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

Universities Tanzanian students apply to with a DET score

Tanzanian applicants cluster around the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia and — increasingly — Ireland and Germany, with India, Malaysia, Turkey and South Africa as regional options. The DET behaves differently in each, so here are requirements taken from the universities’ own pages.

United Kingdom

• University of Hertfordshire: 120 overall with no less than 95 in each band where a course asks for IELTS 6.5, and 105 with 95 in each band where it asks for 6.0.
• University of Southampton: 120 overall for its B2 bands, with subscore floors that start at 105 and rise by band, and 130 overall for the C1 bands. Southampton scores you on individual subscores, not the integrated ones.
• University of Sheffield publishes its requirement as IELTS 6.5 with 6.0 in each component and does not list the Duolingo English Test on its English-requirements page — ask the admissions team in writing before you rely on it.

United States

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

Canada and Ireland

• University of Toronto: 120 overall with 120 in Production for tests taken on or after 1 July 2024.
• University of British Columbia: 125 overall with 115 Reading, 115 Listening, 120 Writing and 120 Speaking.
• Trinity College Dublin: 120 with 100 in each subscore for standard entry, 130 with 110 for higher entry.
• University College Dublin: from 90 with 80 in each subscore for the standard requirement, rising through 100/90 and 110/100 for taught master’s to 120/110 and above for the highest bands.

Germany, Turkey and Australia

• Constructor University (Bremen) lists 110 for graduate entry; many German public universities still ask for IELTS or TOEFL, so read the programme page.
• Bilkent University in Ankara lists only IELTS and TOEFL iBT for international applicants and does not list the Duolingo English Test.
• Some Australian providers accept the DET for admission — UNSW College publishes Duolingo bands for its pathway programmes — but not for the student visa. See the visa section.

One written question to admissions settles most doubt: do you accept the Duolingo English Test for this programme, and what overall and subscore minimums apply? Our university finder is a good place to start the shortlist.

Is the DET used inside Tanzania?

Rarely. Tanzanian universities admit on your ACSEE results or diploma, and English is already the medium of instruction, so a local applicant is not asked for an international English certificate. The University of Dar es Salaam tells international applicants from non-English-speaking countries that they may be asked for evidence of English proficiency, but its application page does not list the Duolingo English Test or any named test. Aga Khan University’s admissions pages describe fluency in English as a selection criterion without naming a test. If a scholarship or a transnational programme in Tanzania asks you for an English certificate, get the accepted tests and the minimum score in writing before you book anything.

Before you book: the visa rules that decide your test

A DET score can win the offer and still be the wrong document for the visa. Three routes matter to Tanzanian applicants:

• United Kingdom — the DET is not on UKVI’s list of Secure English Language Tests. But gov.uk states that if you are studying at degree level or above, your Higher Education Provider can assess your level of English itself, as long as it is equivalent to CEFR B2. That is how DET-based offers turn into a CAS. Below degree level you need a SELT such as IELTS for UKVI.
• Canada — with the Student Direct Stream ended in November 2024, every applicant uses the regular study permit and the IRCC eligibility page lists no language test of its own; your designated learning institution decides which English evidence it accepts, and many accept the DET.
• Australia — the Department of Home Affairs accepts a fixed list of tests (IELTS, PTE Academic, TOEFL iBT, Cambridge C1 Advanced, OET, LanguageCert Academic, CELPIP, Michigan English Test) and states that it does not accept evidence from tests delivered completely online. The DET will not satisfy the subclass 500 English requirement.

If your shortlist mixes the UK or Canada with Australia, plan for two tests from the start.

Choosing your target score for the universities Tanzanian students apply to

The DET reports an overall score on the 10–160 scale in steps of five, plus four subscores: Literacy, Comprehension, Conversation and Production. Most universities publish an overall minimum and many publish a floor in each subscore, and the subscore floor is what sends applications back: a 120 overall with a 95 in Production fails Toronto’s requirement even though the headline number matches.

Work backwards from the numbers above rather than aiming at a round figure:

• 90–105 covers a large share of undergraduate entry — Arizona State at 95, UCD from 90 with 80 in each subscore, Hertfordshire’s 6.0-equivalent band at 105 with 95 in each band, Northeastern’s professional programmes at 105.
• 110–125 is where most UK degree courses and Constructor University sit, and where Hertfordshire’s 6.5-equivalent band (120 with 95) and Southampton’s B2 bands (120) land.
• 120–130+ is selective and graduate territory: Toronto at 120 with 120 in Production, UBC at 125 with subscore floors, Trinity at 120/100 and 130/110, Southampton’s C1 bands at 130.

Pick the highest requirement on your list and plan a comfortable margin above it. Use the score converter to translate an IELTS band a university quotes, read which Duolingo score you need, or send us the university’s English page on WhatsApp and we will read it with you.

DET vs IELTS from Tanzania: the format comparison

Both exams measure the same English in different shapes. Once you know which of your universities accept which test, the decision is about format.

The practical rule for a student in Tanzania: use the DET everywhere your universities accept it, and keep IELTS for the visa routes that demand a Secure English Language Test. One more useful detail: Duolingo allows up to three certified tests in any 30-day period, so a prepared retake is a real option rather than a panic.

Studying online from Tanzania without losing the live experience

Tanzania runs on East Africa Time, UTC+3, which sits comfortably with classes scheduled for Egypt and the wider region, but a round set for students in the Americas or East Asia can still fall late in your evening. Every Teachero course runs as live online classes taught in English by highly qualified, certified instructors, and every lesson recording is uploaded the same day, so a session that lands at an awkward hour in Tanzania is not lost: you watch it, submit the same work and receive the same corrections as everyone else.

• Standard course — more days, fewer hours per day.
• Intensive course — fewer days, more hours per day, for when the exam is close.
• Private 1-on-1 course — tailored to the question types that hold your score back.

All three include personal Speaking and Writing correction, a full mock test before the exam and WhatsApp support between sessions. Arabic-language support exists for Arabic speakers, but for students in Tanzania everything runs in English, which is the language you will be tested in. Message us on WhatsApp with your target university and deadline and we will suggest which format fits.

Tanzania is part of our Africa hub, where you will also find the pages for neighbouring countries.

Paying by card from Tanzania

Visa and Mastercard cards issued by Tanzanian banks work for the course payment. Two things to check first:

• Online and international use. Cards such as CRDB’s TemboCard Visa and NMB’s Mastercard are marketed for online and worldwide payments, but many banks keep e-commerce or international transactions switched off until you enable them in the app or at a branch. Do that before you sit down to pay, and make sure your card’s own limit covers the payment.
• First international charge. A first foreign-currency payment is sometimes declined by the bank’s fraud screen even when everything is enabled. A quick call to the bank usually clears it.

If a card still will not go through, message us on WhatsApp and we will sort out another way to pay.