The Australian citizenship test is a 20-question, multiple-choice exam with a 75% pass mark and one additional rule that trips up many applicants: every question about Australian values must be answered correctly to pass. This page covers the format, the scoring, and what the pass mark means in practice.
How many questions are on the test?
The test has 20 multiple-choice questions, and you are given 45 minutes to complete them. The exam is taken on a computer, typically at a Department of Home Affairs assessment centre.
Every question is drawn from the official study booklet, Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond, published by the Commonwealth of Australia. Nothing on the test comes from outside that booklet, which is what makes systematic preparation straightforward: the entire syllabus is finite, public, and free to read.
What is the pass mark?
You need at least 15 correct answers out of 20, which is 75%.
There is a second requirement running alongside the overall score: all five Australian values questions must be answered correctly. These two conditions are checked independently. A result of 19 out of 20 overall still fails if one of those five values answers is wrong. A result of exactly 15 out of 20 passes if every values answer is right.
In practice, the values questions carry more weight than their share of 5 out of 20 suggests. No single values answer can be dropped without failing.
How does scoring work?
The test applies two checks at once:
- Overall pass: 15 of 20 correct (75% or above).
- Values pass: all 5 values questions correct (100%).
Both must be satisfied. Getting 16 out of 20 overall while missing one values question is a fail. Getting exactly 15 out of 20 with all five values answers correct is a pass. Study the values section until you can answer every question in it confidently before treating your overall readiness as sufficient.
What topics does the test cover?
The questions are spread across four parts of Our Common Bond:
- Australia and its people: the land, history, national symbols, and significant days.
- Democratic beliefs, rights and liberties: the freedoms, responsibilities, and values of citizenship.
- Government and the law: how Australia is governed, voting, parliament, and the courts.
- Australian values: the values section, where every question must be answered correctly.
The booklet is the only source; studying it cover to cover covers every topic that can appear on the test.
Is there a retake if you fail?
The Department of Home Affairs manages retake bookings as part of the citizenship application process. Most applicants who go back to review the booklet carefully, with particular attention to the values section, pass on a later sitting. Timed practice with exam-realistic mocks is the most reliable way to find which parts of the material need more attention before rebooking.
The pass mark and values rule above come from the official exam specification. This app is an independent study aid built from Our Common Bond under CC BY 4.0; it is not affiliated with the Australian Government or the Department of Home Affairs.