The Duolingo English Test (DET) was created to make English language proficiency testing more accessible. To put our mission into action, we launched the Access Program, ensuring that students facing financial barriers would be able to access not just free language proficiency testing but, uniquely, fully free preparation materials and practice tests as well, alongside support attentive to this student population’s needs.
Through the Access Program, institutions can request fee waivers to provide the DET to students facing economic barriers to their educational journeys.
By the numbers
Since 2018, the Access Program has grown from a simple fee waiver initiative into a global support network for students with limited financial means. Here’s a snapshot of its reach so far:
- 17,000+ test fee waivers distributed since 2018 (at a value of $8 million USD)
- 25,563 test waivers provided in 2024 alone
- $100,000+ in direct financial support to educational nonprofits since 2021
- 1,800+ partner institutions, including universities, schools, and NGOs
- Test-takers from 214 countries and territories
Global impact
To date our support has reached students hailing from 214 countries/territories. This heat map shows the top 40 nations where the Access Program’s free testing has benefited students over the years, with darkest green representing the largest quantities of testing.
DET x UNHCR
In 2021 we announced a partnership with UNHCR that created our DETxUNHCR University Access Scholars program, a pioneering partnership supporting 25 refugee students each year with bespoke university and financial aid counseling.
Accessibility improvements
We have worked to improve the test experience in particular for refugee and forced migrant students. These improvements include robust ID acceptance for official refugee documents and the adoption of new security measures to enhance both our proctoring and the test-taker experience.
Growing partnerships
But of course we haven’t done this alone – since its founding in 2018 we’ve worked alongside over 1,800 universities, secondary schools, nonprofits, and other institutions. With this network of partnerships, we are able to ensure support reaches specific individual students as they apply for admissions, in the moment that proficiency testing is most needed.
Join us!
We welcome Access Program applications from teachers, counselors and advisors, and others who support students in an official capacity. For more information about the Access Program, and to request fee waivers for low-income students applying to your university or for students you support, visit our website!