The Duolingo English Test blog
Guides that stay current, and articles answering the questions a single guide does not own — written from the engine data, not recycled advice.
- Built for the current July 2025 DET format, including the new Interactive Speaking task
- Guides on top, dated articles below
- Search and filter by what you need
Start with the guides
The permanent reference pages, kept current as the test changes.
How the DET is scored
The 10–160 scale, all eight subscores, and what the adaptive engine is doing while you take the test.
Read the guide → Question typesAll 13 question types
Every task, what it measures, how it is scored, and what loses people marks.
Read the guide → ComparisonDET vs IELTS vs TOEFL
How the three compare on cost, length and format — and why conversion tables mislead.
Read the guide → PreparationHow to prepare for the DET
What actually moves a score, and what to sort out before test day.
Read the guide → Score reportWhat a score report shows
A complete worked example of an eight-subscore DET report.
Read the guide → FAQDuolingo English Test FAQ
Validity, retakes, cost, proctoring rules and what a good score is.
Read the guide →From the blog
Dated articles on the questions people actually type. Search or filter to find one.
English Proficiency Tests Compared: IELTS, TOEFL, PTE, Duolingo and More
Seven English tests that universities accept, side by side: length, score scale, where you take them, results, validity, fees in the US and India, retake rules, and what C1 means on each. Every fact checked on the official sites.
100 Common English Mistakes and How to Correct Them
The mistakes learners make most often, in tenses, agreement, articles, prepositions, confusing word pairs, word order and punctuation, each with the correction and a one-line reason. Plus Indian English phrases that confuse international readers, and a quiz.
English skillsListening Skills: Meaning, Types and 10 Ways to Improve Them
What good listening is, the main types of listening, active listening techniques with phrases you can use, the barriers that get in the way, and ten ways to understand spoken English better.
English skillsEnglish Spelling Rules: 12 Rules and 80 Commonly Misspelled Words
The twelve spelling rules that cover most English words, with their exceptions, the 80 words people misspell most and a memory trick for each, and a spot-the-mistake test.
English skillsUnseen Passage Practice: 8 Reading Comprehension Texts with Questions and Answers
Eight original reading comprehension passages, from easy to advanced, each with five questions and a full answer key that explains every answer, plus a method for answering unseen passages.
English skillsHow to Speak English Fluently: 15 Ways to Improve Your Speaking
Fluency is not perfect grammar. Fifteen practical ways to speak English more smoothly and confidently, a 30-day plan, the phrases that keep you talking, and how speaking is tested on the Duolingo English Test.
English skillsParagraph Writing: Format, Examples and 100 Topics
How to write a paragraph: the three-part structure, the format schools expect, four model paragraphs, a six-step method and 100 paragraph writing topics.
English skillsHow to Improve Your Vocabulary: 12 Methods That Work
Twelve ways to build an English vocabulary that you can actually use, a ten-minute daily routine, the mistakes that waste time, and how vocabulary shows up on the Duolingo English Test.
English skillsOpinion Essay: How to Write One, with 3 Examples and a Template
How to write an opinion essay: the structure paragraph by paragraph, the OREO method and a fill-in template, how to start, useful phrases, and three worked examples from short to exam length.
English skillsEnglish Speaking Topics: 150 Ideas for Extempore, JAM and Impromptu Speeches
150 speaking topics for students and beginners, from easy everyday topics to extempore, JAM and impromptu speech topics, with five ways to shape an answer and a one-minute sample.
PreparationTest-Taking Strategies: 30 Exam Tips That Work for Any Test
Thirty exam tips in the order you need them: before the exam, on the day, during the paper and after it. With tips by question type, a myth-or-fact quiz, and a section for English tests.
English skillsCloze Test: 50+ Questions with Answers, Examples and a Quiz
What a cloze test is, the six types, a six-step method, and graded practice: a quiz, four cloze passages with answers explained, and a C-test you can play.
English skillsEssay Topics: 140+ Ideas by Type (Argumentative, Persuasive, Opinion)
Over 140 essay topics grouped by type and theme, from argumentative and persuasive to opinion, descriptive and school essays, with how to choose one and turn it into a thesis.
English skillsHow to Write a Summary: Format, Examples and Rules
What a summary is, the five steps to write one, the format teachers expect, and three worked examples — an article, a story and a conversation.
Scores & resultsDuolingo English Test vs TOEFL: which should you take?
Both are accepted for university admission and, since 2026, both are adaptive — but they differ on cost, length, where you sit them and how they report a score, now that TOEFL has moved to a 1–6 scale. Here is how to choose.
Scores & resultsDuolingo English Test Scores Explained: the 10–160 Scale and 8 Subscores
You have your results — now what do all the numbers mean? A plain-English walkthrough of the overall score, all eight subscores, and the error band.
English skillsPicture Description: How to Describe a Picture, with Examples (DET Guide)
How to describe any picture in English — the format, the phrases and two worked examples — and how the same method wins both picture tasks on the Duolingo English Test.
Scores & resultsDuolingo English Test vs IELTS: which should you take?
They test the same language and lead to the same universities, but almost everything around them is different — cost, length, where you sit it, and how fast you get a score. Here is how to choose.
Format & logisticsHow Long Is the Duolingo English Test? About an Hour, Broken Down
About one hour, start to finish — but the hour is built out of three very different parts. Here is exactly what each one is.
Scores & resultsWhat Is a Good Duolingo English Test Score? 105, 120 and 130 Explained
There is no single answer — it depends entirely on where you are applying. Here is how to read the scale and find your real target.
PreparationIs the Duolingo English Test hard? An honest answer
Not tricky — but relentless. Here is what actually makes the DET feel hard, what does not, and the fastest way to make it easier.
Format & logisticsDuolingo English Test Fee 2026: Price in India and the US, Plus Retakes
How much the Duolingo English Test costs, what the fee covers, how to see the price in rupees or your own currency, and what retakes, bundles and Faster Results cost.
No articles match that yet. Suggest a topic and it moves up the list.
Three things, and not much else
There is a great deal of DET advice on the internet and most of it is the same twenty tips rewritten. We only publish when we have something the engine told us that we could not have guessed — so the archive grows slowly and each piece has a reason to exist. The guides above are the backbone; the posts are where we answer one specific question in depth.
Questions about the blog
What is the difference between the guides and the blog here?
The guides at the top are permanent reference pages — scoring, the question types, comparisons — that we keep updated as the test changes. The blog below is dated articles answering specific questions no single guide owns, like how long the test takes or what a good score is.
How do I find a specific article?
Use the search box in the blog section to filter by keyword, or tap a category chip — Format & logistics, Scores & results, or Preparation — to narrow the list. The search matches titles, summaries and tags as you type.
Are the articles kept up to date with the July 2025 format?
Yes. Everything here reflects the current post–July 2025 DET format: 13 question types, Interactive Speaking added, and Read Aloud and Listen, Then Speak retired. When the format changes again, the affected pieces are revised rather than left to go stale.
How often do you publish?
Rarely and deliberately. We publish when the engine or the grader has shown us something we could not have guessed — not on a content calendar. Most of the long-form material lives as permanent, updated guides instead.
Where does your information about the test come from?
Duolingo's own published material for anything about the official test — format, timings, scoring structure, CEFR alignment. Anything that is our observation or our estimate is labelled as ours in the sentence. Our full source list.
Do you update posts when the test format changes?
Yes, and that is the main reason we favour permanent guides over dated posts. Everything currently on the site is written to July 2025 format.
Can I republish or quote your material?
Quote it with a link, yes. Wholesale republication, no. If you are writing something and want to check a claim, ask us — we would rather you got it right.
Do you accept guest posts?
No. Everything here is written from our own data, and a guest post is almost always a link placement wearing a hat.
Are these articles written by AI?
The content is ours and every factual claim is checked against a source. We use models heavily inside the product — writing and speaking are AI-graded — and we are not going to be coy about it, but the guides are not spun output.
Is there one tip that raises a Duolingo English Test score the most?
Yes, and the honest version is short: find your weakest subscore and work on it. That is the whole method, and no list of ten tips replaces it. For the habits that save marks on each question type, see the tip cards; for exam technique in general, see our test-taking strategies.
Do you cover the official Duolingo practice test?
We point at it. Duolingo publishes its own practice test and it is authoritative about the format in a way we cannot be. Use both.
Can I get notified when something new goes up?
Not yet — there is no mailing list, because we would rather not run one badly. Say so if you want one and it will move up the list.
Do you write about IELTS or TOEFL?
Only where it helps you place a DET score. The comparison page is as far as that goes; we do not prepare people for those tests.
Why do your guides say what they cannot tell me?
Because a practice platform that claims to predict your official score is lying, and the limits are part of the information. Knowing a score has error bars changes how you should act on it.
How do I suggest a topic?
Email us. Questions people cannot find a straight answer to are exactly what we want to hear about.
Walk into the DET already knowing the room
Every guide and post here is written from the engine data and updated when the format changes. Missing something? Tell us what to cover next.
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