PTE vs Duolingo English Test: the admission-vs-visa trap
The Duolingo English Test (DET) is cheaper and taken from home, and hundreds of universities now accept it for admission — but that is not the same as your visa being satisfied. For an Australian or UK visa, PTE Academic is on the approved list and Duolingo generally is not.
The short version
Being admitted with Duolingo does not mean your visa is covered. Many universities accept the Duolingo English Test for admission, but the Australian Department of Home Affairs and the UK Home Office assess the visa separately and — as of 2026 — do not accept a fully-online Duolingo test for that purpose. PTE Academic is accepted for both. You can be offered a place on Duolingo and still need PTE (or IELTS) before your visa is granted.
Two different gatekeepers, two different lists.
Your university decides what English evidence it wants for an offer of admission. Your visa authority — Home Affairs in Australia, the Home Office in the UK — runs its own English check against its own approved list of secure tests. These lists do not have to match, and for Duolingo they currently do not.
Duolingo's appeal is real: it is cheaper, shorter, and you take it from your bedroom with a fast result. If your only goal is a university offer and your chosen institution accepts it, that convenience can matter. The catch is what happens next at the visa stage.
Acceptance: admission vs visa
This is the distinction that trips people up.
For university admission
Thousands of institutions worldwide, including many in Australia, the UK, the US and Canada, accept the Duolingo English Test for admission. PTE Academic is also widely accepted for admission. On this front they compete directly.
For the visa (SELT)
Here they diverge. The Australian Department of Home Affairs requires an approved English test taken at a secure test centre, and a completely online test does not meet that condition — so Duolingo is generally not accepted for the student visa. In the UK, the visa route requires a Secure English Language Test (SELT) from the Home Office's approved list; Duolingo is not on it, while PTE Academic UKVI is. PTE Academic is on Australia's approved list for visa purposes.
Confirm both, every time. Acceptance lists change and depend on your exact visa subclass, course and country. Always verify with both your institution's admissions office and the official visa authority — Australia's Department of Home Affairs (immi.homeaffairs.gov.au) or UK Visas and Immigration (gov.uk) — before you book any test. For your personal situation, speak to a registered migration agent (MARA in Australia). We can't tell you which visa or test is right for you.
The scenario to avoid
A student sits Duolingo, gets a good score fast, receives a conditional offer, pays a deposit — then discovers at the visa stage that the same score won't satisfy Home Affairs. Now they must book PTE Academic or IELTS at a test centre anyway, often under time pressure before course start. They've paid for two tests and lost weeks.
If a visa is in your future, the safest move is to check the visa list first. If PTE Academic is what the visa needs, taking it once can serve both admission and the visa — no second test required.
How the two tests actually differ to sit
Beyond the paperwork, the experience is different.
Duolingo is computer-adaptive and compact: short question types like read-and-select, listen-and-type and write-about-a-photo, plus a video interview and writing sample. It's fast but the task types are unusual.
PTE Academic has 22 task types across Speaking, Writing, Reading and Listening, all AI-scored. Some tasks feed two skills at once, so preparation is more structured. See the full list of PTE question types and where each one counts.
Rule of thumb. If you only need a university offer and your institution accepts Duolingo, it can be the cheaper, faster route. If a student or skilled visa is part of your plan, take a test that satisfies the visa authority — PTE Academic does, Duolingo generally doesn't — so you don't pay twice.
Whatever you pick, practise the real task types before test day. You can try PTE's format free, with no sign-up, to see whether it suits you before you commit.
Common questions
Is the Duolingo English Test accepted for an Australian student visa?
As of 2026, the Department of Home Affairs generally does not accept the Duolingo English Test for the student visa because it requires an approved test taken at a secure test centre, and Duolingo is delivered fully online. Many Australian universities do accept Duolingo for admission, but that is a separate decision from the visa. Always confirm the current requirement at immi.homeaffairs.gov.au and with your institution before booking.
Does the UK Home Office accept Duolingo for a visa?
No. The UK Student and work visa routes require a Secure English Language Test (SELT) from the Home Office's approved list, and Duolingo is not on it. PTE Academic UKVI and IELTS for UKVI are approved SELTs. UK universities may still accept Duolingo for admission, so check both your university and the visa list.
Is PTE accepted where Duolingo isn't?
For visas, generally yes. PTE Academic is on Australia's approved list and PTE Academic UKVI is an approved UK SELT, while Duolingo is not accepted for those visa purposes. Both tests are widely accepted for university admission, so the gap is mainly at the visa stage.
Which is cheaper and faster, PTE or Duolingo?
Duolingo is usually cheaper (around USD 65–70), shorter (about an hour), taken from home, and often returns results within roughly 48 hours. PTE Academic is longer and pricier and is sat at a test centre. The trade-off is acceptance: the convenience of Duolingo doesn't help if you later need a test the visa authority recognises.
Can I be admitted to a university with Duolingo but still need PTE?
Yes, and this is a common trap. Your university may issue an offer based on Duolingo, but your visa is assessed separately. If the visa authority doesn't accept Duolingo, you may still have to sit PTE Academic or IELTS at a test centre before the visa is granted, meaning two tests and extra cost.
How do the score scales compare?
Duolingo reports an overall score from 10 to 160 in steps of 5, plus skill and integrated subscores. PTE Academic uses a 10 to 90 scale based on the Global Scale of English, with an overall score and four communicative-skill scores. Because the scales and tasks differ, there is no exact official conversion between them.
See PTE's real format before you commit
Try genuine PTE task types free — no sign-up — and decide whether PTE Academic fits your admission and visa plans.
The PTE Master is an independent practice platform and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Pearson. "PTE Academic" is a trademark of its owner. Information is provided in good faith and can change — always confirm current details with the official source. Last updated: 24 July 2026.