Key Facts
| Duolingo English Test certified results turnaround | typically available within two days |
|---|---|
| IELTS for UKVI Academic (computer) fee, British Council London Central | GBP 270.00 |
| SELT result validity | 2 years from the date the test is awarded |
| Student visa English level, degree level or above | CEFR level B2 |
| Student visa English level, below degree level | CEFR level B1 |
Figures correct at the time of writing. Confirm current fees and deadlines with the school or university directly.
In a duolingo vs IELTS comparison for a UK application, the deciding fact is that IELTS for UKVI appears on GOV.UK's list of approved Secure English Language Tests, whilst the Duolingo English Test does not appear on that page. That matters for any Home Office visa route that asks for a Secure English Language Test, though a university may separately accept either test for admission and can set its own requirement. Identifying which of those two purposes applies to you settles most of the decision before format and scoring are weighed.
IELTS Academic is a four-paper test of Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking lasting 2 hours and 45 minutes, taken at a test centre or remotely online. The Duolingo English Test is an adaptive, computer-delivered test taken at home, built from short tasks across the same four skills. Both report scores that can be related to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), on different scales.
What are IELTS and the Duolingo English Test, and how is each taken?
IELTS Academic is the IELTS version for applicants to undergraduate or postgraduate study, and it can be taken at a test centre or remotely online as IELTS Online. In a centre, Speaking is a recorded face-to-face interview with an examiner. Online, Speaking becomes a video call with an examiner whilst Listening, Reading and Writing run on the Inspera Exam Portal, with Speaking usually held before the other sections.
Duolingo's test is delivered online and adapts to your answers, so the difficulty of each item depends on how you handled earlier ones. A sitting takes about one hour and consists of short, targeted tasks across reading, writing, listening and speaking, followed by a video interview and a writing sample that are shared with institutions. An official practice test can be repeated as often as you like, which helps you estimate your score range before you book.
How long is each test and what does it contain?
IELTS Academic takes 2 hours and 45 minutes across four papers, each with a fixed length and a fixed number of questions or tasks. Listening lasts about 30 minutes, Reading and Writing last 60 minutes each, and Speaking lasts 11 to 14 minutes. Each paper has its own question types, set out below.
Fixed lengths make paper-by-paper timed practice possible for IELTS, whereas Duolingo's adaptive sequence of short tasks has no equivalent timetable. Duolingo advises daily practice in reading, listening, speaking and writing, and says that cramming will not change your score meaningfully, because the test measures current proficiency.
- Listening: four parts of 10 questions, using multiple choice, matching, plan/map/diagram labelling, form/note/table/flow chart completion, sentence completion and short-answer questions.
- Reading: three sections and 40 questions on texts of 2,150 to 2,750 words, with 11 question types including True/False/Not given, matching headings and summary completion.
- Writing: Task 1 describes a graph, chart, table or diagram in at least 150 words, and Task 2 responds to a point of view, argument or problem in at least 250 words.
- Speaking: Part 1 interview of 4 to 5 minutes, Part 2 long turn of 3 to 4 minutes including one minute of preparation, and Part 3 discussion of 4 to 5 minutes.
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Enquire about this tutorHow are the scores reported, and what do they mean on the CEFR?
Duolingo reports scores from 10 to 160 in 5-point increments, with an overall score, four skill subscores for reading, writing, listening and speaking, and integrated subscores called Literacy, Comprehension, Conversation and Production. Its published CEFR ranges are B1 at 60 to 95, B2 at 100 to 125, C1 at 130 to 150 and C2 at 155 to 160.
Reading and listening items are scored in real time by structured rules, whilst speaking and writing responses are scored by AI models trained on expert-rated samples. Those models assess content, coherence, vocabulary and grammar, with fluency and pronunciation added for speaking.
IELTS reports whole or half bands, and Reading raw scores out of 40 convert to a band from 1 to 9. IELTS describes its link to the CEFR as approximate: an overall band of 8.5 and above is recognised as C2, band 8 is borderline, and the C1 threshold falls between 6.5 and 7, so a provider wanting high confidence in C1 may ask for 7.
Which test works for a UK visa and for university admission?
For a Home Office route that requires a Secure English Language Test (SELT), IELTS for UKVI is on GOV.UK's approved list, with IELTS Life Skills listed for routes that need speaking and listening only. The same list names LANGUAGECERT, Pearson (PTE Academic UKVI and PTE Home), PSI Services (Skills for English UKVI) and Trinity College London, and Duolingo is not mentioned on it.
Reading, writing, speaking and listening are all required for routes including Skilled Worker, Health and Care Worker and Student, whilst Citizenship, partner and settlement routes ask for speaking and listening only. GOV.UK sets the CEFR level route by route, so the route page is the place to confirm it before booking.
Degree-level Student visa applicants have a further option, since GOV.UK says a Higher Education Provider can assess English itself and may use a different test, which must still meet the CEFR level GOV.UK sets. Your university's admissions page therefore decides whether Duolingo results are accepted for entry. IELTS advises confirming with your institution before using IELTS Online, and states that IELTS Online is not accepted by governments and organisations for immigration or professional registration purposes.
What are the security and at-home rules for each test?
IELTS Online requires you to be 18 or older and to sit in a quiet, well-lit private space with a laptop or desktop running Windows or macOS, one screen, a webcam, a microphone, speakers and your passport. Headphones are not allowed, and system checks should be run at least one day before. Human and AI proctors monitor Listening, Reading and Writing whilst your screen, audio and video are recorded, and one 5-minute break is allowed between sections.
Duolingo's test needs a computer with a working camera, microphone and speakers, a smartphone with a working camera as a second camera, a stable internet connection and a government-issued ID, with one uninterrupted hour in a quiet, private, well-lit room. Your face and ears must stay visible, headphones are not allowed, and the phone camera should capture both your screen and keyboard without being touched once the test begins. Following the rules is required for your test to be certified.
Outside help of any kind, including whispering, can be flagged, and writing responses must be your own original work created in real time. No other programmes may run in the background, so only the Duolingo desktop app should be open.
How should you choose between them and prepare?
Purpose decides the choice. A visa route that requires a SELT calls for IELTS for UKVI or another approved SELT, a university that lists IELTS Academic calls for that test, and Duolingo suits an application only when your target university names it as accepted. Where the university allows either, a face-to-face Speaking test with an examiner is the main format difference to weigh against sitting at home.
For IELTS, practise in the order of the marking weight. Start with Writing Task 2, which counts twice as much as Task 1: write at least 250 words in about 40 minutes, then mark the response separately against task response, coherence and cohesion, lexical resource, and grammatical range and accuracy. Move to Task 1 in about 20 minutes, then work through Reading by question type in 60 minutes and Listening part by part. For Speaking, record a Part 2 talk after one minute of notes, speak for about two minutes, and replay it against fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy, and pronunciation.
For Duolingo, rehearse the setup first, including the phone camera position, a cleared desk and closed background programmes, since rule breaches affect certification. Then use the official practice test repeatedly to estimate your range, practise writing original responses from scratch in real time, and speak aloud daily so that content, coherence, vocabulary, grammar, fluency and pronunciation, the features its speaking model assesses, are all exercised.
Related guides
- What is IELTS? Format, versions and scoring
- IELTS or PTE Academic?
- IELTS or TOEFL?
- OET or IELTS for healthcare staff
- PTE Academic explained
- TOEFL in the UK
- The Duolingo English Test
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Adults who come to us for English usually know the situation they need it for, whether that is a job, a test or daily life in the UK, so lessons start with a level check against the CEFR scale and are then built around the tasks the learner actually faces.
English for adults is taught one-to-one or in small groups, at every level from beginner (CEFR A1) to proficient (C2), online or in person in central London. Fees start from £50 per 50-minute session and depend on tutor level, there is no registration fee and the initial consultation is free. Employers can book programmes for staff and are invoiced directly.
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Frequently asked questions
- Can a Student visa applicant avoid taking a SELT?
- Often yes. GOV.UK lists a UK school qualification begun before age 18, a UK degree taught in English, or a non-UK degree taught in English with an Ecctis assessment as other ways to prove English. A SELT is needed only if you have no qualifications that prove your English, and nationals of certain listed countries or territories, or people who have already proved their English in a previous visa application, may not need to prove it.
- Can a Duolingo score be converted into an IELTS band?
- Neither owner publishes a one-to-one conversion between the two scales. Each maps its own scores to the CEFR, Duolingo through ranges such as B2 at 100 to 125 and IELTS through approximate band positions, and IELTS says an exact correspondence with the CEFR is not possible. Compare both against the minimum your university or visa route states in CEFR terms or in its named test.
- How do results reach the university?
- Duolingo sends certified scores to institutions once the test has finished uploading, so you should not exit before the upload completes. IELTS Online results arrive electronically with no paper Test Report Form, and institutions verify scores through the IELTS Results Service. Either way, check whether your university asks you to send results or to quote a reference number.
- What happens if a candidate breaks a rule during the Duolingo test?
- Duolingo states that following the rules is required for your test to be certified, so a breach can affect whether your result is released. Commonly broken rules include looking away from the screen, a poorly placed second camera, outside assistance, copied writing responses and programmes running in the background. Rehearsing the setup and closing other applications beforehand helps you avoid them.
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