What IELTS score do you need for Princeton?

If English is not your native language and your school does not teach in English, you must take TOEFL, IELTS Academic, the Duolingo English Test or PTE Academic. You are exempt if English is your native language, or if you have spent at least three years at a secondary school where English is the primary language of instruction. Princeton does not publish a minimum or recommended score on this page. See Princeton Admission.

If your primary language is not English you submit TOEFL, IELTS or DET unless exempt. The Graduate School says it "does not have a minimum score requirement"; check your department's page. You are exempt if English is your primary language, your undergraduate instruction was entirely in English (certified by the institution), or you completed at least two academic years of full-time graduate study taught entirely in English.

TOEFL at home and IELTS Online are accepted, and both TOEFL scales are reviewed. IELTS scores expire two years after the test date, and from fall 2026 admission scores must still be valid when the application opens on 15 September. Admitted students with TOEFL Speaking below 5.5 (27 old scale), IELTS Speaking below 8.0 or DET Conversation below 125 take an English assessment, even if exempt. See the Graduate School page.

The US F-1 student visa sets no English test score of its own. What counts is the requirement Princeton 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 Princeton Graduate School page again before you book a test, and check your own program page, which can set a higher bar.