Which universities and countries accept the Duolingo English Test?

Thousands of universities and programs across more than 100 countries accept the Duolingo English Test as proof of English proficiency, including well-known institutions in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Ireland. Acceptance is decided program by program, so the reliable way to confirm is Duolingo’s official acceptance list plus the admissions page of the specific course you are applying to.

Several thousand institutions and programs worldwide now accept it, and the number has grown every year since universities began taking at-home tests during 2020. Because the list changes as new institutions are added, treat any fixed count you see online as out of date and check the current official list.

Yes — most UK universities accept the Duolingo English Test for undergraduate and postgraduate admission, including many Russell Group members. The one thing to check is your visa route: a small number of courses, and any application that requires a UKVI-approved Secure English Language Test (SELT), may still ask for IELTS instead. For the majority of standard student applications, the DET is accepted.

Yes, and the US is where acceptance is widest — the DET is listed among accepted English tests by thousands of US programs, from large public universities to highly selective private ones. Each sets its own minimum score, so confirm the number on the program’s admissions page.

For study, yes — most Canadian universities and colleges accept it for admission. For immigration it is a different story: Canadian permanent residence (Express Entry) and citizenship require IELTS General Training or CELPIP, not the DET. So the DET can get you admitted to a Canadian university, but you cannot use it for a PR application.

A growing number of Australian universities accept it for admission. The point to verify is the student visa (subclass 500): whether the DET satisfies the English requirement can depend on your institution and study level, so confirm both the university’s admission requirement and the visa English requirement for your situation.

Increasingly, yes — many English-taught bachelor’s and master’s programs at German universities accept the DET. Some public universities still prefer IELTS or TOEFL, so it is worth checking the exact program before you rely on it.

Yes — Irish universities accept the DET for admission to many courses. As everywhere, the minimum score and any course-specific exceptions are set by the institution, so verify on the program page.

In most cases, yes. The DET is one of the main IELTS alternatives for university admission, and for many applicants it is the whole reason to take it — it is cheaper, shorter and taken at home. What it does not replace is IELTS for immigration or professional registration in some countries, which is a separate requirement from university admission.

Many do. A range of highly ranked universities in the US and UK list the DET among their accepted English tests. High-ranking does not mean a higher bar for which test they accept — it usually means a higher minimum score on whichever test you take. Check the program page for the number they want.

It depends on the country. For admission, the DET is widely accepted; for the visa English requirement, rules vary — the UK’s UKVI SELT rules and Australia’s subclass 500 requirements are the two to check carefully. In many cases the university’s acceptance is enough; in some visa routes a specific approved test is required.

Generally no. Immigration programs such as Canadian Express Entry require IELTS General Training or CELPIP, and other countries specify their own approved tests for residence and work. The DET is built for and accepted by academic admissions; do not assume it covers an immigration application.

As a rough guide, many undergraduate programs ask for around 105–120, and competitive and graduate programs often want 120 or above on the 10–160 scale. That maps to roughly IELTS 6.0–7.0. The exact number is set by each program — our DET score comparison shows how any DET score lines up with IELTS, TOEFL and CEFR.

Yes — postgraduate programs that accept the DET use it for master’s and doctoral admission just as they do for undergraduates, usually with a higher minimum score. Confirm the graduate-specific requirement, which is sometimes listed separately from the undergraduate one.

Two years from the test date. If you are planning ahead, make sure your score will still be valid on the application deadline — you can check any date with our score validity checker.

Three steps. First, search Duolingo’s official acceptance list for the institution. Second, open the admissions or English-requirements page for the exact program and look for “Duolingo English Test” and its minimum score. Third, if it is not mentioned, email the admissions office and ask directly — lists lag behind decisions, and a program may accept it before it appears everywhere.