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English test validity calculator

How long is IELTS valid for a UK visa? GOV.UK says approved SELT results, such as IELTS for UKVI, are valid for 2 years from the date the test is awarded.

Measured at your visa application.

Your application, assessment or course start.

UK visa (approved SELT test)

Enter your test date

Your result

Every window in this tool
ForWindow
UK visa (approved SELT test)
Measured at your visa application		2 years
Australian visa: vocational, competent, proficient or superior
Measured at your visa application		3 years
Australian visa: functional English
Measured at your visa application		1 year
NMC registration (nurses and midwives, UK)
Measured at the assessment of your complete application		2 years
GMC registration (doctors, UK)
Measured at your PLAB 1 exam day or registration approval		2 years
Ahpra registration (health professions, Australia)
Measured at your registration application		2 years
UCL undergraduate entry
Measured at the university's own reference date (check it; often the course start)		2 years
Imperial College London entry
Measured at the start of your course		2 years
University of Manchester entry
Measured at the start of your course		2 years

Read the rule

Questions people ask

How long is IELTS valid for Australian immigration?

For vocational, competent, proficient and superior English the test must be in the 3 years before your visa application; for functional English, the 12 months before.

How long is OET valid for the NMC?

The NMC's window is 2 years, measured when it assesses your complete application.

Does it matter when the window is measured?

Yes. A visa looks at the application date, a regulator such as the NMC at its assessment, and a university often at the course start, so the same test can count for one and not another.

Keep going

How we work this out

What it does

Enter your test date and what it is for to see the last day it still counts for UK and Australian visas, the NMC, GMC, Ahpra or a university.

UK visas (approved SELTs), Australian visas, NMC, GMC and Ahpra registration, and UCL, Imperial and Manchester entry.

Method

  1. Each authority's window and the event it is measured at come from its own published rule.
  2. We add that window to your test date in calendar months (a result from 31 January plus 1 month ends on the last day of February).
  3. For Australian visas, tests on or before 6 August 2025 stop counting on 6 August 2028 (6 August 2026 for functional English), whichever comes first.

Sources

Checked .