These two tests occupy the same space in a Pakistani student’s decision: dramatically cheaper than IELTS or PTE, taken in under an hour and a half, results in about two days. For a student paying in rupees, the saving is real. Duolingo costs around USD 70, roughly PKR 20,000. Oxford ELLT costs around £120, roughly PKR 43,000 to 46,000, which is about 40 per cent below an IELTS sitting.
The saving is not the question. Acceptance is the question, and it is where students lose an entire intake.
How many universities accept them, honestly
You will see confident numbers quoted for this. Treat them carefully, because no published dataset tracks acceptance by test, by country and by applicant nationality. Anyone giving you a precise count of “universities in Australia that accept Duolingo from Pakistani students” has made it up.
What is documented and checkable: more than 100 UK universities accepted the Duolingo English Test as of February 2026, including Imperial College London, Southampton, Birmingham, Leeds, York, Liverpool, Surrey, Loughborough, Swansea, Bath, Portsmouth, Coventry and Sheffield Hallam. Oxford ELLT reports acceptance at 55 or more institutions worldwide, concentrated heavily in the UK.
So Duolingo has broader raw acceptance. That does not make it the better choice for a Pakistani applicant, and here is why.
The detail that decides it for Pakistan
Oxford ELLT comes in two versions
ELLT Digital is taken at home. ELLT Global is taken at an approved test centre, and Pakistan has them. The content is the same. The delivery is not.
Universities increasingly require Global from Pakistan
The University of Westminster states plainly that students in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are strongly recommended to take ELLT Global at an approved test centre rather than the at-home version. It is not alone. If you take Digital and your university wanted Global, you pay twice.
Duolingo is at-home only, and proctoring is strict
There is no test-centre version. Automated proctoring means looking away from the screen, a second voice in the room, or leaving the frame can void the result entirely. In a household where that is hard to guarantee for a full hour, this is a practical risk, not a theoretical one.
Sub-scores sink applications quietly
Many UK universities apply Duolingo rules by department, and some reject an application where one sub-score falls below the minimum even though the overall score clears. Read the requirement per skill, not just the headline number.
Side by side
| Oxford ELLT | Duolingo English Test | |
|---|---|---|
| Approximate cost | £120, roughly PKR 43,000 to 46,000 | USD 70, roughly PKR 20,000 |
| Where taken | Digital at home, or Global at a Pakistani test centre | At home only |
| Results | Around 48 hours | Usually within 2 days |
| Scoring | OIDI scale 0 to 12, mapped to CEFR and IELTS | Score 10 to 160 |
| Speaking assessed | Writing marked by an examiner on a live call | Recorded and machine-scored |
| SELT for UK visa | No | No |
| Documented acceptance | 55+ institutions, mostly UK | 100+ UK universities as of Feb 2026 |
| Retake one skill | Yes, Skill Retake now offered | No, full resit |
The only method that protects you
Acceptance lists on agency websites go stale within months. Go to the university’s English language requirements page for your specific course and level.
For Oxford ELLT, check whether Digital is accepted or only Global. For LanguageCert the equivalent trap is SELT versus non-SELT, and Westminster stopped accepting the non-SELT version on 18 May 2026.
Note the minimum for each of the four skills separately. This is where a passing overall score still fails.
If it does, neither of these tests is usable and you are looking at IELTS for UKVI, PTE Academic UKVI or a LanguageCert SELT.
What we would tell you in the room
If your shortlist is settled, your universities accept it in writing, and your visa route does not demand a SELT, these tests save you real money and we will happily process the application. If any of those three is uncertain, the saving is a false economy: you will pay for the cheap test and then pay for IELTS anyway. For Pakistani applicants specifically, if you go with Oxford ELLT, take Global unless you have written confirmation that Digital is accepted.
Test fees, formats and acceptance rules were checked in August 2026 and change without notice. Fees are planning figures, not quotes. Always confirm the current price on the official booking page, and confirm with your university in writing which test and which version it accepts before you pay. Compare every option on our English preparation page.
Keep reading
More on English preparation.
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