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

Universities Russian students apply to with a DET score

Since 2022 the map has shifted: Germany, Italy and other EU countries that still issue study visas, the United States and Canada for those who can secure them, plus Cyprus, the UAE, Turkey and Kazakhstan as nearer options. Here are the DET requirements we opened on the universities’ own pages — and the places where the DET is not listed.

Germany and Italy

• Constructor University (Bremen): 110 for both undergraduate and graduate applicants; many German public universities still ask for IELTS or TOEFL.
• Bocconi University (Milan): 110 on the Duolingo English Test for its MSc and MA programmes. Bocconi’s undergraduate page does not list the Duolingo English Test.

United States and Canada

• Arizona State University: 95 for most undergraduate majors, 100 for Nursing, 105 for higher-requirement Fulton Engineering programmes, 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, for tests taken from 1 July 2024.
• University of British Columbia: 125 overall, with 115 Reading, 115 Listening, 120 Writing and 120 Speaking.

United Kingdom and Ireland

• University of Sussex: 110 with at least 105 in each component for standard entry, 130 with at least 120 in each component for advanced entry.
• University of Southampton: 120 overall with subscore floors of 105 Listening, 110 Reading, 110 Writing and 110 Speaking for Band C courses, and 130 overall for Band G and above, with every subscore floor applied individually.
• 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, with taught master’s options at 100 and 110 and above.

Kazakhstan

• KIMEP University (Almaty): 95 or above with at least 90 in each section places you directly into academic study; lower results go into its English foundation levels.

Cyprus, the UAE and Turkey: where the DET is not listed

• The University of Nicosia‘s admission-requirements page lists IELTS, TOEFL and Cambridge exams and does not list the Duolingo English Test.
• Middlesex University Dubai‘s English-requirements page lists IELTS Academic, PTE and TOEFL iBT plus its own test, and does not list the Duolingo English Test.
• The international-admissions pages of Koç University, Bilkent University and Sabancı University in Turkey do not list the Duolingo English Test.

Before you book, ask admissions in writing which overall and subscore minimums apply to your programme.

Is the DET used inside Russia?

Not on the pages we opened. HSE University‘s English-requirements page for bachelor’s programmes refers to international certificates in general and to HSE’s own internal and independent English tests, and does not list the Duolingo English Test. Skoltech asks for proof of English proficiency without naming tests. ITMO University‘s master’s page for international students does not list the Duolingo English Test either. If you are applying to an English-taught programme in Russia with a DET certificate, ask the programme office directly whether it counts as an accepted international certificate and at what score. For Russian students, the DET is an outbound tool.

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 Russian applicants:

• United Kingdom — GOV.UK states that for degree-level study your Higher Education Provider can assess your English itself at a level equivalent to CEFR B2, which is how DET-based offers turn into a CAS. The DET is not on the Home Office list of Secure English Language Tests, so below degree level you need a SELT such as IELTS for UKVI.
• Canada — IRCC’s study-permit document list does not include a language test; your designated learning institution decides which English evidence it accepts.
• Australia — the Department of Home Affairs accepts a fixed list of tests and states that it does not accept English tests delivered completely online. The DET will not satisfy the subclass 500 requirement.

The United States has no government English test for the F-1 visa, so the university’s requirement is the only one that counts. For Germany and Italy, the national visa rests on your admission letter; the English evidence is whatever the university accepted.

Choosing your target score for the universities Russian 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. Universities publish a minimum overall score, and many publish a minimum in each subscore too, which is where strong readers with untrained speaking are caught: an overall 120 with a Production of 100 fails Toronto’s requirement even though the headline number appears to meet it.

• 90–105 covers University College Dublin from 90 with 80 in each subscore, Arizona State at 95, KIMEP at 95 with 90 in each section and Northeastern’s professional-studies programmes at 105.
• 110–120 is where Constructor University and Bocconi’s master’s programmes (110), Sussex standard entry (110 with 105 each) and Southampton’s Band C (120 with subscore floors) sit.
• 120–130+ is selective and graduate territory: Toronto at 120 with 120 in Production, UBC at 125 with subscore floors, Trinity at 120 with 100 in every subscore, Sussex advanced entry at 130 with 120 in each component.

Pick the highest requirement on your shortlist and plan a comfortable margin above it in every subscore. Send us your university’s English-requirements page on WhatsApp and we will read it with you, or start with the university finder and the score converter if you only know your IELTS or TOEFL level.

DET vs IELTS from Russia: the format comparison

Russian students grew up comparing IELTS and TOEFL; the DET is the third option and it works differently.

Use the DET everywhere your universities accept it — Constructor, Bocconi’s master’s programmes, the US, the UK and Irish universities above, KIMEP — and keep IELTS or TOEFL for universities that list only those, for Australia, and for UK routes below degree level.

Studying online from Russia without losing the live experience

Moscow and St Petersburg are at UTC+3, one hour ahead of Egypt, so live sessions land at almost the same hour as in Cairo; further east, the recording covers what you miss.

Every Teachero course runs as live online classes taught in English by highly qualified, certified instructors, with lesson recordings uploaded the same day. You submit the same homework, receive the same personal Speaking and Writing correction and sit the same full mock test before the exam as everyone else, with WhatsApp support between sessions.

• 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 weak question types.

Message us on WhatsApp for the current round, or see how the DET is used in other countries on our worldwide page.

Paying from Russia: read this before you plan

State it plainly: a Visa or Mastercard issued by a Russian bank does not work outside Russia. Both networks suspended their Russian operations in March 2022, and Mastercard’s own statement says that cards issued by Russian banks are no longer supported by its network regardless of where they are used, inside or outside Russia. The card in your wallet will be declined by any merchant abroad, including us, and there is no setting in your banking app that changes that.

Students in Russia do still join our courses; they simply pay another way. Message us on WhatsApp before you plan your dates and we will walk you through the options that work from Russia. Do not book a test date around a payment that cannot go through.