What is the Victorian Points Test?

It is the test Victoria uses to rank every Registration of Interest for nomination under the Skilled Nominated (subclass 190) and Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (subclass 491) visas. It has seven weighted factors: age, English language, years of experience in the nominated occupation, educational qualification, occupation skill level, partner's skill, and annual earnings from skilled employment in Victoria.

Does the Victorian Points Test count a Professional Year or NAATI credential?

Neither appears among the seven factors on the Live in Melbourne page. On the Australian Government's 190 points table a Professional Year and a credentialled community language are worth 5 points each toward the 65 needed, but they add nothing to the Victorian Points Test total.

Is there a pass mark for Victorian nomination?

No. The page says the Victorian Points Test has no fixed pass mark. In each invitation round the registrations with the highest totals in the pool at that time are invited, either across all eligible occupations or within a priority industry.

Do I still need 65 points on the Australian points test?

Yes. The Australian Government requires at least 65 points on its own test, and a registration must meet both the federal visa requirements and Victoria's nomination requirements. The Victorian Points Test only decides the ranking among registrations that qualify.

Which factor counts most in the Victorian Points Test?

Age. A registration aged 20 to 29 scores 300 points and the same person at 40 scores 136. English is next, with Superior worth 200 points against 100 for Proficient. Annual earnings from skilled work in Victoria can add up to 150.

Can Victoria prioritise someone whose visa is about to expire?

No. The page says personal circumstances such as age or the expiry of a current visa or supporting documents cannot be used to prioritise invitations.

Victorian Points Test 2026: no Professional Year or NAATI points, how it ranks 190 and 491

Victoria ranks 190 and 491 registrations of interest on a seven-factor Victorian Points Test with no pass mark. Professional Year and NAATI are not among the factors. What it means if you are applying, and what it means for an agent's caseload.

Victoria ranks every registration of interest for the 190 and 491 on its own points test, separate from the federal one. It has seven factors. A Professional Year is not one of them, and neither is a NAATI credential.

If you earned 5 federal points from a Professional Year or a credentialled community language, those points count towards your 65. They do nothing for your place in Victoria’s queue.

Victoria’s page says the 2026-27 program “will open soon” for registrations of interest. It gives no date.

Two different tests, two different scales

There are two points tests here, and they do different jobs.

The federal points test decides whether you are eligible. You need at least 65. Our free points calculator scores this one, so its totals are small, in the tens and low hundreds.
The Victorian Points Test only ranks people who already qualify. It runs up to 950, so a total in the hundreds is normal. Our Victorian Points Test calculator scores it. There is no pass mark, and a Victorian total cannot be compared with a federal one.

A client can score 85 on the federal test and 600 on the Victorian one. Both are right.

How the ranking works

Every registration of interest is scored on the Victorian Points Test and ranked from highest to lowest. There are two ways to be invited, and a registration is considered under both:

Most competitive. In each round, the highest totals across all eligible occupations in the pool at that time are invited.
Priority industry. In each round, the highest totals within each priority industry are invited. For 2026-27 the priority industries are healthcare, social assistance, education and construction.

There is no fixed pass mark. Invitations depend on who else is in the pool when a round runs. The page also says Victoria cannot prioritise anyone on personal circumstances such as age or an expiring visa, and cannot tell an applicant where their points sit against others.

The Australian Government’s 65-point requirement still applies. The Victorian Points Test only ranks registrations that already qualify.

The seven factors

Pick an answer for each factor. The bars show how much of each factor’s maximum you score, and the total updates as you go. To save your answers against a client, use the full calculator.

0of 950 possible

Age

0 / 300

English

0 / 200

Experience in your occupation

0 / 100

Education

0 / 100

Occupation skill level

0 / 50

Partner's skill

0 / 50

Victorian earnings

0 / 150

The partner factor is narrow. It pays 50 only where 10 partner points were claimed in the SkillSelect EOI, the partner is on the nominated visa application, and the partner’s occupation is a current priority industry occupation. A single applicant, or one with an Australian partner, scores 0.

What it rewards

The page itself says the test prioritises younger, highly qualified applicants with higher levels of English. The numbers show how hard:

Age falls away fast. From 20 to 29 it is flat at 300. At 30 it is 286, at 35 it is 210, at 40 it is 136. After 40 it drops 30 points a year.
Superior English is worth more than any other single step. Moving from Proficient to Superior adds 100 points. A move from Bachelors to Masters adds 25.
Experience is capped at 100. Anything over eight years scores the same.
Earnings add the most for someone already working in Victoria. Each $5,000 band is worth roughly 8 points, up to 150 at $170,000.

Our reading, not Victoria’s: a Professional Year or a NAATI credential is worth a flat 5 points on the Australian test. Against a scale where one year of age costs 14 to 30 points, there is no equivalent here.

If you are applying

Work out your federal score first. Our free points calculator scores your claims against the Australian Government table, including the Professional Year and community language points. That is the 65 you need. Victoria’s ranking is a separate number, and our Victorian Points Test calculator works that one out.
Check your age and English next. They are the two biggest numbers. Age cannot change. English can: Proficient to Superior is worth 100 points.
Do not read your federal score as your Victorian rank. Two people on the same 65 or 85 can be hundreds of points apart here.
Do not spend money on a Professional Year or a NAATI credential for Victoria’s sake. They may still help your federal total.
If you already work in Victoria, your salary counts. Earnings from skilled employment in Victoria add up to 150 points.
Expect no promise. There is no pass mark, and Victoria says it cannot tell you where you sit against others or prioritise an expiring visa.

If you are an agent

Rebuild the ranking per client, not the 65. Federal score and Victorian total are different numbers and should sit side by side on the file. Clients can check both scores themselves: the federal points calculator and the Victorian Points Test calculator.
Sort the caseload by the Victorian total. A client at 38 with Proficient English starts 134 points behind a 29-year-old with the same English, before anything else is counted.
Find the clients one English result away from Superior. It is the largest controllable gain for most of them.
Ask who is already earning in Victoria, and at what band.
Say plainly that nothing is guaranteed. With no pass mark, nobody can say what total will be invited.

That is seven fields per client next to a federal score calculated somewhere else. When they live on one client record, comparing a caseload is a sort. When they live in a spreadsheet per client, it is an afternoon. That is the case for keeping the caseload in one workspace. For how the federal test itself is being changed, see our post on the skilled points test. For what another state did in its first round of the year, see the ACT’s 12 October Canberra Matrix round.

If you are a registered agent, changes like this land on every open matter at once. Centrio keeps each client’s dates, documents and client money on one file and fills ImmiAccount from it, so a rule change means checking a list rather than re-reading every file. The Solo plan is free for one agent. For the cost side, see offshore admin versus software.

This is general information, not migration or legal advice. The description of the Victorian Points Test is the author’s reading of the Live in Melbourne page and the federal points table. Statements about what the test does not include, and what that means for clients, are the author’s reading. Always confirm against the primary source before relying on it.

Sources:

Victoria ranks 190 and 491 applicants on its own points test. A Professional Year and NAATI are worth nothing in it.