What IELTS score do you need for Brown University?

English proficiency must be achieved before admission: Brown offers no English-as-a-second-language courses for undergraduates and does not admit students deficient in English on a provisional basis. Brown highly recommends a test if English is not your first language, the main language at home, or the language of instruction throughout secondary school. It accepts TOEFL (including the iBT Home Edition), IELTS, Duolingo, PTE and Cambridge English, and expects in most cases TOEFL 105 (5.5 for tests from January 2026), IELTS 8.0, Duolingo 130, PTE 75 or Cambridge C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency 191. See English proficiency.

Students who self-report a score must send official reports before enrolling; for fall 2027 these are due in May 2027. If your result will expire before then, have it sent before it expires: expired reports are not accepted and the requirement is not waived. MyBest scores are not accepted.

International applicants whose native language is not English submit an official TOEFL or IELTS score; the TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition and IELTS Indicator are accepted. The TOEFL minimum is 90 for tests before 21 January 2026 and 4.5 after, and the recommended IELTS overall band is 7. Some programs set higher standards. Send TOEFL to code 3094 (School of Public Health applicants also to SOPHAS, 5688) and IELTS electronically to Brown University Graduate School. See language proficiency.

No test is needed if you earned a degree from a US college, from a non-US university whose primary language of instruction is English, or in a listed country such as the UK, Australia, Canada (except Quebec), Ireland, Ghana, Kenya or Nigeria. If your university is in another country, including India, have its Registrar or Dean send the Graduate School a letter stating that English is its primary language of instruction. Teaching assistants are tested on arrival.

The US F-1 student visa sets no English test score of its own. What counts is the requirement Brown sets for admission, which leads to your Form I-20. For the wider picture of studying in the US with each test, see IELTS for the USA and PTE for the USA.

Requirements change between admission cycles. Check the Brown undergraduate English proficiency page again before you book a test, and check your own program page, which can set a higher bar. To see where you stand now, take a timed IELTS mock test.