It was widely adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic following test-centre closures and other restrictions. The DET is a fully automated test, which means that it is both machine-delivered and scored. The researchers note that this could be down to breadth of disciplines represented in their sample of Chinese students at UCL, who represented nearly three-quarters of participants in the study in terms of nationality. Whilst the scores can accurately predict non-Chinese students’ academic performance, the relationship was weaker for the larger cohort of Chinese students. Students arriving to university with higher scores on the DET, used to assess their English language proficiency during university application, are more likely to achieve better grades in their first year at university than students with lower DET scores. International university students’ scores on the Duolingo English Test (DET) can predict students’ academic performance in their first year of university, finds a study led by Dr Talia Isaacs at IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society.

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