Nurses and midwives from around the world can apply for over 16,000 roles to be filled by skilled migrants over the next 12 months, occupational ceilings released by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, and effective this week, show.

Exactly 16,346 nurse and midwifery places are available for people wishing to immigrate to Australia  this financial year, a welcome intake of much needed skilled workers according to Pearson Australia Managing Director, David Barnett.

“Experts say we need more nurses and midwives in our hospitals and clinics, and we have seen the industry step up and get the policy settings right to meet demand,” he said.

Mr Barnett welcomed the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council’s (ANMAC) inclusion of the Pearson Test of English Academic as an accepted language test for nurses and midwives applying for a migration skills assessment from Friday 1 July 2016.

“For many years applicants from non-English speaking countries, such as India, China, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore, have found difficulty in meeting the English language standards of the ANMAC as they were limited in their choice of tests to prove their language proficiency,’ Mr Barnett said.

“While our test is academically challenging, it provides a simple and seamless experience for the user, which makes this process less stressful for applicants and assessors.

“Pearson looks forward to assisting Australian health employers with recruiting skilled nurses to their workforce.”

About  PTE Academic for nursing and midwifery job applicants:

PTE Academic is the world’s leading computer-based test of English for international students and migrants needing to prove their proficiency in English. It is approved by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) for all immigration and student visas and by all Australian and New Zealand universities and colleges for admission purposes.

ANMAC’s requirements are:

1.         Proof of identity
2.         English language proficiency
3.         Educational equivalence
4.         Professional practice
5.         Fitness to practice

Applicants must achieve a minimum overall PTE Academic test score of 65 AND a minimum score of 65 in each of the four communicative skills – listening, reading, writing and speaking.
For more information go to: www.pearsonpte.com