Citizenship test shake-up: What is ‘competent English’?

Those wanting to become citizens will need language skills equivalent to TAFE entry requirements | LISTEN

Peter Dutton’s shake-up of the citizenship test is opposed by Labor.

Aspiring Australians will need to have English language skills roughly equivalent to the entrance requirements for TAFE institutions under Peter Dutton’s shake-up of the citizenship test opposed by Labor.

Under the government’s tougher citizenship obligations, applicants must demonstrate they have “competent English” instead of simply demonstrating a basic knowledge of the language as the current rules state.

This will set a higher bar — but it will not mean potential citizens will need to demonstrate they have mastered the language to an extent where they could follow academic discussions in university lecture theatres.

Opposition citizenship spokesman Tony Burke today derided the proposed toughening of the English language requirements as a “bizarre act of snobbery” and warned it would force applicants to have “university level English.”

But Mr Dutton has dismissed the claim.

He indicated earlier today on ABC radio the government shake-up would mean potential citizens would need to lift their English performance when measured against international benchmarks like the International English Language Testing System.

The IELTS is a leading English language proficiency test used for higher education and migration purposes.

“At the moment the test is basic,” Mr Dutton told the ABC. “So we move up one rank from five to six on a scale of one to nine.”

“It’s not university standard and, again, this is a red herring,” he said. “When we first made these announcements a month ago, Mr Shorten instinctively came out and said they would support it and since then, it’s unravelled.”

But the shift in English language proficiency from a “band 5” to “band 6” will prove challenging for some individuals.

The IELTS currently states that an individual in the band 6 category would not have the ability to understand “linguistically demanding academic courses” at higher education institutions. But it does indicate that someone in this category would be capable of participating in “linguistically demanding training.”

By contrast, further English study would still be required for a band five individual to participate in “linguistically demanding training.”

Indeed, the IELTS finds the English proficiency of an individual in the band 5 category would only be “probably acceptable” to participate in “linguistically less demanding training courses.”

Under the IELTS, it is only when an individual returns a score in bands 7 through to 9 that they are deemed to have “acceptable” English skills to follow the kinds of complex academic discussions taking place in Australia’s university tutorial rooms.

Listen to IELTS example interviews below.

IELTS band score 5

IELTS band score 6

IELTS band score 7