Doctors in Australia and New Zealand need IELTS Academic with 6.5 in Writing and at least 7 in Listening, Reading and Speaking, and Australia also asks for 7 overall. Ireland asks for 7 overall and at least 6.5 in each skill, in one sitting.
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Official page Last checked: 19 October 2026
Also from: AMC: English language proficiency
IELTS Academic
Official page Last checked: 19 October 2026
IELTS Academic
Official page Last checked: 19 October 2026
You write notes and letters every day at work. IELTS Writing asks for something else: a chart report in Task 1, and a planned, argued essay of at least 250 words in Task 2, in about 40 minutes. Check your council's rule on sittings too:
The councils in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland all ask for IELTS Academic, and in IELTS's own 2024-2025 Academic data, Writing had the lowest average of the four skills. IELTS test taker performance data, 2024-2025.
One Skill Retake: accepted in Australia and New Zealand. Not mentioned by the Irish Medical Council. For the UK, check the GMC page.
Who accepts One Skill Retake
Your target is the Writing band your medical council sets. For the medical councils in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, that is 6.5 in Writing. Then compare your draft with the rewrite: your own answer at that band.
IELTS Writing is not clinical writing, so practice the Academic chart report for Task 1 and the argued essay for Task 2. Keep each one to time with the practice timer.
Go after your lowest criterion first, with help from the labeled corrections. Then check your latest Task 1 and Task 2 bands before you book a test date.
The AMC does not set the English rule. The Medical Board of Australia does, and it asks for proof of English for registration. But the AMC says all applicants should arrange this proof before they apply under any of the assessment pathways. See the board's rule on the Ahpra page.
Its English page does not mention One Skill Retake. It asks for all your scores from a single sitting in the last 2 years, so ask the council before you book a retake.
Yes, for now. The Irish Medical Council does not ask for IELTS from graduates of medical schools in Ireland, the EU or EEA, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and the US. It says this will likely change, so check before you apply.
Two years before you apply, or before you first sit NZREX Clinical. If you sit NZREX Clinical again, a result up to 5 years old can count, if you have lived in New Zealand, Australia, the UK, Ireland, the US, English-speaking Canada (not Quebec) or South Africa the whole time since your last sitting. If you use two sittings, they must be within 12 months of each other, each one must include all four skills, and no score in either sitting can be below 6.5.
Academic. IELTS itself says to choose Academic if you are seeking professional registration, for example as a doctor or a nurse. The councils in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland all ask for it.
This page sums up official rules in plain words. It is not immigration or legal advice. Rules change, so check the official page before you book or apply. Every rule here was checked on or after 19 October 2026. VoyaLang is not affiliated with or endorsed by IELTS, the British Council, IDP, or Cambridge Assessment English.
