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

Universities Cambodian students apply to with a DET score

Cambodian students who go abroad head for Australia, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia in the region, and for the United States and the UK further afield. The DET works well for some of those and not at all for others, so 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.
• University College Dublin: from 90 with at least 80 in each subscore, rising to 100, 110 and above depending on the master’s.

Canada and Australia

• University of Toronto: 120 overall with 120 in Production for undergraduate entry (tests from 1 July 2024).
• 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.

Thailand and Malaysia — read before you book

The two closest destinations are where Cambodian applicants most often waste a test. Mahidol University International College lists TOEFL iBT, IELTS Academic and PTE Academic for overseas applicants and does not list the Duolingo English Test. Asia Pacific University (Malaysia)‘s international application page asks for IELTS, TOEFL, PTE or MUET and does not list the DET. Ask each programme in writing before you pay for any test.

Is the DET used inside Cambodia?

Yes — at the English-medium private universities in Phnom Penh, and the picture is clear enough to act on:

• American University of Phnom Penh (AUPP) lists a Duolingo score of 110 or higher, earned within two years of the application date, alongside TOEFL iBT 79, IELTS 6.0 and Cambridge English 169. It also accepts AP, IB Higher Level and A-Level English at collegiate level as an alternative.
• Paragon International University lists its own English proficiency test, IELTS 5.5, TOEFL iBT 60 and the ACE GEP Level 12 certificate, and does not list the Duolingo English Test.

Public universities such as the Royal University of Phnom Penh admit through the national exam and their own tests, so the DET is not part of those applications. Where a Cambodian scholarship or transnational programme asks for an international certificate, get in writing whether a DET score counts and at what number.

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 Cambodian applicants:

• Australia — the destination where this matters most. Home Affairs accepts a fixed list of tests (IELTS, PTE Academic, TOEFL iBT, Cambridge C1 Advanced, OET, LanguageCert Academic, CELPIP, Michigan English Test) 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.
• 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.
• 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 relies on.
• 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 Australia with the US or Japan, budget for two different tests before you pay for either.

Choosing your target score for the universities Cambodian 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 — and University College Dublin from 90 with 80 in each subscore.
• 110–120 is where AUPP sits (110), 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, APU transfer entry at 120, 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 Cambodia: 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 — AUPP, most US and Japanese English-taught programmes, most UK degree courses, Ireland and Canada — and keep IELTS for the Australian student visa, for below-degree UK study and for Thai or Malaysian programmes that do not list the DET. 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 Cambodia without losing the live experience

Cambodia sits at UTC+7, five hours ahead of Egypt in winter and four 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 Cambodia everything runs in English. Before you choose, open which Duolingo score do I need and the DET score converter.

Paying by card from Cambodia

Card payment by Visa or Mastercard from a Cambodian bank works, and this is how most of our Cambodian students pay — the US-dollar cards issued by the larger Phnom Penh banks are routinely used with foreign online merchants. Two things are worth knowing before you try:

• Online and international use may need to be enabled. Several Cambodian banks keep e-commerce or overseas transactions switched off on debit cards until you turn them on in the banking app. Do that before you sit down to pay.
• Expect an OTP by SMS or in the app 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.