DET
DET scoring guide

What a DET score reports—and what it does not

Official DET results use a 10–160 scale in five-point increments. The report includes an overall score, four individual skill subscores, and four integrated subscores that show how skills work together.

Start focused practice See task scoring
Score report

One scale, several views of your English

Range10–160Used for the overall score and all subscores.
Increment5 pointsOfficial reported scores move in steps of five.
Core skills4Reading, Listening, Writing, and Speaking.

The overall score summarizes performance across the test. Subscores add detail, but they are not separate mini-tests: one task may contribute evidence to more than one skill.

Individual subscores

The four language skills

ReadingUnderstanding written English across words, sentences, and passages.
ListeningUnderstanding spoken English, detail, meaning, and conversation.
WritingProducing relevant, organized, accurate, and varied written English.
SpeakingProducing understandable, fluent, accurate, and varied spoken English.
Integrated subscores

How skills combine in academic communication

LiteracyCombines Reading and Writing evidence.
ComprehensionCombines Reading and Listening evidence.
ConversationCombines Listening and Speaking evidence.
ProductionCombines Writing and Speaking evidence.

Do not calculate an official result by averaging raw practice-task percentages. Duolingo does not publish the operational item weights, adaptive scoring model, or response-to-score formula.

Item scoring

Objective responses and open responses are evaluated differently

Tasks with correct answers

Word recognition, completion, dictation, highlighting, and linked comprehension tasks are evaluated against correct or acceptable responses using task-specific procedures. Some support partial credit. The official guidance says an incorrect attempt is not penalized more than leaving the response blank, so it is generally better to try.

Open writing and speaking responses

Open responses are evaluated by a grading engine. Official criteria include content and vocabulary, with discourse coherence and written mechanics for writing, and fluency and pronunciation for speaking.

Task accuracy is not an official DET score

A percentage from one practice task tells you how that attempt went. It cannot predict the official overall score by itself.

Set a target

Start with the exact institution and program

  1. Check the current English-language requirement on the institution's official program page.
  2. Confirm whether it specifies only an overall DET score or also asks for subscore minimums.
  3. Record the application deadline and leave time for testing, certification, and a possible retake.
  4. Use your weakest relevant individual or integrated skill to choose the next practice task.

Requirements vary by institution and can change. A general “good DET score” cannot replace the published requirement for your exact application.

PrepEx practice estimates

Keep practice evidence separate from official results

Every numeric PrepEx DET estimate is a practice estimate, not an official DET score. PrepEx stores and presents its own practice results separately from Duolingo-issued official results. It does not average the two or silently substitute one for the other.

PrepEx can withhold a numeric estimate when a writing or speaking response does not provide enough reliable language or acoustic evidence. That is more honest than presenting a precise-looking number that the response cannot support.

Official sources

Read the official scoring explanations

Official scoring pages rechecked September 1, 2026. PrepEx does not label any internal rounding or score conversion as Duolingo's official method.

DET task typesSee which tasks use correct-answer or open-response scoring. DET formatUnderstand where each source of score evidence appears. DET Study PlanBuild a week around your chosen focus subscores. DET DashboardReview saved PrepEx attempts and practice estimates.
PrepEx provides independent DET preparation. PrepEx practice estimates are not official Duolingo English Test scores or results.