SkillSelect Invitation Rounds 2026: Results, Cutoff Scores, and Dates

Latest SkillSelect Round Results (June 2026)

The most recent major SkillSelect round took place on 4 June 2026. This was a substantial round that closed out the 2025–26 program year. During this draw, the Department of Home Affairs issued a total of 10,000 invitations specifically for the Skilled Independent visa (Subclass 189).

Interestingly, they issued zero invitations for the Skilled Work Regional (Subclass 491) Family Sponsored stream this time around.

For the 189 visa, the tie-break date for this round was 24 April 2026. That means if you had the minimum required score, you only received an invite if you had reached that score on or before the 24th of April.

If you haven't checked your current standing in a while, you can always calculate your PR points score to see how you compare to these cutoffs.

Recent Historical Data

Looking at past rounds is a helpful way to spot trends. Here's a breakdown of the recent invitation rounds from the last program year.

If your occupation hasn't seen much action lately, it might be worth reviewing our strategies to increase your PR points while you wait for the next draw.

Understanding Invitation Trends

A while ago, the Department used to run rounds pretty frequently-sometimes every month. More recently, we've noticed a shift towards periodic, often quarterly, draws.

While they don't lock themselves into a strict legislative schedule, the current approach seems to favour running fewer rounds but issuing more invitations per round (like the 10,000 invites we saw in June). This generally allows case officers to manage the influx of applications more smoothly.

How the Tie-Break Date Works

SkillSelect is highly competitive. Quite often, lots of people will have the exact same points score. When this happens, the system needs a fair way to decide who gets an invitation first. That's where the tie-break date (officially called the "date of effect") comes in.

Your tie-break date is simply the time and date when your EOI reached its current score. If you update your EOI to claim more points-say, you finally got that superior English score-your date of effect resets to the date you made that update. The Department always prioritises the EOI that reached the qualifying score the earliest.

What This Means for Your Score

Cutoffs can swing wildly depending on your occupation and the time of year. But, looking broadly across recent trends, here is a general idea of how different score brackets are faring. (Always double-check your own score with a PR points calculator first).

90+ Points: Highly Competitive

Sitting on 90 points or more puts you in a fantastic position for the Subclass 189 visa. Historically, applicants in this bracket tend to receive invitations quite quickly across most fields, even in highly competitive pro-rata occupations like IT and accounting.

80–85 Points: Solid Ground for Targeted Sectors

This is still a strong score, especially if you work in a targeted sector like healthcare, education, or certain trades. If you're in a heavily oversubscribed occupation, this is where your tie-break date becomes a massive factor in whether you get picked up.

70–75 Points: A Good Time to Look at State Nominations

Right now, a score of 70 to 75 places you somewhere in the middle of the pack. Unless you're in a very high-priority medical or teaching role, waiting for a 189 invite might take a while. It's often a smart move to explore state options-have a read of our guide on which state to nominate to build a broader strategy.

65 Points: Meeting the Bare Minimum

While 65 is the legal minimum you need to lodge an EOI, the reality is that it's rarely enough for an invitation these days, unless you happen to be in an occupation facing a severe national shortage. We've put together a realistic look at whether 65 points is actually enough if you want to dive deeper.

State and Territory Nominations (190 and 491)

It's a really common misconception that federal SkillSelect rounds cover everything. They don't. The numbers published by the Department for these rounds only apply to the independent 189 visa and the family-sponsored 491 stream.

State and territory governments actually manage their own allocations. This means invitations for the Skilled Nominated visa (Subclass 190) and the state-sponsored regional 491 visa happen all year round, completely separately to the federal draws.

When to Expect the Next Round

While there's no set-in-stone date published by the Department, if we follow the recent trend of periodic draws, we'd expect the next major SkillSelect round to happen around September 2026.

Because we've just rolled into a new program year, occupation ceilings and state lists are being refreshed. It's the perfect time to make sure your EOI is flawless and you've claimed every point you're legally entitled to.