Skills assessment FAQ

CPA Australia no longer provides provisional skills assessment services, starting from 15 June 2024. This is due to the Australian Government’s recent changes to the Temporary Graduate visa programs. For more information about these  changes, please refer to the Department of Home Affairs website. Any queries regarding visa policy should be directed to the Department of Home Affairs.

You can use your existing CPA Australia account to apply for additional ANZSCO code occupations for which you’d like to be assessed.

No. If you are not using a third party authority for your application, simply select that you are applying as yourself, and proceed through the application.

As your assessment has expired, you will need to create and pay for a new application.

To ensure we have the most up-to-date documents, please upload your qualification documents as part of your migration skills assessment application. 

Yes. Documents that are not in English must be translated by an official translator. Both the original and the translated documents must be provided for assessment.

An official translation for your curriculum documents is not required. Instead, we will accept a translation in your own words. You must also provide a statutory declaration to confirm it is in your own words, and is a true reflection of the studies you have completed.

If you are unable to provide a scan of an official, physical document you must provide an electronically signed PDF copy of your academic transcript and award using the My eQuals service. Each my eQuals document must have a blue ribbon indicating that the document has been securely digitally signed and is authenticated.

We will request replacement documents if the ones you provide us are not acceptable. The most common reasons for document rejection are:

• they weren’t scans of the original documents
• they are poor quality – such as cropped, blurred or pixelated
• they were suspected to be fraudulent
• My eQuals documents without the blue ribbon

Yes. To receive a successful assessment, the English language requirement must be met.

In this case, you may request for a skills assessment without an English test score.  Please note that this will result in a negative skills assessment outcome.  Once you have completed the additional studies and English test, you can apply for a skills assessment update for a fee.

The Department of Home Affairs has advised that home and online English language tests are not recognised for skills assessments. We'll only accept results from tests performed at authorised test centres.

We require a copy of your test report form. 

• For PTE Academic, please ensure that your score report contains both your Score Report Code and Registration ID. We're unable to verify your scores without your score report code.
• If you have completed your test with Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE), you'll need to authorise us to access your results through the Cambridge Candidate website.

We recognise English language tests for up to three years from the test date if we can verify the score reports with the providers.

For skills assessment purposes, no validity applies for the Accounting Professional Year Program. PYP certificate and transcripts do not list an expiry date. When you apply to the Department of Home Affairs, we recommend that you visit the Department of Home Affairs website for information regarding to the Department’s requirements.

If you have an urgent deadline approaching, you may select the Fast Track option as part of the skills assessment application. Please refer to our current processing times. Please note that the Fast Track option applies to the full skills assessment and additional ANZSCO code applications only, not the skilled employment assessment. If you require both skills assessment and skills employment application, please select the ‘Fast Track’ option for the ‘Skilled Assessment Application’, and purchase the ‘Skilled Employment Application’ separately.

Your assessment outcome letter will provide you with the next steps.

If you enrolled before 31 March 2023 and have completed a Foundation exam with us, email [email protected] to finalise your assessment outcome.

If you have enrolled in a Foundation exam with us on or after 1 April 2023, or have completed your additional studies anywhere else, you will need to apply for a skills assessment update, pay the relevant fee and provide a copy of your additional transcript as part of your update application.

You can appeal your assessment result by submitting an appeal application and paying the relevant fee. To be considered, the appeal application must be submitted within 12 months from the assessment outcome date stated on the outcome letter. If the result of the review is that the initial assessment outcome was incorrect, the review fee will be refunded. 

Yes. If you have additional documents to be assessed, you can submit a skills assessment update application.

This will include paying the relevant fee and providing high-quality colour scans of your additional relevant documents.

No, however, you can provide them to the Department of Home Affairs as part of your visa application. 

No. We only provide an outcome letter of the skills assessment.

The assessing authority that conducted your full skills assessment outcome must also complete your skilled employment assessment.

If you have received a suitable full skills assessment with CPA Australia, we can assess your skilled employment. You will need to submit a skilled employment assessment application, pay the relevant fee and provide the required skilled employment documentation.

If you have a valid skills assessment application, you can do so by logging into your current application and selecting the skilled employment assessment option. Please note we currently don’t have a Fast Track option for skilled employment assessments. These can only be processed according to the standard processing times.

Yes. However, we will only consider your skilled employment documentation if the outcome of your full skills assessment is suitable. Please ensure that you have selected the full skills assessment with skilled employment assessment option when you apply.

No. Before we can assess your employment history, you must have received a suitable full skills assessment.

Please refer to the Fees page.

No. We can only consider the work experience you gained after your degree was awarded.

Yes, we can assess your skilled employment both in Australia and overseas.

You may update your skilled employment outcome by submitting a skilled employment assessment update application and providing additional evidence, however revised testimonials will not be accepted.

You may appeal your outcome by submitting a skilled employment assessment appeal application.