rjinski

Hello all,

My partner and I are doing our first "planning session" to apply for a Skilled Independent 189 visa this year.

I am a 26 year old, IT professional with 3.5 years experience and hold a bachelors degree. My partner is a year 1 (5/6 year old) primary school teacher with 2 years experience at the end of the academic year also with a bachelors degree and teaching post graduate degree.

Two questions:

The early years teacher objectives specify children of 4-8 years old. My partner teaches 5/6 year old children and her supervised teaching time as part of her post graduate was also with this age group. Is it likely she would get a successful skill assessment from the AITSL as an Early Years Teacher?

Although I am British citizen, I intend to get the extra points and try and get 'superior English'. Is this a manageable goal? And are there any major differences between the English tests?

Thank you, all help and advice is appreciated!

verystormy

First, only one of you needs to qualify and I would suggest you concentrate as you being the main appicant.

Yes, people get the full 20 points for English, but it takes work and revision.

Be aware primary teachers have a big issue with employment in Australia - lots unemployed.

msmyrtle

I guess the first question is, who is the main applicant, you or your partner?

I'm assuming you because you are aiming for "Superior English". If that is the case, what is your occupation, 'IT professional' can mean a lot of different things.

Having two applicants get skills assessment only gets you an additional 5 points - and that's if they are both on the same list. If you score enough points on the back of one applicant it may make sense to save the time and cost of getting the skills assessment and English test (just my two cents)...

To answer your other question, as a native English speaker I think it does help go a long way to score in the Superior range, and it is achievable. Some tips would be to review online exams, practice handwriting (because the IELTS you have to write your samples by hand - no computer/spellcheck and write a minimum amount of words) and get a good nights sleep before the exam. I didn't do any extra review and got 8's my first time around but other posters maybe got one 7 and chose to redo the exam for more points..

Bermudashorts

I do not know the answer to the teacher skills assessment, but you should decide which of you should be the main applicant and focus on that person. It isn't normal to go for partner points and there is no reason you (or she) should be doing so as 26 year olds that can easily reach the points required.

Most people take the IELTS test for points. Remember it is a literacy test not an English A level. If you are literate and use your literacy skills frequently then it should be no issue. I do use literacy skills regularly and so I prepared for thirty minutes the night before and got superior scores. My biggest tip would be to ensure you know the format of the test.

mgreaves

You can also do the PTE-A english test for points, personally I found this one better, it is a much quicker to book and you get the results next day rather than waiting 2 weeks as with IELTS. Also being a quick typer and sitting at a desk all day I prefered this as in my opinion my hand writing is terrible and I am not sure how anyone can read it!

I tried the IELTS twice and could not get my writing over 7.5, in PTE-A I got 86/90 in the writing.

Also with the PTE-A I was out of there after half of the allocated time had passed as you do it at your own pace, with IELTS you have no choice but to spend the whole morning there and also wait around for the speaking aspect in the afternoon.

rjinski

Thanks mgreaves, that is good to know.

I would be the main applicant but the extra points are always benefitial