DET vs IELTS vs TOEFL: which English test should you take?

If you're applying to an English-speaking university and English isn't your first language, three standardised tests cover almost the entire admissions market: Duolingo English Test (DET), IELTS Academic, and TOEFL iBT. They all measure roughly the same thing — your ability to study in English — but they do it in very different ways, and the right choice depends on you.

The 30-second summary

The Duolingo English Test (DET)

The DET is the newest of the three and the most disruptive. It launched in 2014, took off during the pandemic when test centres closed, and is now accepted by more than 5,000 institutions including most of the US Ivy League, Oxbridge, the entire UC system, top Canadian universities (Toronto, McGill, UBC), and a large portion of European graduate programs.

What makes the DET different: it's adaptive (questions get harder if you do well), short (an hour vs three for IELTS), and home-based with webcam proctoring. The format is unusual — things like Read & Complete (passages with blanked letters), Read Aloud, and Speaking Sample don't exist on the other two tests.

Score interpretation: the DET's 10–160 scale roughly maps to IELTS like this:

• 95–100 ≈ IELTS 6.5
• 105–110 ≈ IELTS 7.0
• 115–125 ≈ IELTS 7.5
• 130–140 ≈ IELTS 8.0

IELTS Academic

IELTS is the most widely accepted English test on the planet — over 12,000 institutions. Owned jointly by the British Council, IDP Education, and Cambridge Assessment English. It's the safe, conventional choice.

Format: four sections (Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking). Speaking is a real face-to-face interview with an examiner (or via video on IELTS Online). Writing involves two essays totalling 60 minutes. Total length is about 2 hours 45 minutes.

Why people choose IELTS: universal acceptance (some niche programs still require IELTS specifically), familiar format, the in-person speaking interview if you're a confident speaker, and predictability — IELTS has been around since 1989 and the test format has barely changed.

Why people skip IELTS: price ($245–$310 depending on country), travel to test centre, longer total time, slower results.

TOEFL iBT

TOEFL is run by ETS (the same organisation that runs the GRE). It has historically been the default for US universities — IELTS was Commonwealth-skewed, TOEFL was American-skewed. That gap has closed: most US schools now accept both.

Format: four sections, same names as IELTS (Reading, Listening, Speaking, Writing), but all administered on computer. Speaking is recorded — you talk to a microphone, no human in the room. Total time about 2 hours since a 2023 redesign.

Why people choose TOEFL: US graduate programs sometimes have a TOEFL preference, integrated speaking tasks (you listen-then-speak about what you heard) test a different skill that some students prefer.

Why people skip TOEFL: the most expensive of the three, recorded speaking can feel awkward, and the academic content (lecture-based reading and listening) is heavy.

Which one should you take?

Honest recommendations based on the type of student:

Take the DET if:

• Cost matters. $65 is a fraction of IELTS / TOEFL.
• You can't easily get to a test centre.
• You want results in 48 hours so you can apply, get a score back, and apply again if needed.
• You're comfortable with computer-only formats.
• You've confirmed your target universities accept it (always check — the list is at the official Duolingo English Test website).

Take IELTS if:

• You want maximum acceptance — any university that takes an English test takes IELTS.
• You're a confident speaker who does better with a real person interviewing.
• Your target university or visa application explicitly requires it (some don't accept the DET yet).
• You've studied the IELTS format before and the muscle memory is there.

Take TOEFL if:

• Your target graduate program in the US specifically lists TOEFL preferred.
• You like integrated-skill tasks (the listen-then-speak format).
• You have a strong academic reading background and want a test that rewards it.

A pragmatic strategy

Most students should take the DET first. Here's why: it costs $65 and you get results in 48 hours. If you score what you need, you submit. If you don't, you've lost only $65 and gained data — and you can take it again, or pivot to IELTS / TOEFL with a clear sense of where you stand.

Many students take both: DET as the fast / cheap first try, IELTS as the comprehensive backup. The combined cost is still less than two IELTS attempts.

Whatever you choose: practice the specific format you're taking. The three tests look superficially similar but the rhythms are different. A 7.5 IELTS speaker who hasn't practiced the DET's 30-second speaking samples can score below their actual fluency.