14 July, 2026
Hi, Teacher Luke here!
If your Duolingo English Test score is stuck just five or 10 points below the score you need, this article is for you.
And the good news is that the fix is probably a lot easier than you think.
If you’re new here, hi! I’m Teacher Luke from DETReady.com.
In this article, I’m going to show you four ways to increase your Duolingo English Test score by around 10 points.
And we’ll start with the most important one first.
Here’s something I see all the time.
One of my VIP students wrote to me recently, and he was sure that writing was his weakest skill.
But when his first DET scorecard came back, he was in for a surprise.
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Speaking was actually his lowest score.
Based on his scorecard, I know that my student has a good level of English because his writing score was 120.
What he needs to do now is work on how to answer the speaking questions.
This could help him boost his score from 105 to 120.
Learning how to approach the speaking and writing questions on the Duolingo English Test is essential.
There are seven speaking and writing question types in total, and your score can drop a lot if you do not know how to answer them.
Remember, the Duolingo English Test is a very fast test.
The time limits are short, especially for the speaking and writing questions.
For example, you only get 60 seconds for Write About the Photo.
Plus, you get almost no preparation time.
So, you cannot really figure out how to answer the questions on test day.
You need to know exactly how to answer them before you take the test.
For Interactive Speaking, I recommend using the OREO approach:
Opinion → Reason → Example → Outcome
This is a very simple approach to answering Interactive Speaking questions.
However, it keeps your answer organized and on topic. It also helps you give more developed answers.
And that is exactly what Duolingo is looking for.
For writing, I recommend this approach:
For Write About the Photo, use this simple three-sentence framework:
I will include links to lessons covering these methods.
You can also consider joining my DET Ready VIP program, where I teach these strategies in more detail and give students personal feedback.
Learning one method for every speaking and writing question, practising that method every day, and getting feedback whenever possible is one of the best ways to improve your Duolingo English Test score by around 10 points.
Another way to improve your score is to learn vocabulary in context.
The Duolingo English Test has three questions that, in my opinion, test your vocabulary directly:
A lot of my VIP students tell me that they find these question types quite difficult.
What do you think?
Do you find them easy, so-so, or difficult?
The best way to improve your score on these questions is to learn vocabulary.
However, do not only learn individual words from long vocabulary lists.
Instead, try to learn words in context.
This means learning words inside sentences or paragraphs.
By doing this, you will understand what the words mean and how they are used naturally.
This will be particularly helpful for the Fill in the Blanks and Read and Complete questions.
In these tasks, you need to use your vocabulary knowledge to complete words inside sentences and paragraphs.
One of the best ways to improve your vocabulary is simply to read every day.
My recommendation is to read around two or three news articles each day.
When you come across a new word, write it down in your notebook, diary, or wherever you keep your vocabulary.
But do not write only the word.
Write down the whole sentence.
This will help you understand how the word is used in context and make it easier for you to use the word naturally.
It also helps to learn collocations.
But what are collocations?
Collocations are words that naturally go together in English.
You can think of them as “word friends.”
For example:
There are thousands of collocations in English.
I have created a free PDF containing common English collocations that you can download and use in your studies.
Listening has become more important on the Duolingo English Test in recent years.
Let me give you an example.
One of my students scored 110 overall, but her Listening score was just 100.
That was well below her other skills.
Every day, my VIP students send me their scorecards to analyse, and I am seeing this happen a lot.
Many students’ Listening scores are lower than they should be.
I believe one reason for this is the Listen and Type question.
This question now appears nine times on the test — far more than any other question type.
So, if you are not able to answer Listen and Type questions well, this could bring down your Listening score.
And, of course, it could also lower your overall score.
If listening is difficult for you, practise Listen and Type again and again.
Improving this one question type could help you gain the extra 10 points you need.
To pass a difficult exam like the Duolingo English Test, you need to:
Learn → Practice → Get Feedback → Repeat
First, you need to learn how to answer the questions.
You can learn here through my free YouTube videos.
Alternatively, you can join my DET Ready VIP program, where I have courses and resources covering every part of the test.
You can also ask me questions whenever you need help.
Next, you need to practise.
There are some excellent free resources on the official Duolingo English Test website.
You can also use my DET Ready practice platform.
The practice platform is included inside the VIP program.
I have also created lots of free practice videos on YouTube.
Make sure you practise every day.
Daily practice is a great way to prepare mentally for the speed and pressure of the Duolingo English Test.
The final part of the loop is feedback.
And this is the part that most students skip.
However, getting good feedback is essential.
You need to know:
If you would like personalized feedback from me, you can join my VIP program.
I help students inside the program every day through live lessons and feedback across all four skills:
Remember:
Learn → Practice → Feedback → Repeat
This is how you improve your Duolingo English Test score by 10 points.
One of my students, Saul, followed this process and scored 130 in just 20 days.
That was exactly the score he needed.
If your Duolingo English Test score is only five or 10 points below your target, do not give up.
You may not need to improve every part of your English.
Instead:
Small, focused improvements can make a big difference to your final score.
And if you need more help, join me inside DET Ready VIP for full courses, live lessons, practice questions, and personal feedback.
— Teacher Luke
DET Ready | Helping students achieve their Duolingo English Test goals
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✅ Join my VIP Score-Boosting Program — I’ll teach you everything you need to know:
https://vip.detready.com
See you there,— Teacher Luke 👨🏫Helping 1,000+ students pass the DET every month
DET Ready are the leaders in English proficiency test preparation. Our mission is to streamline the learning process by helping students study smarter, not harder. We achieve this by carefully curating exactly what’s required to obtain the results and by discarding the
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