The table
This concordance is published by Duolingo, in its scoring guide. We reproduce it rather than inventing our own, because a table like this should come from someone who has the data behind it.
| CEFR | DET | IELTS | TOEFL (0–120) |
|---|---|---|---|
| C2 | 160 | 8.5–9 | 120 |
| C2 | 155 | 8 | 119 |
| C1 | 150 | 8 | 117–118 |
| C1 | 145 | 7.5 | 113–116 |
| C1 | 140 | 7.5 | 109–112 |
| C1 | 135 | 7 | 104–108 |
| C1 | 130 | 7 | 98–103 |
| B2 | 125 | 6.5 | 93–97 |
| B2 | 120 | 6.5 | 87–92 |
| B2 | 115 | 6 | 82–86 |
| B2 | 110 | 6 | 76–81 |
| B2 | 105 | 6 | 70–75 |
| B2 | 100 | 5.5 | 65–69 |
| B1 | 95 | 5.5 | 59–64 |
| B1 | 90 | 5 | 53–58 |
| B1 | 85 | 5 | 47–52 |
| B1 | 80 | 5 | 41–46 |
| B1 | 75 | 4.5 | 35–40 |
| B1 | 70 | 4.5 | 30–34 |
What a concordance actually is
It is a statistical average, produced by having many people take two tests and comparing the results. It says: people who score 120 on the DET tend, on average, to score around 6.5 on IELTS.
It does not say: your 120 equals your 6.5. Two candidates with the same DET score routinely get different IELTS bands, and the reason is not measurement error — it is that the tests are not measuring quite the same thing.
| If this describes you… | You will tend to do relatively better on… |
|---|---|
| You are fluent in conversation and weak at long-form academic writing | DET — the writing is shorter and more practical. |
| You write well but freeze in front of a person | TOEFL or DET — no live examiner. |
| You do well with a human and badly into a microphone | IELTS — the speaking test is a conversation. |
| You have a strong academic vocabulary and slow conversational reflexes | IELTS or the academic parts of TOEFL. |
| You are quick, adaptable, and hate long tasks | DET — short tasks, one hour. |
So the table is a reasonable way to estimate where you stand, and a bad way to decide that you have already met a requirement.
CEFR is the column that travels
The leftmost column is the one that most people should actually be using, because it is the only one that is not a test score.
- B1 — can handle everyday situations and straightforward factual texts. Independent, but limited.
- B2 — can work and study in English with effort. The level most undergraduate programmes are built around.
- C1 — can operate comfortably in academic and professional English, including abstract topics. The level most competitive universities and many employers want.
- C2 — full command, near the top of the scale.
CEFR is useful because it describes what you can do, rather than how you performed on a particular morning. If you know you are around B2 and you need C1, that is a more actionable statement than knowing you got 6.5 and need 7.
It is also worth reading the row boundaries: DET 130 and IELTS 7 are both the bottom of C1. A great deal of admissions turns on that line.
The number that actually matters
No concordance can tell you the thing you most need to know, which is what your institution accepts. Three things about a requirement can override everything on this page:
- Which tests they accept at all. DET acceptance has expanded a great deal and is still not universal, particularly for visa purposes. Check, do not assume.
- The per-skill minimum. "Overall 7.0 with no band below 6.5" is a completely different target from "overall 7.0" — under the first, your weakest skill is your score, and a concordance table cannot see your weakest skill.
- Their own published equivalence. Institutions publish their own conversions, and they are not obliged to match anybody's table. Theirs is the one that decides your application.
How to use the table sensibly
- To estimate your level before booking a test — a good use, and the main one.
- To choose which test to take, alongside an honest look at your weakest skill rather than your best one.
- To translate a requirement you cannot meet into one you might. If a university takes both, and DET 120 is B2 like IELTS 6.5, you have two routes to the same door.
- Not as proof of anything. No admissions office accepts a converted score. Only the test they asked for counts.
And the practical advice underneath all of it: find your weakest skill and fix that, because on every one of these tests the overall is an average, and the floor is what moves it.
Frequently asked questions
What IELTS score is equivalent to 120 on the Duolingo English Test?
Duolingo's own published comparison puts DET 120 at roughly IELTS 6.5, and both at CEFR B2. Treat it as a statistical average rather than a conversion: it means people who score 120 tend on average to score around 6.5, not that your 120 equals your 6.5. Two candidates with the same DET score routinely get different IELTS bands, because the tests measure overlapping but different things.
What CEFR level is IELTS 7?
IELTS 7 sits at the bottom of C1 in Duolingo's published comparison, alongside DET 130. That boundary matters more than most single numbers, because C1 is the level most competitive universities and many employers are actually asking for when they set a requirement.
Is TOEFL still scored out of 120?
TOEFL now reports 1 to 6 bands per section and overall. For a two-year transition period after January 2026 it also reports a comparable 0 to 120 score, which is why score comparison tables still show that column and why institutions still publish requirements like 'TOEFL 90'. Once the transition ends, the band scale becomes the currency.
Can I use a converted score for my application?
No. Admissions offices accept the test they asked for, and they publish their own equivalences, which are not obliged to match any test maker's table. A concordance is for estimating where you stand and for deciding which test to take — it is not evidence of anything, and no institution will treat it as such.
Which English test is easiest to get a high score on?
None of them in general — they fail different people. If you are fluent in conversation but weak at long academic writing, the DET's shorter tasks tend to suit you; if you speak better to a person than a microphone, IELTS does; if a live examiner makes you freeze, TOEFL or the DET do. Choose against your weakness rather than looking for the easy test, because on every one of these the overall is an average and your weakest skill is what moves it.