An alternative to IELTS: an online English test accepted by colleges in Canada

What is the Duolingo test and why should you take it now?

Going to a Canadian college is a sure way to immigration. Canadian higher education institutions are considered not very difficult to enter, because there are usually no entrance exams. But you need to prove your level of English. There are two ways to do this: take a language test or take a special English program to prepare for admission. If you are confident in your knowledge and are not afraid of exams, you can safely choose to take the test.

Everyone is familiar with such tests as IELTS and TOEFL. Over the years, they have become shrouded in many myths among international students, and these myths are not always positive. But IELTS and TOEFL are not the only tests that Canadian universities accept.

One alternative is the Duolingo English Test (DET), which is administered by the American company Duolingo. Duolingo has been the world's most popular resource for learning foreign languages online for many years. Thanks to the service, it is possible to study almost 100 languages of the world, and over 300 million users have registered on the Duolingo website over the entire period of its existence.

In 2018, Duolingo launched their English language test, which is taken online, setting it apart from many language exams. The DET saw a major boost in popularity in 2020, when a pandemic caused many test centers around the world to close, while the need for international students to take language exams remained. Since then, thousands of English-speaking institutions of higher education around the world and hundreds of universities in Canada accept DET results as proof of English language proficiency.