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

Universities Hong Kong students apply to with a DET score

Hong Kong’s overseas pattern has been the same for a generation: the United Kingdom first, then Australia, Canada and the United States, with Ireland growing. Here are published requirements you can plan against, opened on each university’s own page.

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.
• 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 the United States

• 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.
• 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.

Australia

Some Australian providers accept the DET for admission: UNSW College publishes Duolingo bands for its foundation, diploma and academic-English programmes, from the 80s for foundation and pathway entry up to 115–120 for its architecture, computer science and engineering diplomas and 125–130 for the business diploma. 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 Hong Kong?

For local DSE applicants, no — the universities read your DSE English level. For international-qualification and non-local applicants the picture is mixed, and it is worth reading each page rather than assuming:

• The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology lists the Duolingo English Test (DET) among the English-language qualifications it accepts for undergraduate admission, alongside IELTS Academic, TOEFL, PTE Academic and CAE. The score is published inside its international-qualifications tool — select the DET there and check the number for your year of entry. One HKUST programme, the World Bachelor in Business, adds that applicants who submit a DET result will still be asked to take its own International English Exam.
• The University of Hong Kong‘s undergraduate English-language requirement page lists IELTS, TOEFL iBT, IB, GCE, SAT and a year of English-medium degree study and does not list the Duolingo English Test.
• The Chinese University of Hong Kong‘s non-JUPAS language requirements list IELTS, TOEFL, SAT, ACT, GCSE, IB, HKDSE and several national school exams and do not list the Duolingo English Test.

On the visa side, the Immigration Department’s student-visa criteria are acceptance by an eligible institution, funds and a clean record — no English test of its own. The institution’s requirement is the only one.

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. Three routes matter to Hong Kong applicants:

• United Kingdom — the biggest destination. 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 (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.
• 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 UK with Australia, budget for two different tests before you pay for either.

Choosing your target score for the universities Hong Kong 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 confident 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 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 standard UK entry begins — Sussex at 110 with 105 in each component, Southampton at 120 overall with subscore floors — and where UNSW College’s higher diplomas sit.
• 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 Hong Kong: 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 — most UK degree courses, Ireland, North America and HKUST — and keep IELTS for the Australian student visa, for below-degree UK study and for HKU or CUHK applications. 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 Hong Kong without losing the live experience

Hong Kong 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 Hong Kong everything runs in English. Before you choose, open which Duolingo score do I need and the DET score converter.

Paying by card from Hong Kong

Card payment by Visa or Mastercard from a Hong Kong bank works without fuss, and this is how almost all of our Hong Kong students pay. Two small things are worth knowing:

• Overseas and online use may be switched off. Several Hong Kong banks let you set overseas-transaction limits or toggles in the banking app; if a payment is refused, check that setting first.
• Expect an SMS or in-app approval 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.