Duolingo 160 to IELTS: what band is it?
Quick answer
Duolingo's scoring page relates a Duolingo English Test overall of 160 to IELTS 8.5 to 9. The table compares overall scores only, and it is Duolingo's own estimate: IELTS publishes no Duolingo table. Each institution decides which tests it accepts and at what score.
Practise what this page describes in the app: Speaking and Writing marked on the four official criteria as a band range, Reading and Listening tests marked the moment you finish.
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Part of The IELTS test, answered
Duolingo’s scale ends at 160, so a search for “Duolingo 160 to IELTS” lands on the one row of the table that holds a single score and two IELTS bands.
The row at the ceiling
Duolingo’s “Understand scoring” page lists 160 against IELTS 8.5 to 9. Nothing sits above it to tell the two bands apart, and 155, one step down, already belongs to the IELTS 8 row. Duolingo says its comparisons are backed by its research. IELTS publishes no Duolingo table, so the row is the test owner’s estimate, not an IELTS statement. The whole table is in the general Duolingo to IELTS answer.
Bands 8.5 and 9 in IELTS’s own words
Band 8 is the very good user and band 9 the expert user, and IELTS reports scores in whole and half bands, so an overall 8.5 sits between them. On “IELTS and the CEFR”, overall bands 8.5 to 9 are C2. The IELTS 8.5 answer and the IELTS 9.0 answer take the bands one at a time.
A worked average at the top
Listening 9, Reading 8.5, Writing 8 and Speaking 8.5 total 34, and 34 divided by four is 8.5. A strong Writing or Speaking score changes that figure by a quarter of its own gap, and the single Duolingo row cannot show it: 160 reads as “8.5 to 9” whichever of the two the IELTS average lands on.
What the row cannot promise
A concordance compares overall scores. It does not turn a section into a section, and it does not oblige anyone to treat a Duolingo 160 as an IELTS 8.5 or 9. Each institution decides which tests it accepts and at what score, so read its own page, and use the figure it states for Duolingo if it states one.
One step down
Below this row is Duolingo 150 and 155 for IELTS 8. There is no row above. Try any band in the score converter.
What this means for your score
The scale stops at 160, so this one row covers IELTS 8.5 and 9 together. A requirement written as "IELTS 8.5 overall" or "IELTS 9 overall" and read against Duolingo's table points to 160 in both cases, and 155, one step lower, belongs to the IELTS 8 row.
Frequently asked questions
Is Duolingo 160 the same as IELTS 8.5 or 9?
Duolingo's table puts its maximum, 160, against IELTS 8.5 to 9. That is the test maker's comparison of overall scores, not an IELTS figure, and an institution's own stated Duolingo requirement is what counts.
Will a university take Duolingo in place of IELTS?
That is up to each institution. Neither test maker decides for the bodies that accept its scores, so find the tests listed on the admissions, employer or visa page and the score it asks for on each.
Is the Duolingo English Test easier than IELTS?
Neither test maker publishes a difficulty comparison. Duolingo's table lines up scores, not difficulty, and nothing on the official pages ranks the two tests.
Can I convert my section scores too?
Duolingo's scoring page carries a similar comparison for its four subscores against IELTS section bands; the table here is for overall scores only. IELTS reports the overall as the average of four sections to the nearest half band, which the band score calculator shows.
Sources
- Understand scoring: overall score comparison — Duolingo English Test
- IELTS scoring in detail: band scores explained — IELTS.org
- IELTS and the CEFR — IELTS.org
Last verified 3 Nov 2026
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