Students arriving to university with higher scores on the DET, used to assess their English language proficiency during university application, are more likely to achieve better grades in their first year at university than students with lower DET scores.
Whilst the scores can accurately predict non-Chinese students’ academic performance, the relationship was weaker for the larger cohort of Chinese students. The researchers note that this could be down to breadth of disciplines represented in their sample of Chinese students at UCL, who represented nearly three-quarters of participants in the study in terms of nationality.
The DET is a fully automated test, which means that it is both machine-delivered and scored. It was widely adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic following test-centre closures and other restrictions. Developed by Duolingo (but unrelated to their well-known language learning app), DET can be taken at any time and place for university applicants to prove their English language proficiency. The test continues to be commonly used for admissions testing, as well as the more established English proficiency tests used for that purpose such as IELTS and TOEFL iBT.
