What are the top 5 English language tests?
Quick answer
No official source ranks English language tests, so there is no true top five. Five publish a score comparison with IELTS: IELTS (bands 1 to 9), TOEFL iBT (1 to 6 since 21 January 2026), PTE Academic (10 to 90), Cambridge English qualifications and the Duolingo English Test (10 to 160). Each institution decides which it accepts.
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There is no official ranking of English language tests, and no source consulted here names a “top five”. The honest version of the question is which tests publish a comparison with IELTS, because that is what a candidate who holds one score needs when another is asked for. Five do.
The five, with owner and scale
IELTS. Owned jointly by the British Council, IDP IELTS and Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Overall and section scores are bands from 1 to 9, reported as whole or half bands. The Academic test takes 2 hours 45 minutes in all.
TOEFL iBT. Owned by ETS. For tests taken on or after 21 January 2026 it reports a total and four section scores from 1 to 6 in steps of 0.5. ETS relates IELTS 7 to a total of 5 and IELTS 6.5 to 4.5.
PTE Academic. Owned by Pearson, scored from 10 to 90. Pearson relates 63 to IELTS 7 and 55 to IELTS 6.5, as the minimum for each band.
Cambridge English qualifications. The IELTS.org comparison page gives the Cambridge English Scale for two of them, B2 First and C1 Advanced: scale scores of 154 for IELTS 5, 169 for IELTS 6, 176 for IELTS 6.5, 185 for IELTS 7 and 191 for IELTS 7.5, from a 2023 comparison document.
Duolingo English Test. Owned by Duolingo, scored from 10 to 160 in steps of 5. Duolingo relates 130 to 135 to IELTS 7 and 120 to 125 to IELTS 6.5.
Why these five, and why not a ranking
The choice is ours and it rests on one test: each of the five has a comparison with IELTS published by its owner or on IELTS.org, so each can be set beside the IELTS bands this site covers. Other tests exist, and the list says nothing about quality, popularity or acceptance. The comparisons are the owners’ estimates, not equivalences, and one of them has a caveat: IELTS.org says TOEFL iBT scores from tests taken from January 2026 should not be assumed directly comparable with earlier results or with IELTS Academic scores.
Acceptance is the other side’s rule
Whether a university, employer or immigration route accepts a test, and at what score, is decided by that body. The owners say so in their own pages: Pearson states that its table shows nothing about accepted tests or score requirements. So the decision order is the requirement first, the test second.
Where to see the numbers
Each comparison has its own page: IELTS to TOEFL iBT, IELTS to PTE Academic and IELTS to the Duolingo English Test. The CEFR is a framework and not a test, and IELTS publishes its own alignment in IELTS band to CEFR level. The score converter puts the tables side by side.
What this means for your score
A candidate applying to one university and one visa route finds that the university lists IELTS, TOEFL iBT and PTE Academic, while the visa route names only a government-approved IELTS. The same English level is then tested in two different ways. Read the accepted tests on each requirement page before booking any of them.
Frequently asked questions
Which English test is the most widely accepted?
No official source in the pages consulted here ranks tests by acceptance. IELTS.org publishes a page of organisations that accept IELTS, and each test owner publishes its own. Acceptance is decided by each institution or government body, so the requirement page of your course or visa route is the authority.
Are the scores of these tests the same?
No. Each uses its own scale, and the owners publish their comparisons as estimates, not exact equivalences. Our score converter shows each owner's table beside the IELTS band it relates to, and the conversion answers linked below give the figures band by band.
Is the TOEFL iBT score scale still 0 to 120?
Not for new tests. For tests taken on or after 21 January 2026, ETS reports a total and four section scores from 1 to 6 in steps of 0.5, with a comparable 0 to 120 figure on the report for two years. IELTS.org says scores from the revised test should not be assumed directly comparable with earlier ones.
Sources
- Compare IELTS — IELTS.org
- TOEFL iBT Score Scale 1 to 6: CEFR & IELTS Comparison — ETS
- PTE Academic scoring: how PTE Academic relates to the CEFR and to IELTS Academic — Pearson
- Understand scoring: overall score comparison — Duolingo English Test
Last verified 7 Oct 2026
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