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

Universities Ukrainian students apply to with a DET score

Since 2022 the map of Ukrainian applicants has been redrawn: Poland and Germany take the largest numbers, Czechia and Italy follow, and the UK, Ireland, Canada and the United States remain the English-language targets. The DET does not work equally everywhere on that map, so here are published requirements you can plan against, opened on each university’s own page.

Germany and Italy

• Constructor University (Bremen): 110 for undergraduate entry and 110 for graduate entry.
• Bocconi University (Milan): 110 for MSc and MA programmes. The undergraduate language page lists TOEFL and IELTS and does not list the Duolingo English Test, so treat the DET as a graduate tool at Bocconi.

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 that rise band by band (Listening 105, Reading 110, Writing 110, Speaking 110 at Band C, up to Writing 130 at Band E), 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.
• University College Dublin: from 90 with at least 80 in each subscore, rising to 100 with 90, 110 with 100 and above depending on the master’s.

United States and Canada

• 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.
• 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.

Poland and Czechia — read before you book

This is where Ukrainian applicants most often waste a test. Kozminski University lists IELTS, TOEFL iBT, TOEIC and several certificate exams for its Bachelor in Management and does not list the Duolingo English Test. Vistula University‘s English-requirements document lists IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC and the Oxford Test of English and does not list the DET. Anglo-American University in Prague states outright that Duolingo is not one of its accepted English exams. If your list is Polish or Czech, ask each programme in writing before you pay for any test.

Is the DET used inside Ukraine?

Ukrainian universities admit through the national testing system and their own procedures, and English is assessed through school results or a university’s own exam, so the DET is not part of a domestic application. Where it does appear is in the study-abroad ecosystem: Kyiv School of Economics’ Ukrainian Global University initiative describes a partnership with Duolingo so that displaced Ukrainians can take the English test wherever they are, and the score is then used for the partner universities abroad, not for KSE’s own admission. Treat a DET certificate as a passport for applications outside Ukraine and confirm with any local or transnational programme whether it counts.

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 Ukrainian applicants:

• Poland, Germany, Czechia and the rest of the EU — national student visas and residence permits do not set their own English test; the university’s admission decision is what the consulate checks. Your only English hurdle is the university’s, which is why the acceptance table above matters more than anything a consulate will ask.
• 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 at Sussex or Southampton work. Below degree level you need an approved Secure English Language Test.
• Canada — the study permit document list on canada.ca contains no English test; your designated learning institution decides what evidence it accepts.
• Australia — Home Affairs publishes a fixed list of accepted tests and states that it does not accept tests delivered completely online. Plan for one of the listed tests if the student visa needs English evidence.

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

Choosing your target score for the universities Ukrainian 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 undergraduate entry — Arizona State at 95, Northeastern’s professional-studies programmes at 105, University College Dublin from 90 with 80 in each subscore.
• 110–120 is where German and Italian entry sits (Constructor at 110, Bocconi MSc at 110) and where standard UK entry begins (Sussex at 110 with 105 in each component, Southampton at 120 overall).
• 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 IELTS from Ukraine: the format comparison

Both exams test the same language in different shapes, and once acceptance is settled the choice comes down to format.

Use the DET everywhere your universities accept it — Germany, Italy, Ireland, North America and most UK degree courses — and keep IELTS for Polish and Czech programmes that do not list it and for the visa routes that require a Secure English Language Test. 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 Ukraine without losing the live experience

Ukraine sits at UTC+2 (UTC+3 in summer), the same hours as Egypt, so live classes land in the same part of the day for you as for students in Cairo — and if you are currently living further west in Europe or in North America, the recordings cover 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 Ukraine everything runs in English. Before you choose, open which Duolingo score do I need and the DET score converter.

Paying by card from Ukraine

Card payment by Visa or Mastercard issued by a Ukrainian bank works for paying a foreign merchant online, and this is how most of our Ukrainian students pay. Two things are worth knowing before you try:

• Your bank may block the first international charge. Ukrainian banks screen unusual foreign-currency transactions under the wartime currency rules; if the payment is refused, confirm it in the banking app or with the bank and try again.
• Check that online and international payments are enabled on the card. Some cards keep foreign online purchases switched off until you turn them on.

If you are living abroad and paying with a card from your host country, none of this applies. If a card still will not go through, message us on WhatsApp for the other options.