What is the pass mark for the Australian citizenship test?

Two conditions, not one

The Department's page states the pass as three lines: answer 20 multiple-choice questions; answer 5/5 (100%) of the Australian values questions correctly; achieve an overall mark of at least 15/20 (75%). The values condition was added on 15 November 2020, when five values questions became part of every test, and it is what separates this test from a simple percentage exam.

The two conditions interact. Because the five values questions also count towards the 20, a clean values section gives you five of the fifteen marks you need, and you can then miss five of the remaining fifteen and still pass. Miss one values question and no score on the other fifteen can rescue you.

Why 19 out of 20 can fail

Take two applicants. The first answers every values question correctly and gets five of the other fifteen wrong: 15 out of 20, a pass. The second gets every question right except one, and that one is a values question: 19 out of 20, a fail, because the values condition is 5 out of 5. Vendor guides quote this example because it is true and because it surprises people who have prepared as if 75% were the whole story.

It also means the values questions carry the most weight per question of anything in the test. They come from Part 4 of the booklet, seven pages, and the guide on the values questions goes through what those pages ask.

The pass is also the English-language requirement

Citizenship by conferral requires a basic knowledge of English. The Department's eligibility page says that if you score 75% or more on the citizenship test and answer all five questions on Australian values correctly, then you meet the language requirement. There is no second exam. The reverse is also true: a fail on the values condition is a fail on the language requirement, which is one more reason the Department attaches so much to five questions.

How much margin to build before the appointment

Seventy-five per cent is the floor, and the floor is a poor target because the 20 questions are drawn at random and a bad draw is possible. The practical target used by most preparation guides, and the one the app's pass prediction is built around, is timed mocks holding at 85% or better with the values questions clean every time, several in a row. That leaves room for two or three unlucky questions on the day.

The Department's figures, as reported by the ABC in October 2024, show why the margin matters: about 84% of applicants passed at their first attempt in 2023–24, down from about 94% before the values questions arrived, and those who failed sat the test an average of four extra times. Nearly everyone passes eventually. The margin is what decides whether it takes one appointment or several.

What you are told, and when

The Department's pages say that if you pass, it continues to process your application, and that the decision itself comes in writing. Vendor guides say the result is shown on screen at the end of the test, which matches what applicants describe. Either way, the number that matters is not the percentage but the pair: at least 15, and 5 of 5.