How to read a SkillSelect invitation round (and why the pass mark misleads you)

The Department runs SkillSelect invitation rounds through the year and publishes results. People check the pass mark, see 65, and assume that is their target. It is not, and this is the most expensive misreading in skilled migration.

What the published figures actually tell you

• The pass mark (65) is the minimum to enter the pool. It is almost never the score that gets invited for the subclass 189.
• The figure that matters is the lowest score actually invited in your occupation group in recent rounds - often well above 65, and higher again for competitive occupations like accounting and ICT.
• Occupation ceilings cap how many invitations each occupation group can receive in a program year. A popular occupation can hit its ceiling and effectively stop receiving invitations.

The honest takeaway

Do not plan around 65. Find what has actually been invited in your occupation recently, then build your score past it. We deliberately do not republish specific cut-off numbers here because they change every round and a stale figure would mislead you - read the current round directly from the source below, then use our points calculator to see where you stand.