What happens if you fail the Australian citizenship test

What Home Affairs does after a fail

Your result appears on the screen as soon as you finish the test, so you'll know before you leave the test centre. What happens next is calmer than most people expect.

• Your visa doesn't change. Home Affairs says plainly that failing the test does not affect your permanent visa or stop you from living in Australia.
• The next appointment is booked for you. You don't need to apply again. Home Affairs arranges another appointment and gives you the details.
• It costs nothing extra. The citizenship application fee you already paid includes the test, and that covers sitting it again.

The limit is three appointments. If you do not pass after three, Home Affairs may refuse your application. After a first fail, that still leaves two more attempts, and the time in between is yours to prepare.

The two ways to fail

The test has 20 multiple-choice questions and two separate pass rules. You need both:

1. A mark of at least 75%, which is 15 of the 20 questions.
2. All 5 of the Australian values questions right.

The second rule is the one that catches people out. The values questions are mixed in with the rest and aren't labelled, and a single wrong values answer means you don't pass, whatever your score. Someone with 19 of 20 can fail, while someone with 15 of 20 can pass.

If you're not sure which rule you missed, prepare for both. Part 4 of the booklet, Australian values, runs from page 34 to page 39, and it is where the values questions come from.

Why people miss questions

The questions aren't designed to trick anyone, but a few habits cost marks again and again.

Answering from general knowledge

Each question has three answers, and often two of them sound reasonable. The right one is what the booklet says, which isn't always what you'd guess from life in another country or from common sense. When two answers look right, ask which one matches the booklet.

Studying the wrong pages

Only Parts 1 to 4 of Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond are tested. Part 5 is worth reading, but no test question comes from it. Lists that claim to be the real test questions aren't worth your time either: each test is made up of 20 questions selected at random, and Home Affairs says even its own practice test uses different questions from the ones you'll see on the day.

Learning facts without their meaning

Questions rarely copy a sentence from the booklet. If you learned that Royal Assent is "something the Governor-General does", you may still miss a question that asks what makes a Bill become law. Learn what each term means, then practise with questions worded in different ways.

Reading too fast

You have 45 minutes for 20 questions, about 2 minutes 15 seconds each. That is enough time to read every question twice, and doing so catches the answers you would otherwise misread.

A plan for your next appointment

You won't know your new date straight away, so start now and keep the sessions short. Forty minutes a day is a good rhythm.

1. Write down what felt hard, today. Topics, words, the kinds of questions that slowed you down. Your memory of the test fades within days, and this list tells you where to start.
2. Make the values automatic. Reread Part 4 and practise values questions until you get every one right without hesitating. This protects you from the rule that fails high scores.
3. Reread one part at a time. Part 3, Government and the law, has more sections than any other part, so give it the most time.
4. Practise under test conditions. Sit full tests of 20 questions in 45 minutes, without notes. Before your appointment, aim to score well above 75% with every values question right, every time.
5. Review every miss. For each wrong answer, find the page in the booklet and read the paragraph around it.

Home Affairs offers free help: the booklet itself, in English and 40 community languages (the test is in English only), the Our Common Bond podcast, a practice test on its website, and the AMEPOnline citizenship modules for people still learning English. Home Affairs says the booklet is all you need, and it doesn't endorse paid apps, this one included. CitizenOz is a way to practise more: 444 questions written from the booklet, practice tests marked by both rules, and a values drill. Our two-week study plan works just as well for a second attempt.

If English was the problem

The test checks basic English as well as knowledge, so reading speed matters. These can help:

• The computers and tablets at the test centre have headsets. If you can't read English, you can choose to listen to the questions.
• You can ask staff for help reading the screen or using the equipment. You can't bring your own helper into the test.
• Home Affairs may offer an Assisted Test, with 90 minutes instead of 45, if you asked for help with the test in your application and either completed at least 400 hours of English classes in the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) or have an impairment that means you need more time.
• Reading the booklet in your own language first, then in English, helps you understand the ideas before you learn the English words for them.