Duolingo English Test estimated scores explanation

The Duolingo English Practice Test is what DET offers you for free to help you have a deeper and better understanding of DET about their question types. If you still do not yet comprehend all the question types, we strongly recommend you check our Duolingo English Test category for more detail.

Please bear in mind that you can take the Practice Tests as many times as you like. However, we suggest you experience it a few times because the questions will be repeated over time, which is not helpful to improve your skills except for providing you with a thorough understanding of the question types. Nevertheless, let’s go for the Practice Test.  

1. How to take the Duolingo English Practice Test                    

a. Step 1: Go to the Duolingo English Test home page                     

You need to create an account to take it by clicking on the “SIGN UP” button     

b. Step 2: Click the “PRACTICE TEST” button                   

Once you log in, you will see the below image and click “PRACTICE TEST” to start your practice test.      

c. Step 3: Keep clicking the “PRACTICE TEST” button                   

After that, your practice test will begin!    

2. What should you know before taking the Practice Test?                   

• Firstly, each practice test lasts for 30 minutes instead of 60 minutes in the real test.
• Secondly, you may or may not experience all question types in the actual tests.

The frequency of each question type in the real test, taking effect from 02 April 2024.  

• Last but not least, you will receive your Estimated Scores in a range of numbers, indicating the Real score you will likely get in the real tests.

This is what you will see:       

Recently, the Duolingo English Test offers phone-version tests that students can take 30-minute practice tests on their phones. Some question types and scores are as follows:

Yes, we still receive estimated scores at the end of the test. However, because it's a mobile version so it is not as accurate as you do on computers. Thus, students should take it on computers to save time and have more accurate results. 

3. Practice Test estimated scores explanation                 

You will receive a range of estimated scores such as 125 - 150, 90-140,115-135 after completing each Duolingo English Practice Test. The estimated scores help you better understand your English proficiency; more importantly, you will comprehend almost question types you will face in the real tests.    

Nonetheless, why does sometimes the range of the estimated score so broad, such as 90-140? To explain this, we have two reasons.     

a. How the question types are scored                 

The first set includes Read and Complete, Fill in the Blanks, Read and Select, Listen and Type, Read Aloud, Listen and Respond (in the Interactive Listening) and Interactive Reading. These question types are graded automatically by special procedures by comparing your answers with the existing ones. Thus, your estimated score for these questions is accurate and similar to your score on the actual test.

The second set includes Write about The Photo, Speak about The Photo, Interactive Writing, Read then Speak, Listen then Speak, Summarize the Conversation, Writing Sample, and Speaking Sample which is open response questions. They will need a grading engine in addition to human proctors to deliver the most accurate result. Consequently, the estimated score range is mainly due to this matter. In detail, there are several probabilities to your estimated score, including:

• You did well for the first set but not for the rest (or even you skipped most questions in the second set), or in the opposite way: Your answers to open response questions could be good, average, or even bad depending on the questions themselves, your form, or other reasons. Moreover, they will not evaluate your performance based on all aspects, including Grammatical accuracy, Grammatical complexity, Lexical sophistication, Lexical diversity, Task relevance, Fluency, Discourse Coherence and Acoustic Features. It explains why the estimated score comes to the screen right away after you finish it, while the score for the real test takes at least 12 hours or 02 working days because they need human proctors to go over your video recordings of responses. In this scenario, you may get a significant gap in your range score.         

• You did excellent or poor for all question types: Your estimated score will be high, and the gap is not too big because you excel at English. Or perhaps you were in a great form to answer open response questions excellently. So, you may see some estimated scores like 110-130, 115-125, or even 125-145. These estimated scores have small gaps from the lowest end to the highest one.       

b. Need an adequate number of questions                 

Apparently, you only devote 30 minutes to taking the Practice Test, but you need to spend 01 hour on the real ones. To prove one’s English proficiency, you will need to test yourself with an adequate number of questions to have an accurate and trusted result. To those who are looking for a 1-hour FREE Practice test, let's go to the DET Practice Platform, take it for free and get your estimated scores as follows.

Aside from the Overall estimated score, test-takers also comprehend your skills for each question type, which is prerequisite for building an effective study plan.

*Practice makes perfect.

Live-interactive DET Practice Website       

Again, the Duolingo English Practice Test only helps you better understand most of the question types and an estimated score of your English level. Hence, if you want to advance your skills to aim for a high score, you can pay a visit to our Practice Platform.     

Our Practice Platform offers thousands of questions and automatic correcting systems for all questions to support you in identifying almost all mistakes. Then you can learn from them and improve your scores. We evaluate your English level based on several aspects, including the same grading elements as what the Duolingo English Test uses to evaluate your skills. For example, the below image is sample feedback for Speaking Sample questions that you receive the same feedback for other Speaking question types. When it comes to Writing question types, we do not have Fluency and Acoustic features, which are used only for Speaking questions. 

Additionally, we have an integrated dictionary. You can check a word’s meaning, pronunciation, synonyms, collocations, etc., apart from three supportive lists, including My Vocab, Collocations & Idioms, and Linking words. Everything you need is available on our Practice Platform. Feel free to check our correcting system sample feedback .    

Do it now! Create a FREE ACCOUNT on our Practice Platform and start boosting your scores today!