Short answer: each receiving organisation decides, so there is no universal list. As of September 2026, UK Visas and Immigration accepts the One Skill Retake (at participating centres outside the UK and USA), and so do Australia's Department of Home Affairs and Immigration New Zealand.
Canada's IRCC does not accept it for Express Entry, and the UK's Nursing and Midwifery Council does not either. Universities set their own policy — confirm yours in writing before you book.
The One Skill Retake (OSR) lets eligible candidates resit a single skill and keep the other three scores. The most important question about it is not how it works but who will accept the result — and that is the question this guide answers.
For the eligibility rules and the 60-day window, see our full One Skill Retake guide.
How acceptance actually works
When you take a One Skill Retake, you receive a new Test Report Form (TRF) showing the retaken skill's new score alongside your three original scores, with the overall band recalculated.
That TRF is transparent about its origin — an organisation looking at it can see it came from a retake — so each university, professional body, or immigration authority is free to decide whether to accept it. IELTS provides the product; the receiving organisation sets the policy.
Which universities and countries commonly accept it
Because acceptance is set organisation by organisation, we deliberately avoid publishing a fixed "list" that would quickly go out of date or mislead.
What can be said accurately is this: a large and growing number of universities across major study destinations accept One Skill Retake results, and on the immigration side, Australia's Department of Home Affairs accepts the One Skill Retake for its English-language requirements — you can confirm the current position on the official Home Affairs English language page.
Acceptance has broadened as the retake itself has rolled out to more countries, but it remains a per-organisation decision.
Government and regulator policies, by contrast, are published and stable enough to state. Here is what each official source says, checked on 24 September 2026:
| Organisation | Accepts One Skill Retake? | What the official source says |
|---|---|---|
| UK Visas and Immigration (SELT) | Yes, at participating centres | Approved in October 2023 (IELTS.org). IELTS for UKVI on computer only, in selected locations; the British Council FAQ says not currently for UKVI tests taken in the UK or USA. |
| Australia — Department of Home Affairs (visas) | Yes | Lists IELTS Academic and General Training "including One Skill Retake (OSR)", taken at a secure test centre, for tests taken before and after 7 August 2025. IELTS Online is not accepted. |
| New Zealand — Immigration New Zealand (skilled residence) | Yes | Lists "One Skill Retake (OSR)" among its approved tests on its skilled residence English page; the test must be taken in person. |
| Canada — IRCC (Express Entry) | No | "We don't accept IELTS One Skill Retake for Express Entry" (Canada.ca). You must take IELTS General Training. |
| UK — Nursing and Midwifery Council (registration) | No | "We do not accept the IELTS One Skill Retake test" because all four skills must be tested at the same time (NMC). It does allow scores from two full sittings to be combined. |
| Universities worldwide | Varies | Set per institution and sometimes per programme — see how to check below. |
The pattern behind the "no" answers is worth learning, because it predicts policies that are not yet written down: bodies that require results from a single sitting, or all four skills tested together, generally exclude a retake.
When a requirements page uses that wording and does not mention the One Skill Retake, treat the answer as "no" until someone confirms otherwise in writing.
The clear exception: UK visas
UK visas used to be the clear exception, and many guides still say so — but that is out of date.
The UK government approved the One Skill Retake for Secure English Language Test use in October 2023, and IELTS for UKVI on computer now offers it in selected locations.
What remains is a location exception: the British Council's FAQ says the UKVI retake is not currently available for tests taken in the UK or the USA.
So if you sat IELTS for UKVI in London or New York and missed one skill, plan for a new full IELTS for UKVI test; if you sat it at a participating centre elsewhere — Hong Kong, for example, where the British Council lists a UKVI retake fee — a retake is a real option.
Either way, check that your centre offers the UKVI version of the retake before relying on it; booking the right UKVI test is covered in our IELTS UKVI booking guide.
How to confirm acceptance for your case
The reliable process takes minutes and protects your money. Find the English-requirements page of the specific university programme or the immigration route you are applying to, and look for whether it mentions the One Skill Retake.
If it is not stated, email the admissions office or check with your case officer and ask directly, in writing, whether a One Skill Retake TRF is accepted.
Do this before you book, because the retake is only worth taking if the organisation that matters to you will accept the result.
For a university, work through these steps in order:
- Search the programme's English page for "One Skill Retake", "OSR" and "single sitting". An explicit mention settles it; "single sitting" without a mention usually means no.
- Check the IELTS organisation search. Organisations that accept retake results can register with IELTS to receive them, and the providers publish searchable lists (IDP, for example, runs a "who accepts IELTS One Skill Retake" page). Treat a listing as a strong signal, not proof — directories lag behind policy changes, in both directions.
- Email admissions with a closed question. "Does your programme accept an IELTS One Skill Retake Test Report Form, where one skill was retaken within 60 days of the original test, to meet the requirement of [your scores]?" A yes/no question gets a yes/no answer.
- Keep the reply. Save the email with your application documents; if a different officer reviews your file later, a written confirmation ends the discussion.
- Check the professional body too. If the degree leads to registration (nursing, medicine, teaching), the regulator's rule can differ from the university's — the NMC's "no" applies even if your university said yes.
If your organisation does not accept it
If the body you are applying to will not take a One Skill Retake TRF, a full retake is the answer. That is not a bad outcome — if your English has improved across the board, a fresh full test can lift every section.
Use the band score calculator to model exactly which sections need to move, then prepare accordingly.
Two refusals have specific workarounds.
Canada's Express Entry scores each skill separately on the Canadian Language Benchmarks, so a new full General Training test is the only route — our CLB to IELTS converter shows the band each skill needs, and the IELTS score for Canada PR guide explains the points.
The NMC refuses retakes but accepts scores combined from two full sittings, provided you reach at least 7 in Reading, Listening and Speaking and 6.5 in Writing across the two, and no score in either sitting falls below 6.5 (6 in Writing).
Weighing a retake against a resit on cost, risk and validity is covered in One Skill Retake vs a full retake.