What is the Duolingo English Test? Format, scoring & who accepts it

How the test works

The DET is taken online from home, not at a test centre. You need a quiet room, a computer with a webcam and microphone, and a valid ID. The session is recorded and reviewed afterwards to confirm the result is genuine.

It is adaptive: the difficulty of each question adjusts to how well you are doing, so the test can measure a wide range of levels in a short time. The whole thing takes about an hour, including a short ungraded Writing and Speaking sample and a video interview that are sent to institutions alongside your score.

The task types

• Read and Complete — type the missing letters to finish the words in a passage.
• Read and Select — pick out the real English words from a list of real and invented ones.
• Listen and Type — hear a sentence and type exactly what you heard (dictation).
• Read Aloud — record yourself reading a sentence clearly.
• Write / Speak About the Photo — describe an image in writing or speech.
• Interactive Reading — a multi-step passage with several linked questions.
• Interactive Listening — a spoken conversation you respond to step by step.
• Writing & Speaking sample — a longer, ungraded response shared with institutions.

How it is scored (10–160)

You get one overall score from 10 to 160, in 5-point steps, plus four subscores: Literacy, Comprehension, Conversation and Production. The subscores show whether, for example, your reading and writing are ahead of your speaking and listening.

As a rough guide, an overall 120 is broadly comparable to around IELTS 7, 105 to about 6.5, and 95 to about 6 — but these are approximate. Always check the exact score your target university asks for, because requirements differ by course.

Results and acceptance

Results are typically available within about two days, and you can send them to as many institutions as you like at no extra cost. Thousands of universities across the US, UK, Canada, Australia and beyond accept the DET for admission.

It costs around USD 65 per attempt (check the official site for the current fee) — usually cheaper than a traditional in-person exam, which is a big reason it has grown so quickly.

How to prepare

Because the DET rewards fast, accurate English across reading, listening, writing and speaking, little-and-often practice works better than cramming. Build vocabulary breadth (Read and Select), train careful listening (Listen and Type), and get comfortable speaking to a screen (Read Aloud, Speak About the Photo).

IELTS Ace offers original DET-style practice for the auto-markable task types with instant marking and Thai explanations. It is independent practice and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Duolingo.