Most Nepali students walk into AECS asking “should I take IELTS, PTE or Duolingo?” The internet’s answer to this is full of marketing pitches — each test administrator naturally promotes its own format. This post is the honest comparison we give at the counselling desk, written from the perspective of “which test fits you and your destination”, not “which test should we sell you on”.
The 30-second answer
- Pick IELTS if your destination is the UK (especially if a UKVI-approved SELT is required), if you’re targeting nursing / teaching / law in Australia, or if you simply prefer paper-based tests with a human examiner.
- Pick PTE if your destination accepts it (most do), if your typing speed is solid, and if you want the fastest result turnaround (often inside 48 hours) — particularly useful when an offer window is tight.
- Pick Duolingo if your shortlist accepts it, if you want the lowest cost (about USD 65 vs USD 200+ for IELTS / PTE), and if you can take a 60-minute online test from home with a strict room-rules regime.
The rest of the post explains why.
Format and duration
| Aspect | IELTS | PTE Academic | Duolingo English Test |
|---|---|---|---|
| Format | Paper-based OR Computer-Delivered | Computer-based, in person | Online, proctored from home |
| Duration | ~2 hr 45 min + 11–14 min Speaking | ~2 hours | ~60 minutes |
| Score range | Bands 1.0 – 9.0 | 10 – 90 | 10 – 160 |
| Speaking format | Face-to-face with examiner (paper) or video call (CD) | Recorded into microphone, AI-graded + human review | Recorded video interview, human-reviewed |
| Result turnaround | 13 days (paper) / 3–5 days (CD) | 2 working days typical | 2 working days |
| Validity | 2 years | 2 years | 2 years |
| Cost (Nepal) | ~NPR 28,000 – 36,000 | ~NPR 38,000 | ~USD 65 (~NPR 8,500) |
The IELTS Speaking module being a real human conversation is either a feature (genuine interview practice, room for partial credit on confident answers) or a friction point (one human’s assessment, less consistent than algorithmic scoring). Same fact, different framing for different students.
Acceptance: who takes what
IELTS is the most universally accepted English test. 11,500+ universities and immigration bodies worldwide accept it. For the United Kingdom, some visa categories specifically require UKVI-approved IELTS as a Secure English Language Test (SELT) — neither PTE nor Duolingo can substitute. For Australian skilled-migration pathways, IELTS is the long-established benchmark and the points table is mapped against IELTS bands first.
PTE Academic is accepted at 6,000+ universities globally and across all major destinations. For the Student Direct Stream in Canada, PTE has been accepted since 2023 with a 60+ overall threshold — which made Canada’s SDS pathway open to PTE for the first time. For Australia, PTE is accepted at every university and for the Subclass 500 student visa. Skilled-migration tables include PTE mapping at the 50 / 65 / 79 points-test bands.
The Duolingo English Test has grown the fastest. As of 2026, 5,500+ universities accept it including most of the Ivy League, the entire University of California system, almost the entire Russell Group, all Australian Group of Eight universities, and all 8 New Zealand universities. The notable gaps: the UKVI Student Visa SELT requirement does not accept Duolingo, and certain regulated-profession programs (nursing, teaching, law) still require IELTS or PTE. Always confirm acceptance program-by-program — DET acceptance is institutional, not national.
For a full destination-by-destination breakdown, see our IELTS band requirements post; the equivalent PTE and DET thresholds are on the per-exam course pages.
Cost, broken down honestly
For a Nepali student sitting one attempt at each test in 2026:
- IELTS Academic (CD or Paper) — NPR 28,000 – 36,000 depending on the test centre and slot. AECS’ bundled prep + booking package brings this down via the centre discount built into our partner rates.
- PTE Academic — NPR 38,000 at the Pearson VUE centre. Same idea — AECS’ partner pricing tightens the all-in number.
- Duolingo English Test — USD 65 (~NPR 8,500) per attempt. Two attempts are common (baseline + target lock-in), so plan for NPR 17,000 if you expect to retake. No centre fee — you take it from your own room.
The DET being about 1/4 the cost of IELTS / PTE is its biggest practical advantage. The trade-offs are (a) acceptance is not universal, (b) the room rules are strict — a phone visible on your desk or another person walking through is enough to disqualify the attempt, (c) the 60-minute single sitting with no breaks is intense.
Result turnaround
If you have an offer window that closes in 7 days, this matters more than anything else.
- IELTS CD: 3–5 working days typical.
- PTE Academic: 2 working days typical, often inside 24 hours.
- DET: 2 working days typical.
- IELTS Paper: 13 days — the slowest, and the main reason CD has overtaken paper for time-pressured candidates.
We’ve had AECS students book PTE on a Tuesday and submit the score to a Canadian SDS application by Friday. That speed is genuinely PTE’s edge.
Scoring rubric — and which test “rewards” which kind of student
This is where the comparison gets useful.
IELTS rewards structured spoken English (Speaking Parts 1–3 follow a predictable arc), clean written argumentation (Task 2 essay grades on Task Achievement, Coherence, Lexical Resource and Grammar), and the ability to sit a long test without losing concentration. Students with strong classroom-English fluency tend to score well on IELTS.
PTE rewards consistent on-screen performance under time pressure. Integrated item types (Re-tell Lecture scores both Listening and Speaking; Summarise Written Text scores both Reading and Writing) reward students who can string skills together cleanly. Strong typers tend to score one PTE bracket higher than their IELTS-equivalent ability. Read-Aloud and Repeat Sentence reward clear pronunciation and short-term memory.
DET rewards rhythm and discipline. The adaptive format means difficulty ramps up as you answer correctly; getting into the flow of the question types and not panicking when one feels harder is half the test. Strong typists and confident speakers do well; perfectionists who pause mid-answer lose points to the timer.
Our diagnostic mock in your first week of prep maps your underlying English ability against all three tests’ scoring rubrics — and tells you honestly which test will score you highest for the same amount of work.
Practical decision tree
We use this at the counselling desk:
- Is the UK Student Visa SELT a requirement for your destination? → Take IELTS (UKVI-approved).
- Is your shortlist a mix of universities that don’t all accept DET? → Take IELTS or PTE — not Duolingo. You don’t want to take two tests.
- Are you on a tight offer deadline (less than 2 weeks)? → Take PTE or DET — fastest results.
- Is cost the binding constraint? → Take DET if your shortlist accepts it. Otherwise the IELTS / PTE decision is the next branch.
- Are you a strong typist with crisp short-form speech? → Lean PTE.
- Do you prefer paper, prefer human examiners, want a UK-friendly score? → Lean IELTS.
There’s no single “best” test for everyone. There’s a best test for your shortlist, your timing, and the way you actually perform under exam conditions.
What’s next
After you pick the test, the work splits into three streams: real-format prep, the booking itself, and the score-send to your shortlist. Our mock-test lab covers stream one (IELTS / PTE / DET full-length simulations on the same hardware as test day), the booking page covers stream two (we book the slot for you at British Council, IDP or Pearson VUE), and the score-send is included in the AECS package regardless of which test you sit.
If you’re still on the fence, book a free 30-minute counselling session — we’ll map your destination shortlist against the three tests’ acceptance, walk through cost and timeline, and recommend the one we’d actually take if we were you.
This post is part of the AECS cornerstone series. Test fees, score-mapping thresholds and university acceptance lists change — verify current details with an AECS counsellor before booking.