CCL guides

NAATI CCL Rules: Repeats, Notes and Pauses

Updated 7 September 2026 · facts checked against NAATI and Home Affairs pages on that date

Most people who sit the CCL lose marks on rules rather than on vocabulary. The rules are short, they are published in NAATI's candidate instructions, and they are worth reading twice. This page walks through the ones that decide marks on the day. You can rehearse all of them on a free AI-marked dialogue at /practice.

The repeat rule: one segment per dialogue

If you do not understand a segment and need to hear it again, press Finish attempt, then press the Start button again. The whole segment replays — you cannot replay part of it, and you cannot slow it down.

The limit is the part people get wrong. You can only repeat one segment per dialogue without penalty. There are two dialogues in the test, so across the whole test you have two penalty-free repeats, one in each dialogue. If you repeat more than one segment per dialogue, marks will be deducted from your score. NAATI lists "excessive repeats" among the things candidates should pay particular attention to, alongside language quality and register.

Treat your repeat as an emergency reserve rather than a comfort. A useful habit in practice is to decide, before you press anything, whether you actually missed information or whether you simply felt rushed. If you caught the meaning and only lost a name or a number, it is often better to interpret what you have than to spend your one repeat. Segments are 35 words or less, so a repeat is short — but the penalty for a second one is not.

Notes: pen and paper only

You may take notes with a pen and loose sheets of paper. That is the entire allowance, and each part of it matters:

• Pen and paper only. Typing of notes is not permitted.
• Loose sheets. Not a notebook you have written in before.
• No existing notes. You cannot bring any notes into the test with you.
• No electronic resources. Dictionaries, web browsing, and live caption or transcription features are all prohibited.

Your second device — the phone or tablet acting as a camera — must be positioned beside you so that NAATI can see you taking notes. The desk should be clear of any unauthorised items, and the test location is checked at the start of the session. Because everything is audio and video recorded, note-taking is visible; there is nothing to gain by hiding it and a great deal to lose by having the test invalidated.

In practice, notes in a CCL are for the things that fall out of short-term memory first: numbers, dates, dollar figures, addresses, names of agencies, and lists. Trying to transcribe a whole 35-word segment usually costs more than it saves, because you stop listening for meaning. Build your own shorthand while you practise, not on test day. More on that in the preparation and study plan guide.

Pauses and the five-second chime rule

After each segment has played, a chime sounds and you interpret what has been said. Candidates must begin interpreting within five seconds of the chime. Long pauses may result in marks being deducted, particularly if they cause the total test recording to run longer than 20 minutes.

There are two separate reasons a pause costs you. The first is delivery: NAATI deducts marks for quality of delivery, which covers excessive pauses, hesitations and self-corrections. The second is time. Your test performance must be less than 20 minutes, counting the segment recordings and your own interpreting only — navigating between dialogues or segments, reading instructions and uploading responses do not count. If your recording runs past 20 minutes, NAATI may stop assessing your performance at that point, which means anything you say after it may simply not be marked.

The practical consequence is that silence is expensive twice over. If you are stuck on one term, it is usually better to convey the meaning and move on than to hunt for the perfect word while the clock runs.

Correcting yourself without losing the flow

You are allowed to correct yourself. If you realise you have made an error, you can correct it before continuing, and you should preface the correction with an explanation such as "Sorry, I'll just say that part again."

The catch is frequency. If you take long pauses or repeatedly correct your interpreting, this distracts from the flow of the "conversation" being assessed, and examiners may deduct marks. One clean, signalled correction of a real error reads as competence. A running commentary of half-starts reads as a candidate who is not in control of the segment.

A simple rule of thumb: correct facts, not style. If you said the wrong number, the wrong agency or the wrong direction of a statement, fix it and say so. If you merely used a plainer word than you would have liked, keep going.

Speak in the first person

Direct speech — speaking in the first person, as the speaker — is what NAATI expects. Indirect or third-person style is not acceptable in interpreting. If you interpret a sentence or a segment in indirect speech, marks may be deducted, and your test may be invalidated if you interpret the entire dialogue or dialogues in indirect speech.

NAATI gives worked examples. Direct: "I'm asking local residents how we can improve our park facilities." Indirect: "The councillor said to the residents, 'How can we improve our park facilities?'" Direct: "We had to spend 10 hours at the airport to get a connecting flight." Indirect: "They said that they had to spend 10 hours at the airport to get a connecting flight."

This is a habit, not a piece of knowledge, and it is the habit most people bring in wrong from everyday bilingual life, where relaying messages in the third person is normal. It is worth checking on every practice dialogue you record.

What you cannot do once the test starts

Leaving the test environment during a session is not allowed. You are not able to pause the test, leave the room or disconnect your cameras until your test is complete, due to security requirements. If you do, your test may be cancelled without a refund.

Alongside that, the candidate instructions set the room rules:

The equipment side of these rules — the personal device requirement, the second camera, the ban on public internet connections — is covered in the online test setup and equipment guide and the test day checklist.

How to practise inside the rules

Rules only help if you rehearse under them. Three things you can do from today:

1. Practise with one repeat. Give yourself exactly one replay per dialogue and take the hit when you run out. It changes how you listen.
2. Practise with a pen. No keyboard, no phone. Loose paper. Find out what your handwriting can actually keep up with while a 35-word segment is playing.
3. Practise against the clock. Record yourself, and check that the segments plus your interpreting would sit under 20 minutes for two dialogues of roughly 300 words each.

Our practice dialogues are written to the same specification — two speakers, segments of 35 words or fewer, around 300 words per dialogue — and the AI marking shows you segment by segment what was retained, omitted or distorted. The score is our model's estimate, not a NAATI result, but the segment-level feedback is where the rules become visible. Related reading: the common mistakes guide, the scoring and pass mark guide, Australian vocabulary at /terms/, and the full language list.

Start a free dialogue now at /practice — one full dialogue a day, marked, with no account needed.

Frequently asked questions

How many times can I repeat a segment in the NAATI CCL test?

You can repeat one segment per dialogue without penalty. To repeat, press Finish attempt and then press Start again, and the whole segment replays. If you repeat more than one segment per dialogue, marks will be deducted from your score.

Can I take notes during the NAATI CCL test?

Yes, with a pen and loose sheets of paper. Typing of notes is not permitted and you cannot bring any existing notes into the test. Your phone or tablet second camera must be positioned beside you so that NAATI can see you taking notes.

Can I use a dictionary in the NAATI CCL test?

No. No electronic resources are permitted, including dictionaries, web browsing and live caption or transcription features. The desk should be clear of any unauthorised items and you must be in a location free of other people.

How long can I wait before I start interpreting?

Candidates must begin interpreting within five seconds of the chime sound. Long pauses may result in marks being deducted, particularly if they push the total test recording beyond 20 minutes.

Can I correct myself if I make a mistake?

Yes. If you realise you have made an error you are allowed to correct yourself before continuing, and you should preface the correction with an explanation such as "Sorry, I'll just say that part again." Repeatedly correcting yourself distracts from the flow of the conversation and marks may be deducted.

Can I pause the NAATI CCL test or leave the room?

No. You are not able to pause the test, leave the room or disconnect your cameras until your test is complete, due to security requirements. If you do so, your test may be cancelled without a refund.

How long can my NAATI CCL performance be?

Your test performance must be less than 20 minutes. That includes the recordings of the dialogue segments and your performance only. Time spent navigating between dialogues or segments, reading instructions or uploading your responses is not counted.

Sources

• https://www.naati.com.au/resources/candidate-instructions-ccl/
• https://www.naati.com.au/migration-assessments/ccl/

Facts checked against NAATI and Home Affairs pages on 7 September 2026.

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