Duolingo English Test

The Duolingo English Test (DET) is a standardized test of the English language designed to be internet-based rather than paper-based. DET is an adaptive test that uses an algorithm to adapt the difficulty of the test to the test-taker.^[1][2][3] It was developed by Duolingo in 2014 as Test Center^[4] and grew in popularity and acceptance at universities during the COVID-19 pandemic.^[5][6][7] The test is used by around 5,500 university admissions offices, including some programs at Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and Yale.^[8][9] Ireland accepts the test as part of its student visa program.^[1] Some universities in the United Kingdom, such as the London School of Economics, Imperial College London, Kingston University, the University of Southampton, and Middlesex University, also accept the Duolingo English Test.^[10] Others, such as Oxford University,^[11] Cambridge University^[12] and Lancaster University^[13] do not currently accept Duolingo.

Duolingo English Test

Acronym	DET
Type	Internet-based standardized test
Administrator	Duolingo
Skills tested	English proficiency
Purpose	To assess the English language proficiency of non-native English speakers
Year started	2016; 9 years ago (2016)
Duration	~1 hour
Score range	10–160
Score validity	2 years
Regions	International
Languages	English
Fee	US$80 (2025)
Used by	Harvard Business School, Harvard Medical School, Stanford (Undergraduate Admissions), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (Undergraduate Admissions), and around 5,500 other institutions
Website	englishtest.duolingo.com

The Duolingo English Test is scored on a scale of 10–160, with scores above 120 considering the test taker to be proficient in English. The test costs less than TOEFL or IELTS.

Comparison to other scoring systems

TOEFL iBT Score (0–120)	IELTS Academic Band (0–9)	Duolingo English Test (10–160)	CEFR
120	8.5–9	160	C2
119	8	155
117–118		150	C1
113–116	7.5	145
109–112		140
104–108	7	135
98–103		130
93–97	6.5	125	B2
87–92		120
82–86	6	115
76–81		110
70–75		105
65–69	5.5	100
59–64		95	B1
53–58	5	90
47–52		85
41–46		80
35–40	4.5	75
30–34		70
24–29		65
18–23	4	60
0–17	0–4	10–55	A2 – A1
Sample: TOEFL iBT data included 328 official score reports and 1,095 self-reported scores. IELTS Academic data included 1,643 official score reports and 4,420 self-reported scores[14]

• Note: the above scores are provided by Duolingo, the company that creates the DET test.^[14]

See also

• English as a second or foreign language
• International Student Admissions Test (ISAT)
• National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI)
• Teaching English as a second or foreign language (TEFL)