More than 90 Australian universities, colleges and pathway providers accept the Duolingo English Test for admission — Australian National University, Macquarie, Western Sydney, Griffith, La Trobe, Flinders, Victoria University, Charles Darwin, the University of Newcastle and many others publish DET minimums. If your offer letter asks for English proof and your institution is on that list, one adaptive hour and a score on the 10–160 scale is all it takes.
But Australia comes with the sharpest warning of any country we teach into: the Duolingo English Test is not accepted for the student visa (subclass 500). The Department of Home Affairs publishes a closed list of approved tests — IELTS Academic and General Training, TOEFL iBT (Australia option), PTE Academic, Cambridge C1 Advanced, CELPIP General, LANGUAGECERT Academic, MET and OET — and DET is not on it. If your visa application requires you to evidence English yourself, you will need one of those tests, not DET.
There is also a practical reality: the group rounds are scheduled for students closer to Cairo, and they rarely fall at a workable hour in Australia. We will not pretend otherwise. For students in Australia we recommend the same-day recordings plus the private 1-on-1 course scheduled in your own daytime. Classes are taught in English and welcome Arabic speakers and international students alike, with Arabic-language support available for Arabic speakers who want it. Schedules are set per round — message us on WhatsApp for the next round’s details.
- Recommended formatPrivate 1-on-1 course, scheduled in your own daytime
- Course formatLive on Zoom, with a lesson recording you can review the same day
- Australian acceptance90+ universities and colleges accept DET for admission
- Visa warningDET is NOT accepted for the subclass 500 student visa
- Score scale10–160 in steps of 5, with 4 subscores; valid 2 years
Australian universities that accept DET, and their score bands
Published DET minimums from Australian institutions spread wider than in most countries, because pathway colleges and regional universities sit alongside Group of Eight members:
| Institution | Reported DET requirement |
|---|---|
| Australian National University | 115–120 |
| Macquarie University | 115–120 |
| University of Newcastle | 120 |
| Western Sydney University | 120 |
| La Trobe University | 105–130 by programme |
| Griffith University | 110 |
| University of Southern Queensland | 110 |
| Victoria University | 105–120 |
| Flinders University | 95–120 |
| Charles Darwin University | 85–110 |
| Swinburne University of Technology | 85–100 |
| University of Canberra | 95–140 by programme |
| Pathway and foundation providers (e.g. Monash College, Kaplan Business School) | 80–105 |
Nursing, teaching, social work, psychology and law almost always sit above the university’s general minimum because of professional registration requirements, and many refuse DET outright. Check Duolingo’s official accepting-institutions directory for your provider, then confirm the exact overall and subscore minimum with the admissions team, and ask in the same email whether DET will satisfy your visa evidence — see the next section for why that question matters so much here.
The subclass 500 visa: why DET will not get you there
Australia separates admission from immigration more strictly than almost anywhere else. Study Australia’s official guidance lists the English tests the Department of Home Affairs accepts for student visa purposes:
- IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training
- TOEFL iBT (you must select the TOEFL iBT for Australia option with the 0–120 scale)
- PTE Academic
- Cambridge C1 Advanced
- CELPIP General
- LANGUAGECERT Academic
- Michigan English Test (MET)
- Occupational English Test (OET)
The guidance also requires that scores come from an approved, supervised sitting, and excludes online-delivered versions of those exams — which is why even TOEFL iBT Home Edition and IELTS Online are outside it. The Duolingo English Test is not on the list at all.
What this means in practice depends on your situation. Some applicants are exempt from providing an English test result with the visa application — for example where the provider has assessed English and the applicant meets one of the evidence exemptions in the Home Affairs instrument, or where the applicant holds a passport from certain countries or has studied in English for a qualifying period. Those exemptions are technical and they change. If you are already in Australia and only need to satisfy your university, DET may be all you need. If you are applying for or renewing a subclass 500, assume you need one of the approved tests unless a registered migration agent or the Department tells you otherwise. We teach English exams; we do not give migration advice.
Choosing your target score for Australia’s universities
Australian requirements spread more widely than anywhere else we teach into, so the target depends heavily on the provider and the faculty rather than on the country.
| Where you are applying | Aim for | What decides it |
|---|---|---|
| Pathway and foundation providers | 90–110 | An even profile across the four subscores |
| Regional and mid-tier universities | 110–120 | Literacy and Comprehension comfortable |
| ANU, Macquarie, Newcastle, Western Sydney | 120–125 | Production under time pressure |
| Nursing, teaching, social work, psychology, law | Check first — often 125–140, or DET not accepted | Professional registration rules |
Two Australia-specific points. First, professionally registered degrees are where DET is most often refused outright, so confirm acceptance before you fix a number. Second, ask the admissions team for the overall minimum, the subscore minimum and the visa position in a single email — the three answers together are what decide whether the DET is the right test for you at all.
Where it is the right test, aim about five points above the published minimum, and bring that number to your first private session so the plan is built around it.
Schedule and recordings
Classes are live on Zoom, and every lecture is uploaded the same day as a lesson recording you can review, so you can follow from wherever you are in the world. We send the exact schedule of the next round on WhatsApp. Because the group rounds are scheduled for students closer to Cairo, we recommend one of two routes for Australia:
- Private 1-on-1 course (recommended) — scheduled entirely around your own timetable. That is how most of our Australian students study.
- Standard course by recordings — every live session is recorded the same day and you watch at your own hours, hand in homework, get your Speaking and Writing corrected personally, and ask our team anything on WhatsApp. You lose the live Q&A; you keep everything else.
Booking and payment
The standard course is a full round of teaching (live or by recording), corrected homework, personal Speaking and Writing correction, full mock tests, and WhatsApp support. The private 1-on-1 course — the one we recommend here — runs on your own schedule. Class times are set per round — message us on WhatsApp for the next round’s details.
Paying from Australia works with any Visa or Mastercard after you message us on WhatsApp, including Australian debit cards with those logos. If a first international charge is blocked, approve it in your banking app and retry, or message us on WhatsApp for alternative transfer options. The Duolingo exam itself is booked separately with Duolingo.
Why the Arabic explanation matters even at the other end of the world
Distance changes the logistics, not the linguistics. Arabic speakers in Australia lose DET marks in the same places as everywhere else: Speaking answers that run out of content at forty seconds because the idea was formed in Arabic and translated live; Writing that stacks coordinated clauses instead of developing one argument; articles and prepositions dropped under pressure; Read Aloud rushed because the eye reads for gist; Summarize the Conversation answers that report the topic rather than the specific content. Those are habits of a first language, and they are diagnosed and fixed fastest in that language.
Our certified instructors teach everything in English — strategy, timing, scoring logic and your own error analysis — switching into Arabic exactly where it saves time, with all exam terms (Read Aloud, Interactive Writing, Speak About the Photo, Writing Sample) kept in English. Full content details are shared with enrolled students. Australian universities read British spelling conventions, and we drill that too. Most students reach their target with focused, structured preparation.
For parents paying from Egypt or the Gulf for a student in Australia
Australia is the furthest destination most Arab families fund, so two things matter more here than anywhere else: getting the requirement right the first time, and choosing a format that actually fits the time difference.
- Ask about the visa before the course. This is the Australia-specific warning: DET is accepted by universities but not by the Department of Home Affairs for the subclass 500 visa. If your child still needs to lodge or renew a visa, ask the university and a registered migration agent whether DET will be enough, before starting any preparation.
- Choose the private course. A group round scheduled for students near Cairo is not preparation for a student in Australia. The private 1-on-1 course is scheduled in Australian daytime and is what we honestly recommend; the standard course with same-day recordings is the alternative.
- Pay from your own country. InstaPay or a local card from Egypt; Visa or Mastercard from the Gulf after you message us on WhatsApp; ask on WhatsApp for international transfer options. We confirm enrolment directly to you.
- You can still see the work. Homework comes back corrected and Speaking and Writing are marked personally by a teacher, wherever your child is studying.
- Check the faculty, not just the university. Nursing, teaching and law frequently sit above the general minimum or refuse the DET entirely; send us the programme link and we will read the page with you.
Read next: the complete DET guide, universities accepting DET, DET vs IELTS vs TOEFL and the private course.
Frequently asked questions
Do Australian universities accept the Duolingo English Test?
Yes — more than 90 Australian universities and colleges accept DET for admission, including ANU, Macquarie, Western Sydney, Griffith, La Trobe and Flinders. Confirm the exact minimum with your provider.
Can I use DET for the subclass 500 student visa?
No. The Department of Home Affairs accepts only IELTS, TOEFL iBT (Australia option), PTE Academic, Cambridge C1 Advanced, CELPIP General, LANGUAGECERT Academic, MET and OET. Check your visa route with a registered migration agent.
What DET score do Australian universities ask for?
Commonly 105–120 for degree programmes, with some universities accepting 85–100 for pathway and foundation courses and others requiring 120–130 for competitive or professionally registered degrees.
Can I follow the live classes from Australia?
The group rounds are scheduled for students closer to Cairo, so for Australia we recommend the same-day recordings plus a private 1-on-1 course scheduled in your own daytime instead.
How does the private course work from Australia?
You pick the hours and we build the schedule around them, so the sessions sit inside your own working day. Send us the days and hours you are free on WhatsApp.
Are recordings enough on their own?
They cover the whole course, and you still get corrected homework, personal Speaking and Writing correction, mock tests and WhatsApp access to our instructors. You only miss the live Q&A, which is why we suggest pairing recordings with a few private sessions.
Which Australian degrees are most likely to refuse the DET?
Nursing, teaching, social work, psychology and law, because professional registration sets its own English requirements. Confirm acceptance with the faculty before you plan a target score.
How long is my DET score valid?
Two years on the 10–160 scale, with four subscores reported separately — enough to cover a deferred intake, but check whether your provider asks for a more recent score.
Book a private 1-on-1 course scheduled in Australian daytime — message our team on WhatsApp.
Last updated: September 2026