Duolingo English Test

{{Short description|Online English proficiency test}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}

{{Infobox examination

| name = Duolingo English Test

| image_name = Duolingo English Test logo.svg

| image_size = 300px

| image_alt =

| caption =

| acronym = DET

| type = Internet-based standardized test

| test_admin = Duolingo

| skills_tested = English proficiency

| purpose = To assess the English language proficiency of non-native English speakers

| year_started = {{Start date and age|2016}}

| year_terminated =

| duration = ~1 hour

| score_range = 10–160

| score_validity = 2 years

| attempt_restriction =

| regions = International

| language = English

| test_takers =

| prerequisite =

| fee =US$80 (2025)

| score_users =Harvard Business School, Harvard Medical School, Stanford (Undergraduate Admissions), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (Undergraduate Admissions), and around 5,500 other institutions

| qualification_rate =

| free_label =

| free =

| website = {{Official URL}}

| footnotes =

}}

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.{{Cite journal |last1=Liao |first1=Manqian |last2=Attali |first2=Yigal |last3=von Davier |first3=Alina A. |last4=Lockwood |first4=J. R. |date=July 13, 2022 |editor-last=Wiberg |editor-first=Marie |editor2-last=Molenaar |editor2-first=Dylan |editor3-last=González |editor3-first=Jorge |editor4-last=Kim |editor4-first=Jee-Seon |editor5-last=Hwang |editor5-first=Heungsun |title=Quality Assurance in Digital-First Assessments |url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-04572-1_20 |url-status=live |journal=Quantitative Psychology |series=Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & Statistics |language=en |location=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |volume=393 |pages=265–276 |doi=10.1007/978-3-031-04572-1_20 |isbn=978-3-031-04572-1 |url-access=registration |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528033844/https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-04572-1_20 |archive-date=2023-05-28 |access-date=2023-05-28}}{{Cite journal |last1=Attali |first1=Yigal |last2=Runge |first2=Andrew |last3=LaFlair |first3=Geoffrey T. |last4=Yancey |first4=Kevin |last5=Goodwin |first5=Sarah |last6=Park |first6=Yena |last7=von Davier |first7=Alina A. |date=2022 |title=The interactive reading task: Transformer-based automatic item generation |journal=Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence |volume=5 |page=903077 |doi=10.3389/frai.2022.903077 |issn=2624-8212 |pmc=9354894 |pmid=35937141 |doi-access=free}} It was developed by Duolingo in 2014 as Test Center{{Cite web |last=Lardinois |first=Frederic |date=2014-07-23 |title=Duolingo Launches Its Certification Program To Take On TOEFL |url=https://techcrunch.com/2014/07/23/duolingo-launches-its-language-certification-program/ |access-date=2024-07-23 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}} and grew in popularity and acceptance at universities during the COVID-19 pandemic.{{Cite web |last=Ollerton |first=Niamh |date=April 2020 |title=Can't Take the TOEFL? Duolingo Might Offer an Alternative |url=https://www.topuniversities.com/student-info/university-news/cant-take-toefl-duolingo-might-offer-alternative |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528041937/https://www.topuniversities.com/student-info/university-news/cant-take-toefl-duolingo-might-offer-alternative |archive-date=2023-05-28 |access-date=2023-05-28 |website=Top Universities |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Morris |first=Catherine |date=2020-03-16 |title=US: more universities accepting the Duolingo English Test amid coronavirus uncertainty |url=https://thepienews.com/news/us-more-heis-accepting-the-duolingo-english-test-amid-uncertainty/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528041939/https://thepienews.com/news/us-more-heis-accepting-the-duolingo-english-test-amid-uncertainty/ |archive-date=2023-05-28 |access-date=2023-05-28 |website=The PIE News |language=en}}{{Cite journal |last1=Langenfeld |first1=Thomas |last2=Burstein |first2=Jill |last3=von Davier |first3=Alina A. |date=May 9, 2022 |editor-last=Musso |editor-first=Mariel F. |editor2-last=Bulut |editor2-first=Okan |editor3-last=Archer |editor3-first=Elizabeth |others=Edited by Mohammed Saqr |title=Digital-First Learning and Assessment Systems for the 21st Century |url=https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.857604/full |url-status=live |journal=Frontiers in Education |volume=7 |doi=10.3389/feduc.2022.857604 |issn=2504-284X |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240122091951/https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.857604/full |archive-date=January 22, 2024 |doi-access=free}} The test is used by around 5,500 university admissions offices, including some programs at Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and Yale.{{Cite web |title=Duolingo English Test |url=https://englishtest.duolingo.com/institutions |access-date=2023-05-28 |website=englishtest.duolingo.com |language=en |archive-date=2023-05-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528022746/https://englishtest.duolingo.com/institutions |url-status=live }}{{Cite journal |last1=Isaacs |first1=Talia |last2=Hu |first2=Ruolin |last3=Trenkic |first3=Danijela |last4=Varga |first4=Julia |date=2023-04-03 |title=Examining the predictive validity of the Duolingo English Test: Evidence from a major UK university |journal=Language Testing |language=en |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=748–770 |doi=10.1177/02655322231158550 |issn=0265-5322 |s2cid=257975807 |doi-access=free}} Ireland accepts the test as part of its student visa program.{{cite news |last1=Yim |first1=Noah |title=Duolingo trying to get government to okay its test for international students |url=https://www.news.com.au/technology/duolingo-trying-to-get-government-to-okay-its-test-for-international-students/news-story/c985573a22c2b1dfca1bb596bdfc6fde |access-date=24 June 2022 |work=News.com.au |date=4 March 2022 |archive-date=27 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220327043235/https://www.news.com.au/technology/duolingo-trying-to-get-government-to-okay-its-test-for-international-students/news-story/c985573a22c2b1dfca1bb596bdfc6fde |url-status=live }} 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.{{Cite web |last=Honebeek |first=Talya |date=2024 |title=Which top UK universities accept the Duolingo English Test? |url=https://edvoy.com/articles/which-top-uk-universities-accept-duolingo/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214081405/https://edvoy.com/articles/which-top-uk-universities-accept-duolingo/ |archive-date=2022-12-14 |access-date=2022-12-14 |website=edvoy |language=en}} Others, such as Oxford University,{{Cite web |title=Oxford University English Language Requirements |url=https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/international-applicants/english-language-requirements |access-date=2025-01-21 }} Cambridge University{{Cite web |title=Cambridge University English Language Requirements |url=https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/apply/before/entry-requirements#english-language-requirements |access-date=2025-01-21 }} and Lancaster University{{Cite web |title=Lancaster University English Language Requirements |url=https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/study/entry-requirements/english-language-requirements/ |access-date=2025-01-21 }} do not currently accept Duolingo.

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.