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

Where Korean students apply — and the score each university publishes

The United States takes the largest share of Korean applicants, followed by Canada, Australia and the UK — all systems with deep DET acceptance. In the US the question is which number, not whether:

Canada publishes tighter minimums: 120 at Toronto, Waterloo, Queen’s and Ottawa, 125 at UBC and 115–125 at McGill. Australian requirements run from about 105 to 120.

In the UK, DET is mainstream at universities including York, Sussex, Southampton, Hertfordshire, Sheffield Hallam, Portsmouth and UCLan, typically at 105–125 with subscore rules that often read “overall 120, no subscore below 110” — see our UK score requirements guide.

The pattern: bachelor’s admission usually sits at 95–120 and postgraduate programmes at 115–135. Find your programme in Duolingo’s accepting-institutions directory, then confirm with admissions.

Does DET count inside Korea?

Assume not until a page says otherwise. Korean universities’ English-taught programmes and graduate schools publish accepted-test lists that are usually built around TOEFL iBT, IELTS and TEPS, with TOPIK covering Korean-language ability; the Duolingo English Test is not a standard entry on those lists, and Korean employers’ hiring screens still lean on TOEIC. Immigration requirements for a Korean study visa are set by the Korean authorities and the host university, not by Duolingo.

The practical consequence for a student in Seoul or Busan: use the DET for overseas admissions, and expect to sit TOEFL, TEPS or IELTS if your plan is a Korean programme, a domestic scholarship or a Korean employer. If a Korean institution is on your list, ask its admissions office directly whether a Duolingo score is accepted for your intake, and get the answer in writing.

The same caution applies to Hong Kong, where HKU’s and CUHK’s published English requirements do not include the Duolingo English Test.

Choosing your target score for the universities Korean 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 unprepared candidates are caught: an overall 120 with a Production of 95 fails a requirement that the headline number appears to meet.

Work backwards from the requirements on this page rather than aiming at a round number:

• 95–110 is the usual band for bachelor entry at many US state universities and at a range of Australian institutions.
• 110–125 covers most UK degree courses, where the requirement is often written as “overall 120, no subscore below 110”, and much of the Canadian intake.
• 120–135 is postgraduate and highly selective territory: 120 at Toronto, Waterloo, Queen’s and Ottawa, 125 at UBC and NYU, 130 at Duke, Cornell and Penn, 135 at Columbia.

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. Send us your university’s English-requirements page on WhatsApp and we will read it with you before you start.

DET or IELTS from Korea?

Once acceptance is settled, the choice comes down to format and to what each exam is valid for.

The counterweight is unchanged: IELTS and TOEFL are accepted everywhere, including visa processes and Korean institutions, and the DET is not. Read the requirement first, then choose the exam.

Visa and registration rules to check before you rely on DET

A university accepting your score and an immigration department accepting it are two different questions.

• Australia: universities may accept DET for admission, but the Department of Home Affairs does not accept it for the subclass 500 visa — that needs IELTS, TOEFL iBT, PTE Academic or another listed test.
• United Kingdom: DET is not a UKVI SELT. Degree-level admission is normally assessed by the university itself, but a pre-sessional or below-degree course can need a SELT.
• Canada: the Student Direct Stream ended in November 2024, so the regular study permit applies and your institution decides what English evidence it wants.

Get it in writing from admissions, and see our complete DET guide for score reporting.

Studying online from South Korea

Studying with an academy in another time zone only works if nothing depends on your being awake at a particular hour. Every Teachero lesson is recorded, and you can review the recording afterwards, so a live session you cannot attend is never a session you lose.

Classes are taught fully in English by certified instructors who specialise in international English exams — the environment the DET asks you to perform in. Speaking and Writing are corrected personally, WhatsApp covers questions between sessions, and you sit full mock tests before the real thing. Arabic-language support is available for Arabic speakers.

Three shapes: the standard course (more days, fewer hours per day), the intensive course (fewer days, more hours per day) and the private tailored course, one-to-one around your weakest questions — see also our online course overview and DET FAQ.

Paying for the course from South Korea

Your Teachero course is paid by card online (Visa or Mastercard) from any country. Use a card with overseas payments enabled — domestic-only cards and some check cards are declined by international merchants, and your bank may add an overseas-use charge.

Other options are available on WhatsApp. Schedules are set per round — message us for the next round’s details.