Duolingo English Test for Australia and New Zealand

What the Duolingo English Test is

The Duolingo English Test (DET) is an online English-proficiency test taken on a computer at home, rather than at a test centre. It is adaptive — the difficulty of questions adjusts to your responses — and the session is recorded and reviewed under the test's remote proctoring rules.

Its at-home format and typically quick turnaround have made it popular with international students. However, popularity is not the same as universal acceptance, so the most important step is confirming where it is accepted for your specific plans.

How the test works

Because it is computer-adaptive, the DET does not follow a fixed set of questions for everyone. It assesses English across integrated tasks and reports a score on its own scale, along with sub-scores. As with other tests, this scale does not map one-to-one onto IELTS, TOEFL, or PTE, so any institution that accepts it publishes the DET score it requires separately.

• Taken online from home on a computer, under remote proctoring rules.
• Computer-adaptive — question difficulty adjusts to your answers.
• Reports a score on its own scale; check the exact DET score each university requires.

Acceptance is growing for admission — but not universal

A growing number of universities in Australia and New Zealand accept the Duolingo English Test for admission, but acceptance is not universal, and it can vary by course and by study level. Some institutions accept it for certain programs and not others.

Visa acceptance is a separate question, decided by the immigration authority rather than the university — and here the position is more restrictive (see the next section). The list of tests accepted for a visa can differ from the list a university accepts, so always confirm both — with each university and on the official government source — because these lists change.

Using the DET for the visa pathway

This is where the Duolingo English Test currently differs most from tests like IELTS, TOEFL iBT and PTE Academic. For Australia, the Department of Home Affairs publishes the list of English tests it accepts for the Student visa (subclass 500), and the Duolingo English Test is not on that list — Home Affairs does not accept scores from "at-home" or online tests for the visa. So even where a university accepts the DET for admission, it cannot currently be used as the English evidence for the subclass 500 visa itself.

For New Zealand, the English level for studying is generally set by your education provider rather than by Immigration New Zealand, and where an approved English test is required, online or at-home tests are likewise not accepted. Do not assume a test accepted by your university is automatically accepted for the visa, or vice versa. These rules are set officially and can change, so verify the current position on the official government source (Department of Home Affairs for Australia, Immigration New Zealand for NZ) before relying on the DET. This is general information, not immigration advice.

How to check before you commit

Because acceptance varies, confirm it for your exact situation before booking the test.

• Check each target university's official admissions page to see if the DET is accepted for your course and level — and the score required.
• Check the current visa position on the official government source (Home Affairs for Australia, Immigration New Zealand for NZ); note that the DET is not currently accepted for the Australian Student visa (subclass 500).
• Plan to take an accepted test (such as IELTS, TOEFL iBT, or PTE Academic) where the DET is not accepted for your university or the visa.
• Verify all figures and acceptance lists on the official sources, as they change.