Is my Duolingo English Test score still valid?

A Duolingo English Test score is valid for two years from the date you take the test. After that, the certificate is marked expired: you can no longer share it or view it, institutions lose access to it, and it cannot be extended — only replaced by a new test. Enter your test date above to see your exact expiry date.

A Duolingo English Test score is valid for two years from the date you take the test. That is the same window IELTS and TOEFL use, so no test gives you longer. The clock starts on test day — not when results are issued — though results arrive within about 48 hours, so the difference is negligible.

When the two years are up, the score expires: institutions will not accept it for admissions or visas, and there is no way to renew or extend it. The only option is to take the test again, which starts a fresh two-year window from the new test date.

That is not a rule of thumb: Duolingo’s own Terms of Service say the certificate is valid for two years from the date you take the test, and that after two years it is marked expired and can no longer be shared.

Expiry changes more than the date. Here is exactly what stops working, from Duolingo’s help centre:

A valid score only helps if the institution receives it officially. Duolingo’s own steps:

1. Log in at englishtest.duolingo.com

   Use the email address you took the test with, then open My Tests.

2. Pick the certified result and choose Share Score

   Each attempt is shared separately, so choose the result you want the institution to see.

3. Choose the institutions

   Say whether you are applying to a university, a secondary school or another institution, then search and tick each one. Add your Application ID if the institution uses one.

4. Press Send

   You confirm that you are officially applying to each institution — sending a score is not an application on its own.

You can select up to 40 institutions at a time and add more later; going beyond 40 needs a request to support. The website is the only official route: a PDF of your certificate is not treated as official, so if an institution asks for one, create a shareable certificate link as well so they can verify it (sending results, PDF certificates).

Plan so your score is valid through your whole application and enrolment window. A safe rule is to test within about a year of applying — that leaves comfortable margin against the two-year limit and covers deferrals or a delayed start. If your score would lapse mid-application, book a fresh test in good time rather than risking an expiry at the wrong moment.

Buying a test starts a separate, shorter clock: you have 21 days from the purchase date to take it, and unused test credits cannot be extended (help centre). So buy close to the day you plan to sit it — the two-year validity only begins on test day.

Retaking soon? A full practice test gives you a predicted score before you pay for the real one, and our scoring guide explains what each number means.

Switching tests does not buy you time — all three use a two-year window. Where they differ is how quickly you get the result and how you send it:

“Duolingo English Test validity” is also searched in a second sense: is the test accepted, and does it measure English properly? Duolingo says the test is trusted by more than 6,500 institutions worldwide, but acceptance is decided institution by institution — and for a visa, by the country’s own rules. Check the programme’s admissions page, and use our list of universities and countries that accept the DET to start. On measurement, Duolingo publishes research on the test’s design and validity — for example its 2017 paper The Duolingo English Test: Design, Validity, and Value. And once you have a score, what your DET score means explains every number on the report.