Duolingo English Test Course for Students in Taiwan — Online with Certified Instructors

Universities Taiwanese students apply to with a DET score

Students from Taipei, Taichung, Kaohsiung, Tainan and Hsinchu use the DET for the same destinations year after year: the United States first, then the UK, Australia, Canada and — increasingly — English-taught degrees in Japan. Here are published requirements you can plan against, opened on each university’s own page.

United States

• Arizona State University: 95 for most undergraduate majors, 100 for Nursing, 105 for higher-requirement Fulton Engineering programmes and 120 for higher-requirement Cronkite journalism programmes.
• Northeastern University (College of Professional Studies): 105 for graduate and bachelor’s-completion programmes, 120 for doctoral study.

Japan

• Temple University, Japan Campus (Tokyo): 110, from a test taken no earlier than two years before applying.
• Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (Beppu): 110 for first-year applicants and 120 for transfer applicants.

United Kingdom and Ireland

• University of Sussex: 110 with at least 105 in each component for standard-level courses, 130 with at least 120 in each for advanced-level courses.
• University of Southampton: 120 overall for its B2 bands with subscore floors from Listening 105 / Reading 110 / Writing 110 / Speaking 110 upwards, and 130 overall for the C1 bands.
• Trinity College Dublin: 120 with 100 in every subscore for standard entry, 130 with 110 for higher entry.

Canada and Australia

• University of Toronto: 120 overall with 120 in Production for undergraduate entry (tests from 1 July 2024).
• University of British Columbia: 125 overall, with 115 Reading, 115 Listening, 120 Writing, 120 Speaking.
• Some Australian providers accept the DET for admission: UNSW College publishes Duolingo bands from the 80s for foundation and pathway entry up to 115–120 for its engineering and computer-science diplomas and 125–130 for business. None of that satisfies the student visa — see the visa section.

Before you book anything, ask admissions one question in writing: do you accept the Duolingo English Test, and what overall and subscore minimums apply to this programme?

Is the DET used inside Taiwan?

For Taiwanese applicants to Taiwanese universities, no — admission runs through the GSAT and the departmental exams, and English is read from those. The DET appears in two places:

• International-student admission at some universities. Tzu Chi University‘s Office of International Affairs FAQ states that the Duolingo English Proficiency Test is accepted and points applicants to its application guidelines for the full list and scores. By contrast, National Tsing Hua University‘s international-admission page says it recognises scores from TOEFL iBT, IELTS or TOEIC and does not list the Duolingo English Test. Several private universities publish CEFR comparison tables that map the DET to B2 at 100–125 and C1 at 130–150 for graduation or scholarship purposes — useful as a reference, but not the same as an admission requirement, so read the programme page.
• Dual-degree and study-abroad routes. Feng Chia University’s international business programme lists Temple University’s prerequisite as TOEFL iBT 79, IELTS 6.5 or Duolingo 110 for its dual-degree partner — a good example of the DET sitting inside a Taiwanese pathway even though the accepting university is abroad.

If you are a foreign student applying to a Taiwanese international programme, get in writing whether a DET certificate counts and at what score.

Before you book: the visa rules that decide your test

A DET score can win you an offer and still be the wrong document for the visa. Four routes matter to Taiwanese applicants:

• United States and Japan — neither the US student visa nor the Japanese student status of residence sets its own English test; the university’s admission decision is what the consulate or immigration office relies on. Your only English hurdle is the university’s.
• United Kingdom — GOV.UK lists four ways to prove English for a Student visa, and for degree-level study a licensed higher-education provider may assess your English itself, provided its assessment is equivalent to CEFR B2. That is how DET-based offers work. Below degree level you need an approved Secure English Language Test, and the DET is not one.
• Australia — Home Affairs accepts a fixed list of tests taken at secure venues and states that it does not accept tests delivered completely online. If your student visa needs English evidence, the DET will not provide it, however many Australian providers accept it for admission.
• Canada — the study permit document list on canada.ca contains no English test; your designated learning institution decides which evidence it accepts.

If your shortlist mixes the US with Australia, budget for two different tests before you pay for either.

Choosing your target score for the universities Taiwanese students apply to

The DET reports an overall score on the 10–160 scale plus four subscores — Literacy, Comprehension, Conversation and Production — and many universities set a floor in each subscore, which is where unprepared candidates are caught: an overall 120 with a Production of 95 fails a requirement the headline number appears to meet. Work backwards from the requirements on this page rather than aiming at a round number:

• 90–105 covers a large share of US undergraduate entry — Arizona State at 95, Northeastern’s professional-studies programmes at 105.
• 110–120 is where Japan’s English-taught campuses sit (Temple Japan at 110, APU at 110 for first-year entry) and where standard UK entry begins (Sussex at 110 with 105 in each component, Southampton at 120 overall with subscore floors).
• 120–130+ is selective and graduate territory: Toronto at 120 with 120 in Production, UBC at 125 with subscore floors, Trinity College Dublin at 130 with 110 for higher entry, Sussex advanced at 130 with 120 in each component.

Pick the highest requirement on your shortlist and plan a comfortable margin above it, because subscore floors — not the overall number — are what most often send an application back. Use the university score finder to check more institutions, or send us your university’s English-requirements page on WhatsApp and we will read it with you.

DET vs TOEFL and IELTS from Taiwan: the format comparison

Taiwan is TOEFL country — most cram schools and most university language centres are built around it — so the honest comparison is three-way. Once acceptance is settled, the choice comes down to format.

Use the DET everywhere your universities accept it — most US and Japanese English-taught programmes, most UK degree courses, Ireland and Canada — and keep TOEFL or IELTS for the Australian student visa, for below-degree UK study and for Taiwanese programmes that list only TOEFL, IELTS and TOEIC. One more practical difference: you may sit up to three certified DET attempts in any 30-day period, so a prepared retake is a realistic plan rather than a last resort.

Studying online from Taiwan without losing the live experience

Taiwan sits at UTC+8, six hours ahead of Egypt in winter and five in summer, so a class scheduled for the Egyptian afternoon lands in your evening — and if a session falls late, the same-day recording covers you.

Every Teachero course runs as live online classes taught in English by highly qualified, certified instructors, with lesson recordings uploaded the same day. If a session lands at an awkward hour where you are, you watch the recording, submit the same homework, receive the same personal Speaking and Writing corrections and sit the same full mock test before the exam as everyone else.

• Standard course — more days, fewer hours per day.
• Intensive course — fewer days, more hours per day, when the test is close.
• Private 1-on-1 course — tailored around your own weak question types.

All three include personal Speaking and Writing correction, a full mock test before the exam and WhatsApp support between sessions. Arabic-language support is available for Arabic speakers, but for students in Taiwan everything runs in English. Before you choose, open which Duolingo score do I need and the DET score converter.

Paying by card from Taiwan

Card payment by Visa or Mastercard from a Taiwanese bank works, and this is how almost all of our Taiwanese students pay. Two things are worth knowing before you try:

• Online and overseas transactions may need to be enabled. Many Taiwanese banks keep foreign online purchases switched off on debit cards until you turn them on in the banking app; credit cards usually work straight away.
• Expect an SMS one-time code for a first payment to a foreign merchant, and approve it promptly so the transaction does not time out.

If a card still will not go through, message us on WhatsApp for the other options.