELTS" is genuinely available. Sit PTE Academic and score 47, and IELTS never enters your file.
The Duolingo English Test is not on that list. Home Affairs also states that a test must be taken at a secure test centre and that it does not accept tests delivered completely online. More than a hundred Australian universities accept Duolingo for admission, so it is entirely possible to hold a real offer from a real university and be unable to get the visa to take it up. If one thing in this article is worth remembering, it is that.
The exemptions, in full
There are only two ways to have no test at all, and neither is a loophole.
Your passport. You do not need to provide a test score if you are a citizen and passport holder of the UK, the USA, Canada, New Zealand or the Republic of Ireland. A Nepali passport is not on that list.
Your course. An exemption also applies where your principal course is a registered school course, or a standalone ELICOS course, which is an English course itself.
That is it. Everything else circulating as an exemption is either about admission rather than the visa, or is out of date.
PTE or IELTS, since this is the other half of the question
Both are accepted and the minimums are set to be equivalent: IELTS 6.0 and PTE 47. Neither is the soft option.
PTE Academic is marked by computer and results come back faster, which matters when a CoE deadline is close. There is no human examiner, which suits students who freeze in a speaking interview and unsettles students who rely on a person hearing what they meant.
IELTS has a human examiner for speaking and a paper option. Some students genuinely perform better this way.
Two practical points that decide more cases than the format does. Check test centre availability in Kathmandu before you commit, because a seat three weeks out is worth more than a marginal preference. And note the PTE minimum is 47, not 50. Several widely-read pages round it up, and a student who scores 48 and believes they have failed has in fact met the rule.
What a university waiver actually gets you
A Medium of Instruction letter, an internal test, or a waiver on your +2 results can all satisfy an admissions office. Australian universities set their own entry standards and are entitled to.
What that produces is an offer letter, and then a Confirmation of Enrolment. Both are real documents. Neither is evidence of English for the visa. When the file reaches a case officer, the requirement is the instrument above, and a waiver letter does not appear in it.
This matters more than it did two years ago. Between January and July 2026, 13% to 37% of Nepali offshore primary applicants were granted a student visa, and the last three months of that run were the lowest in the Home Affairs dataset. An application missing a required element is not going to be given the benefit of the doubt.
How this goes wrong, in order
- A student is told they can go without IELTS.
- They take that to mean without any test.
- An offer arrives, confirming the belief, because the university genuinely did waive its own requirement.
- A deposit is paid.
- The visa stage arrives, the test is required, and the nearest sitting is after the intake.
Every step in that sequence is individually reasonable. The error is at step two, and it costs a semester.
What to do instead
Ask which gate the waiver applies to. If the answer is anything other than "the visa does not require a test for you because of your passport or your course type", you need a test.
Book PTE or IELTS early, before the offer, not after. Scores are valid for two years and the test is the slowest thing to fix.
Check your course type. If you are enrolling in a standalone ELICOS course, you genuinely are exempt, and that is worth knowing.
If somebody has told you that you can reach Australia from Nepal with no English test at all, ask them which of the two exemptions applies to you. There is no third one, and the instrument is public.
Send us the course and the offer and we will tell you in ten minutes which tests are open to you and what score your particular file needs. It is free, and it is a great deal cheaper than finding out at the visa stage.
Current odds
13-37%
of Nepali applicants approved (offshore, primary applicant), Jan - Jul 2026
Most Nepali applications to Australia are now refused. We will still take your case, but not if the only reason you picked Australia is that someone told you it was easy.
Australia in full →Common questions
Can I go to Australia without IELTS from Nepal?
Without IELTS specifically, often yes. Without any English test, almost never. The subclass 500 visa accepts nine named tests and IELTS is only one of them, so PTE Academic, TOEFL iBT, LANGUAGECERT, OET and others all count. The exemptions from testing altogether are narrow: holding a passport from the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand or Ireland, or enrolling in a registered school course or a standalone ELICOS course.
Is PTE or IELTS better for Australia?
Neither is easier, and both are accepted. PTE Academic is computer marked and returns results faster, which matters when an intake deadline is close. IELTS has a human examiner for speaking, which some students find easier and some find harder. The Home Affairs minimums are IELTS 6.0 and PTE 47, and those two are set to be equivalent. Choose on format and on test-centre availability, not on a claim that one is softer.
Can I study in Australia with a Duolingo score?
A university may admit you on one. The visa will not accept it. The Migration instrument of 2025 names nine tests and the Duolingo English Test is not among them, and Home Affairs separately states that it does not accept tests delivered completely online. An offer letter is not a visa, and this is the most expensive version of that lesson.
What if my university waives the English test?
Then you have cleared admission and not the visa. A Medium of Instruction letter, an internal university test or a waiver on the strength of your +2 results can all satisfy an admissions office. None of them is evidence Home Affairs accepts in place of a test score, unless you fall into one of the narrow exemptions.
Which universities in Australia accept students without IELTS?
Many, for admission, and the list changes every intake, which is why no list circulating in Nepal is worth relying on. The question that decides your case is not which university waives the test but whether your visa application can be lodged without one, and for a Nepali passport holder studying at degree level the answer is almost always no.
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