Latest 30-min Practice Test update

It’s been a while seeing new updates on the 30-minute Duolingo English free tests. Recently, some test-takers may experience Listen and Repeat question type, and it’s not there in the 30-min test anymore. Perhaps, Duolingo English Test didn’t yet want to put it in the real test. This is good news for lots of students because we are allowed to listen one time only and then type everything we hear, which’s pretty challenging. 

Since December 2022, test-takers may experience all question types in the 30-min free tests, and this is truly great news in terms of helping students get a better understanding of the Duolingo English Test. We have two categories in the DET:

*Note: After May 1st, 2023, the Speaking Sample is a scored question, and we have Interactive Listening in the certified test. For more information, please find out here. 

The new update of 30-min tests is genuinely beneficial because test-takers can experience all question types in real tests. Nonetheless, huge range scores are still confusing countless students as they don’t know what their certified scores will look like! Let us clarify all concerns with the following example.

Why do I have a huge range score? 

First and foremost, there is a reason why our 30-min estimated scores arrive immediately after completing the tests. In the Duolingo English Test, we have two categories, including Question types with correct answers and Open response question types. 

• Question types with correct answers: Read and Complete, Read and Select, Listen and Type, Read Aloud, Listen and Respond, and Interactive Reading.
• Open response question types: Write About the Photo, Speak About the Photo, Read then Write, Read then Speak, Listen then Speak, Summarize the Conversation, Speaking Sample, and Writing Sample.  

When it comes to Question types with correct answers, we have scores right after submitting our answers because it’s scored automatically by computers. In contrast, in order to deliver scores for Open response question types, DET proctors need to run through several steps to evaluate students’ scores thoroughly and accurately. Yes, computer algorithm plays a huge role in assessing test-takers scores. However, proctors always check all video recordings of students to firstly ensure the integrity of the test and secondly to offer the most transparent certified result.

Furthermore, we only have a few open response questions in the 30-min tests. Therefore, the system does not have enough data to fully evaluate students’ skills, which is why most test-takers have a huge range of scores. 

At what end will my certified score look like?

Our estimated example score is from 80 to 130. In detail, 80 is the lowest end, and 130 is the highest end. The biggest question that every single test-taker has is that “At what end will my certified score look like?”. 

According to the real certified results of hundreds of students and our team members’ results, most of the time, students will likely have their certified results near the lowest end. In our example scenario, test-takers shall have around 90-100 overall scores. Nevertheless, they may reach to 125 score due to the following reasons. 

• Mental health: This is your mood before and while taking the test. Test-takers need to maintain great mental health and mood during the whole test to deliver the best performance. If, on test day, test-takers feel under the weather or not in a great mood, we strongly suggest taking it another day for better results. 
• Performance: Our performance is genuinely affected by the testing environment, sounds, housemates, and most importantly, our mental health. As the Duolingo English Test is an adaptive computer test, so the question difficulty will change depending on our performance. Thus, making sure to focus completely on each question per time and do our best is one way to get higher scores.
• Preparation time: Some test-takers want to improve 30 scores in just a few weeks, which is impossible. According to research from Cambridge, in order to upgrade the current English level to the next in the CEFR scale (there is a collocation between the Duolingo English Test and CEFR), we need hundreds of preparation hours. But some test-takers want fast results without spending adequate time practicing and preparing, which leads to a failed result. Please kindly take a look at this article, “A step-by-step strategy to set the right study plan” to help you start preparing for your test. If you love watching YouTube video, let's try our 05-preparation-step video version.

Get closer to your DET desired scores

Obviously, all test-takers want to achieve their DET desired scores in the first test. With the DET Practice Platform benefits, it becomes much easier to obtain what we want. The DET Practice Platform offers test-takers FREE accounts that they can have the following benefits:

• 01 Full Test: This 1-hour practice test is exactly the same as the real one. On top of that, test-takers receive estimated overall, sub, and question types scores that help them identify their weaknesses and then set the right study plan to improve. 

• 32 Practice questions: Students can experience all question types with their FREE account and see how thousands of practice questions support them in preparing for their Duolingo English Test.

• Instant feedback: After submitting answers, the DET Practice Platform immediately share instant feedback to help students learn from their mistakes and advance their skills. Regarding Speaking and Writing questions, we evaluate test-takers answers based on Fluency, Grammatical Accuracy, Lexical Diversity, Lexical Sophistication, and Acoustic Features (Pronunciation). Watch our video example for a better understanding. 
  

  

  
  
  
• Integrated dictionary: If test-takers double-click any words while practicing, the meaning of the word will appear and be added automatically to their vocab lists. 

Wait no more but go to the DET Practice Platform, create your FREE account and start advancing your scores today.