Paramedicine Board of Australia - English language skills
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English language skills

December 2024

Ahpra and National Boards (except for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia) have published advance copies of the revised Registration standards: English Language Skills (the ELS standards). These include:

  • the Common English language skills standard which applies to all applicants for initial registration in Chinese medicine, chiropractic, dental, medical, medical radiation, occupational therapy, optometry, osteopathy, pharmacy, physiotherapy, podiatry and psychology, and
  • the Nursing and Midwifery ELS standard, which applies to all applicants for initial registration as enrolled nurses, registered nurses and midwives.

Advance copies of the ELS standards are available on the Ahpra website. Please note that the 2015 ELS standards will remain current until the revised ELS standards come into effect by April 2025. We are focusing on improving the applicant experience and will provide more specific information about when the standard will come into effect in early 2025.

Read the news item for further information about the updates to the ELS standard and what you need to know about any changes before they come into effect.

English language skills registration standard

The Paramedicine Board of Australia (the Board) requires all applicants for initial registration to demonstrate English language skills to be suitable for registration.

This registration standard sets out how an applicant for registration can demonstrate to the Board that their competence in speaking and communicating in English is sufficient to practise the paramedicine profession.

Document name PDF Accessible format Date of effect
English language skills registration standard PDF (98.5 KB) Word version 
(378 KB, DOCX)		 17 May 2018

FAQ

The FAQ includes information about how to complete the English language skills section of the online application form.

Document name PDF Accessible format Document date
FAQ: English language skills registration standard PDF (199KB) Word version 
(374KB,DOCX)		 31 August 2018

Pathways

The English Language Standard has four pathways that you can use to demonstrate English language competence. The flowchart below will help you determine which pathway is best for you.

Document name PDF  Accessible format Document date
English language skills pathways PDF (43.6KB) Web page 1 May 2019

Form - English language skills

This form is to be used, upon request by The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), to demonstrate English language competence where the applicant has provided incomplete or inaccurate information in their online application.

Document name PDF Document date
Form - English language skills requirements PDF (315KB) 17 December 2024

Approved English language test providers

If you are required to sit an English language test, please refer to the following approved provider's websites for more information:

     

Additional English Language tests approved

The English language skills registration standard for paramedics (ELS standard) sets out that the Board can approve additional tests that meet the requirements of the Board for the demonstration of English language skills.

Currently, there is no paramedicine specific Occupational English Test (OET), and therefore, there is no OET test specified in the ELS registration standard. The Board has agreed however that an equivalent pass of the OET test for any other registered health profession will meet the Board’s requirements for registration.

For example, an applicant who has  successfully undertaken a Pharmacy OET test and has a minimum score of B in each of the four components (listening, reading, writing and speaking) either from one test sitting, or a maximum of two test sittings in a six month period (only if they are tested in all four components in each sitting, and they achieve a minimum score of B in each component across the two sittings, and no score in any component of the test is below C), will be deemed to have met the requirements of the ELS standard for paramedicine.

 
 
Page reviewed 17/12/2024
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