What CEFR level is my Duolingo English Test score?
Use Duolingo's own published alignment: a DET overall score of 60–95 is B1, 100–125 is B2, 130–150 is C1, and 155–160 is C2. Those ranges come from Duolingo's CEFR alignment study, whose methodology was reviewed and approved by the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL) and carried out by an independent expert panel including researchers from ACS Ventures and CRELLA at the University of Bedfordshire.
The DET reports an overall score on a 10–160 scale in 5-point increments, so every score ends in a 0 or a 5 — which means the bands are contiguous, not gappy. There is no score between 95 and 100; 95 is the top of B1 and 100 is the bottom of B2.
| CEFR level | DET overall score |
|---|---|
| A1 | Not covered by the validated study |
| A2 | Not covered by the validated study |
| B1 | 60–95 |
| B2 | 100–125 |
| C1 | 130–150 |
| C2 | 155–160 |
Why do Duolingo score charts online disagree with each other?
Search "Duolingo score chart" and you'll get several different DET-to-CEFR tables, often with confident-looking numbers that contradict one another — one says B2 starts at 95, another at 105, another draws a neat A1 row at 10–55. Most of them are reverse-engineered from university cutoffs or from someone else's chart, not from the alignment study itself. Duolingo publishes its own validated ranges; when a third-party chart disagrees with those, the third-party chart is the one that's wrong.
The most common error is the invented bottom of the scale. The validated study covers B1 through C2 only. Duolingo does not publish validated A1 or A2 bands, so any chart that assigns a precise DET range to A1 or A2 is filling in a blank. If you scored below 60, the honest reading is "below the range this test was validated to measure" — not "you are exactly A2". A test built to sort university applicants simply isn't the right instrument for measuring a beginner.
What CEFR level is 120 on the Duolingo English Test?
A 120 is B2 — it sits in the upper part of Duolingo's validated B2 band of 100–125. B2 is the level most undergraduate programs treat as the working threshold, which is why DET requirements cluster in the 105–125 region.
That said, a 120 doesn't automatically clear a program that asks for 120: many institutions also set subscore minimums. The DET reports separate Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking subscores alongside your overall, and a strong overall can hide one weak skill. Check whether your program lists subscore floors as well as an overall number.
Duolingo vs IELTS vs TOEFL: how do the scores compare?
There is no direct DET-to-IELTS or DET-to-TOEFL concordance published by all three test makers. What you can do is line each exam up against the CEFR — the common scale all three map onto — and read across. That's what the table below does, so treat it as a rough orientation, not a conversion you can quote to an admissions office:
| CEFR level | DET (10–160) | IELTS (overall) | TOEFL band (1–6) |
|---|---|---|---|
| B1 | 60–95 | 4.0–5.0 | 3.0–3.5 |
| B2 | 100–125 | 5.5–6.5 | 4.0–4.5 |
| C1 | 130–150 | 7.0–8.0 | 5.0–5.5 |
| C2 | 155–160 | 8.5–9.0 | 6.0 |
Should I take the Duolingo English Test instead of IELTS or TOEFL?
The DET's case is cost, speed and reach. It's taken online at home in about an hour, Duolingo returns results in under 48 hours, and score reports can be sent to institutions without a per-report fee. On price it's the cheapest of the three by a wide margin — roughly $70 at the time of writing, against something in the region of $200–$300 for TOEFL or IELTS depending on your country. Fees move and vary by location, so check the current number on each test maker's own site before you budget.
On acceptance, Duolingo says the DET is accepted by over 6,500 programs and institutions worldwide. That's a large number, but it is not universal — IELTS and TOEFL still have broader recognition, particularly for visa and professional-registration purposes, where the accepted exam list is often set by a government rather than a university. The rule that actually matters: check your specific programs' accepted-test list first, then pick the exam. Don't pick the cheap one and hope.
Comparing the other two? See IELTS band score to CEFR and TOEFL score to CEFR level.
How do I know if I'm at the Duolingo score I need?
Guessing is the expensive option. Most learners overestimate their own level by about half a CEFR level, and the DET is a paid exam with a real booking process — finding out you were a band short is a costly way to learn it. Because Duolingo's scale is anchored to the CEFR, knowing your CEFR level tells you which DET band you're realistically in before you pay anything.
Nivelo's free 5-minute test places you in a CEFR range (like B1–B2) graded against the CEFR descriptors — the same framework the DET bands are aligned to. Take the free English level test, read your range off the chart above, and you'll know whether you're already in your target band or need a few more weeks. It's an estimate and a readiness check, not a Duolingo score: only Duolingo issues those, and we're not affiliated with them.