Duolingo English Test practice: tasks, strategy, questions
The Duolingo English Test is a short, adaptive, computer-marked English test taken at home under remote proctoring, and it rewards a very particular set of habits: fast word recognition, accurate typing, and speaking to a prompt with no second attempt. These pages break the test into its real task types, explain what each one is measuring, and give you original practice for every one.
Who Duolingo English Test is for
- University applicants who need an English score quickly and want to test from home.
- Candidates who have taken IELTS or TOEFL before and need to adapt to a shorter, adaptive format.
- Students who read and write well but freeze on the one-minute speaking prompts.
- Teachers who want task-by-task practice material to set between lessons.
- Applicants retaking the test who know their score but not which task pulled it down.
- Candidates with strong classroom English who have never been tested on typing from audio.
- People preparing on a short deadline who need to know what to practise first.
- Anyone who needs a home-based test and wants to understand the proctoring rules before booking.
The exam at a glance
| Length | About an hour in one sitting, including a short recorded interview section |
|---|---|
| Format | Computer-adaptive tasks on screen, taken at home under remote proctoring |
| Skills covered | Reading, writing, listening and speaking, mixed across integrated task types |
| Scoring | One overall score on the test’s own scale, plus subscores for literacy, comprehension, conversation and production |
| CEFR | Results are reported alongside CEFR levels; most university requirements sit around B2 or above |
| Validity | Scores are valid for a limited period, commonly two years — confirm with the institution |
| Acceptance | Accepted by many universities and programmes worldwide; always check the requirement on the official site |
Note
Pick Two Activity is an independent tool. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Cambridge University Press & Assessment, the British Council, IDP, ETS, Duolingo or any other exam board. Exam names are trademarks of their owners and are used here only to describe the exam you are preparing for. Every question on this page is original practice written by us: we do not provide, copy or reproduce official exam papers.
The papers
Reading & Writing
Practise every Duolingo English Test reading and writing task: read and complete, read and select, interactive reading, the photo and extended writing.
Listening & Speaking
Practise every Duolingo English Test listening and speaking task: listen and type, listen and select, read aloud, the photo and interactive speaking.
Test strategy
Duolingo English Test strategy: adaptive scoring, pacing each task, what institutions receive, the proctoring rules and how to build a study plan.
Frequently asked questions
What makes the Duolingo English Test different from IELTS or TOEFL?
It is shorter, taken at home, and adaptive: the difficulty of each item responds to how you have answered so far. It also mixes skills inside single tasks — typing what you hear, or speaking about something you have just read — rather than testing each skill in a separate paper.
What does ‘adaptive’ mean in practice?
If you answer well, the next items get harder; if you struggle, they get easier. Harder items are a good sign, not a warning. It also means you cannot skip ahead or go back and change an answer once you have moved on.
What score do I need?
That depends entirely on the institution and the course. Check the requirement on the university’s own admissions page before you book, and confirm the score is still within their accepted validity period when you apply.
How should I prepare if I only have two weeks?
Take a practice run to find your weakest task, then train that task daily for twenty minutes: dictation typing and read and complete respond fastest to short, frequent practice. Spend the rest of the time speaking aloud to a timer.
Can my test be rejected after I have taken it?
Yes. Results are reviewed, and a test can be invalidated if the proctoring rules were broken — looking away from the screen, another person in the room, a second device, background noise you could have prevented. Read the current rules on the official site before you start.
Do I need a special room or equipment?
You need a quiet room you will not be interrupted in, a computer with a working camera and microphone, a stable internet connection and photo identification. Test the hardware the day before, not five minutes before.
What are the subscores for?
They break your overall result into literacy, comprehension, conversation and production, which overlap rather than matching the four traditional skills. They are the most useful thing on the report for deciding what to practise next.
Is typing speed important?
It matters more than candidates expect. Dictation, photo description and the extended writing task are all typed under a clock, so slow or inaccurate typing costs marks that have nothing to do with your English.
How is the test different for speaking?
You speak to a microphone with no interlocutor and usually no second attempt. Fluency and keeping going matter more than polish, because a long silence produces no language to assess.
Can I retake the test if I am unhappy with the score?
Retakes are allowed, subject to the limits the official site sets for a given period. Before rebooking, use the subscores to identify the weakest area and train it, otherwise a retake tends to reproduce the same result.