How the Duolingo English Test is structured
The DET takes about one hour and is taken online at home. After a short setup, an adaptive block mixes the question types and adjusts the difficulty to your answers; the test ends with a writing sample and a speaking sample that institutions can see.
13 question types on the current test
- Interactive Speaking: 6-8 spoken questions, 35 seconds to answer each, no preparation time.
- Interactive Listening starts with Listen and Complete, continues with Listen and Respond turns and ends with a 75-second written summary.
- Interactive Reading sets usually appear twice; some tests include a third set.
- You need the desktop app and a phone, which is used as a second camera during the test.
Setup
Adaptive block
Writing and Speaking Samples
Your score report
Your score
One overall score and eight subscores, all from 10 to 160 in 5-point steps. The overall score is the average of Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking. Literacy, Comprehension, Conversation and Production are each the average of two of those four. Scores on this site are estimates on the same scale.
Where to focus your DET practice
practice → check the answers → repeatGuides to every question type
Detailed guides with samples and scoring notes (in English).
Duolingo English Test practice - frequently asked questions
An English proficiency test taken online at home in about one hour. It is adaptive: the difficulty of the questions changes with your answers. Scores run from 10 to 160.