The Duolingo English Test has no syllabus to learn. Duolingo's own guide is blunt about it: the test is designed to show your real proficiency, and "intense studying right before the test will not change your score". What is fixed and published is the structure — three sections, a set of question types that appear at stated frequencies, and the way each type is scored. That structure is what you can prepare for, so the format never surprises you on the day, alongside the Myndaq Duolingo English Test course.
Three sections, about an hour
You need about 1 hour of uninterrupted time. The test runs in three parts:
- Introduction and onboarding — about 5 minutes. You install the mobile app, check your camera, speakers and microphone, complete a liveness check, submit a photo of your government-issued ID, scan your ears and room with your phone, and set the phone up to record your computer.
- Adaptive test — about 45 minutes. A run of different question types measuring your English; the difficulty of some questions changes with your performance.
- Writing Sample and Speaking Sample — about 10 minutes. You respond at length to a prompt: 3 to 5 minutes for the Writing Sample, 1 to 3 minutes for the Speaking Sample. Institutions receiving your result see and hear both.
Why there is no fixed paper
The DET is computer adaptive, which changes three things you may be used to:
- Difficulty moves. Some questions get harder or easier depending on how you are doing, so a question that feels hard is not a sign you are failing.
- Length moves. The number of questions varies; the test gives more or fewer according to how confident its grading engine is about your score.
- No two tests are alike. Questions come from a very large pool, and Duolingo says it is highly unlikely you will see the same question twice however many times you sit.
That is why there are no "past papers" to work through. You prepare by type, not by paper.
The thirteen question types and how often they appear
Duolingo's guide gives the frequency of each type in a typical test, and warns that the exact number varies by test and test taker:
- Read and Select — 15 to 18
- Fill in the Blanks — 6 to 9
- Read and Complete — 3 to 6
- Listen and Type — 6 to 9
- Interactive Reading — 2 sets of 6 questions
- Interactive Listening — 2 sets of 8 to 10 questions
- Write About the Photo — 3
- Interactive Writing — 1 set of 2 questions
- Speak About the Photo — 1
- Read, Then Speak — 1
- Interactive Speaking — 1
- Writing Sample — 1
- Speaking Sample — 1
Read the list for weight, not just variety. Read and Select alone can be a quarter of the scored items you see, and Interactive Reading and Interactive Listening together carry more than 25 questions. The speaking and writing tasks are few in number but long in response.
What each group tests
Duolingo describes each type in detail in its help centre, which could not be read for this page, so the short descriptions below are how the Myndaq practice bank models the types rather than quotations from Duolingo. Check the official walkthrough video or the practice test on Duolingo's site to see each one as it appears.
Vocabulary and reading (Read and Select, Fill in the Blanks, Read and Complete). In practice, Read and Select is a rapid yes/no judgement on whether a string is a real English word — Duolingo's scoring article calls this family "Yes/No Vocabulary" — and Read and Complete is a paragraph with parts of words missing for you to type in. These are fast, high-volume items that reward recognising real English quickly, spelling included.
Listening (Listen and Type). A dictation-style task: you hear a sentence and type what you heard. Duolingo's scoring rule below tells you what matters most in it.
Interactive Reading and Interactive Listening. Sets of linked questions on one passage or one conversation. Duolingo's scoring section names the tasks inside them — Complete the Sentences, Complete the Passage, Highlight the Answer, Identify the Idea and Title the Passage for reading; Listen and Respond and Summarize the Conversation for listening.
Production (Write About the Photo, Interactive Writing, Speak About the Photo, Read Then Speak, Interactive Speaking, and the two Samples). Open responses, evaluated by Duolingo's grading engine.
How answers are scored
Types with correct answers — Read and Complete, Read and Select, Fill in the Blanks, Listen and Type, Complete the Sentences, Complete the Passage, Highlight the Answer, Identify the Idea, Title the Passage and Listen and Respond — are graded automatically by comparing your response with the correct one. Listen and Complete is graded as incorrect, partially correct or correct.
Two rules in Duolingo's guide should change how you answer:
- You are not penalised more for a wrong answer than for skipping, and partly correct answers earn partial credit. In Read and Complete, a blank and a wrong answer score the same. Always answer.
- In Listen and Type, a missing word costs more than a misspelled one. Type every word you heard, even if you are unsure how to spell it.
Open-response types are evaluated by a grading engine trained to judge proficiency the way expert human raters do. The aspects Duolingo lists include content (relevance, development, effect on the reader); for writing, discourse coherence, vocabulary range and accuracy, and grammar and punctuation; for speaking, fluency and pronunciation.
The score
Your proficiency is reported on a single scale from 10 to 160 in 5-point increments, aligned to the Common European Framework of Reference. You also get four individual subscores — Speaking, Writing, Reading and Listening — and four integrated subscores: Production, Literacy, Comprehension and Conversation. The overall score is the average of the individual subscores rounded to the nearest 5; each integrated subscore is the average of two individual subscores.
There is no pass mark. Each university sets its own minimum, and Duolingo's advice is to check the university's own website. Certified scores are valid for two years.
For the full walkthrough of rules and scoring, see the Duolingo English Test guide. For what you buy and the rules on results and retakes, see DET fees, bundles and results. For worked examples by type, see Duolingo English Test practice questions.
Quick answers
Is there a Duolingo English Test syllabus?
No. The test measures general English proficiency. What is published is the structure: three sections, thirteen question types with typical frequencies, and how each is scored.
How long is the Duolingo English Test?
About an hour: roughly 5 minutes of onboarding, a 45-minute adaptive section and about 10 minutes for the Writing and Speaking Samples.
How many questions are on the DET?
It varies. The test is adaptive and gives more or fewer questions according to how confident the grading engine is in your score.
Is there negative marking on the DET?
No extra penalty: Duolingo says a wrong answer is not penalised more than a skipped one, and partial credit is given. Always answer.
What score do I need?
There is no pass mark. Your university sets its minimum on the 10–160 scale; check its admissions page.
