English language tests
IELTS / TOEFL
English language tests — IELTS, TOEFL, STEP and the rest
Proof that you can study in English. Required from almost every international applicant — including students who have been taught in English since they were four, which surprises people every year.
- When
- Grade 12, or the year before you start
- Where it counts
- Required by universities in the UK, US, Canada, Australia and by the English-medium universities in Saudi Arabia
How it works
All of these test the same four skills — listening, reading, writing and speaking — and differ in format, length, price and who accepts them. The university decides which it will take and what score it wants; you do not get to choose the standard, only the test.
Scores expire, and two years is the usual limit. That is the detail that catches people out: a test sat in Grade 11 to get it out of the way can be out of date by the time a deferred or delayed application is decided.
A waiver is often available and rarely advertised. Many universities will drop the requirement if you have studied in English for several years, or if you hold IGCSE First Language English at a certain grade, or a strong SAT Reading and Writing score. It is always worth asking the admissions office directly before paying for a test.
How it is graded
IELTS is scored 0–9 in half bands, per skill and overall. TOEFL iBT is 0–120, made of four 0–30 sections. Duolingo runs 10–160, PTE Academic 10–90, and Saudi Arabia's STEP 0–100. Universities set both an overall minimum and, usually, a per-section minimum — and the per-section minimum is what most people miss.
When to sit it
Sit it in the autumn of Grade 12 at the latest, and earlier if you can. Results take days to a couple of weeks depending on the test. Leave room for one repeat: a resit is normal and is far less painful than a conditional offer that cannot be met.
What it is good for
- Undergraduate and postgraduate admission almost anywhere outside your own country.
- Student visas — the UK in particular requires an approved test for visa purposes, which is a narrower list than the one universities accept.
- Placing out of a preparatory or foundation English year at KFUPM, KAUST, Alfaisal and other English-medium universities in the Kingdom, which can save a full year.
When it happens
Months rather than dates — the exact dates are republished every year, and the official calendar is linked below.
- Weekly, year-roundIELTS and TOEFL both run frequently at centres across the Kingdom; Duolingo and PTE can be sat at very short notice.Book two to three weeks ahead for a preferred date and centre.
- 3 to 13 days after the testResults, depending on the test. IELTS computer-delivered is among the fastest; paper-based is slower.
- Autumn of Grade 12 at the latestWhen to have sat it by, leaving room for one repeat before offers are decided.
The tests
IELTS Academic
OpensUnited Kingdom · Australia · Canada · Ireland · New Zealand · Most of Europe · Widely accepted in the United States
The default for the UK and the Commonwealth. Typical undergraduate requirement is 6.0–6.5 overall; medicine, nursing, law and teaching commonly ask for 7.0, and professional registration afterwards often asks for more than the university did. Note the UKVI variant, which is what a visa requires.
TOEFL iBT
OpensUnited States · Canada · Widely accepted in the UK and Europe
The default for the US. Typical undergraduate requirement is 80–100, with selective universities at 100. Shorter than it used to be, at about two hours, and entirely computer-delivered.
Duolingo English Test
OpensA large and growing number of US, Canadian and UK universities
Cheap, fast, taken at home. Genuinely accepted by many universities and genuinely not accepted by some, and its status for UK visa purposes is narrower than for admissions. Check your specific universities before relying on it.
PTE Academic
OpensAustralia · New Zealand · United Kingdom · Canada
Computer-scored, quick results. Strong in Australia and accepted for UK visas.
STEP — اختبار الكفاءة في اللغة الإنجليزية
OpensSaudi universities · Preparatory-year placement · Some government jobs and scholarship programmes
ETEC's own English test, scored out of 100 and used inside the Kingdom for admission, for placing out of preparatory-year English and for some employment. It is not generally accepted by universities abroad.
On this siteSecondary School TeacherRegistered Nurse
Cambridge English (C1 Advanced, C2 Proficiency)
OpensUnited Kingdom · Europe · Accepted by many universities worldwide
Does not expire, which is unusual and occasionally decisive. Less commonly required, widely accepted.
Choosing well
The parts a student can act on this month.
- Find the exact requirement — overall score and per-section minimums — for every university on your list before you book anything. A 7.0 overall with a 5.5 in writing fails an offer that asks for 6.5 with nothing below 6.0.
- Ask about a waiver first. Studying in English, IGCSE First Language English, or a strong SAT Reading and Writing score exempts you at a surprising number of universities, and asking costs an email.
- Pick the test your universities all accept, not the one that is easiest to book. IELTS for the UK and Commonwealth, TOEFL for the US, and check Duolingo case by case.
- Prepare for the format, not the language. Most students who miss the score do so because they did not know how the speaking task or the integrated writing task was structured, not because their English was not good enough.
- Sit it early enough to resit. One repeat is normal and cheap; discovering the shortfall in February of Grade 12 is neither.
What costs people a year
- Scores expire, usually after two years. Sitting the test very early to be efficient can mean sitting it twice.
- Per-section minimums are where offers are missed, and writing is where the section minimum is most often missed.
- For a UK student visa the test must be an approved Secure English Language Test taken at an approved centre. A university's admissions list and the visa list are not the same list.
- Professional registration is a second, higher bar. Nursing, medicine and teaching regulators in the UK, Australia and the Gulf frequently require English scores above what the university asked for, years later. If you are heading for a licensed profession, look at the regulator's requirement now, not at graduation.
In Saudi Arabia
Inside the Kingdom, English is the medium of instruction at KAUST, KFUPM, Alfaisal and in most medical and engineering colleges, and each of them runs a preparatory year for students who arrive below the bar. That year is real time and real money, and a sufficient IELTS, TOEFL or STEP score often removes it entirely — which makes an English test one of the highest-return exams a Saudi student can sit, even when applying nowhere outside the country. For government scholarship programmes, an English score is generally part of the file rather than an afterthought.
The parts that go out of date
Everything on this page was read from the awarding body on the date below. These are the statements most likely to have moved since.
- Which tests a university accepts changes regularly, and Duolingo's acceptance in particular is still moving in both directions.
- Required scores drift upward at selective universities and for licensed professions.
- UK visa (SELT) rules and approved-centre lists change; check the Home Office list rather than a university page.
What sits alongside it
Almost nobody sits only one of these.
What to prepare with
Official material first, and free unless marked otherwise. Every link here was fetched and confirmed to resolve on the date shown.
Official practice tests and the marking criteria for writing and speaking. Read the criteria first — most people who miss the score miss it on format, not on English.
IELTS (British Council / IDP / Cambridge) · link checked 2026-09-06
What each of the four sections contains and how the bands are awarded.
IELTS · link checked 2026-09-06
Free official practice sets, plus paid full-length tests. The integrated writing and speaking tasks are the ones that surprise people.
ETS · link checked 2026-09-06
Full practice under real timing, which is the only way to find out whether your pace works.
ETS · link checked 2026-09-06
Cheap, fast, taken at home, with a free practice test. Check that every university on your list accepts it before relying on it — a good number do not.
Duolingo · link checked 2026-09-06
The Saudi English test, used for university admission and for placing out of the preparatory year. Not accepted abroad.
Education and Training Evaluation Commission (ETEC) · link checked 2026-09-06
Nothing here is sold or sponsored, and there is no affiliate link on this site. Where an awarding body publishes its own past papers, those are listed instead of a revision guide — the UCAT and LNAT consortia both state outright that paid coaching is unnecessary and unendorsed, and the same is broadly true of every exam on this page.
Where this came from
- IELTS Academic: test format and band scoresIELTS (British Council / IDP / Cambridge) · read 2026-09-05
- TOEFL iBT: test content and scoresETS · read 2026-09-05
- Standardized Test of English Proficiency (STEP)Education and Training Evaluation Commission (ETEC) · read 2026-09-05
Last checked 2026-09-05. Entry requirements are set by individual universities, change every year, and are the one thing on this page you should always confirm on the course page for the year you apply.