Language Proficiency Testing Policy

All NYU students must have a strong command of the English language to be successful in a fast-paced, rigorous academic environment. If English is not your first language, you may be asked to submit results from an English language proficiency exam taken within the last two years as proof of English proficiency. NYU considers the validity of application material and documentation to be of the utmost priority, please see our Application Authenticity policy here.

How Do I Know If I Need to Take a Language Proficiency Test?

You do not need to if:

  • English is your first language (Someone's first language is the language that they learned first and speak best).
  • You already completed (at the time of application submission) three or more full-time consecutive academic years in a curriculum where the only language of instruction was English.

A couple points to consider when applying to NYU if you are not a first English speaker:

  • If you are taking a bilingual curriculum, you are still required to submit English language test results.
  • For most students, the policy means that you must have been in an English-language curriculum since the equivalent of 9th grade. If you have only been taught in English since the equivalent of 10th grade, we will require English language testing.

When Do I Need to Take One of These Exams? 

Exams should be completed before the application deadline, and results cannot be more than 2 years old by application submission. While we will consider scores received after the application deadline, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to wait for those scores to arrive before making an admissions decision.

Which Exams Should I Take?

  • TOEFL iBT (Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-Based Test).  We will accept results from the in-person version or the iBT Home Edition.
  • Duolingo English Test
  • IELTS Academic (International English Language Testing System)
  • PTE Academic (Pearsons Test of English Academic)
  • C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency (Cambridge English: Advanced or Proficiency) 
  • iTEP (International Test of English Proficiency - Academic-Plus).  We will accept results from the in-person or online version.

We do not accept results from the TOEFL Essentials or the PTE Academic Online. We also do not accept TOEFL iBT "My Best" scores or IELTS One Skill Retake.  If you took the TOEFL iBT or IELTS, please send us your result from the test wherein you received the highest composite score.

Additional exams may be added at a later time. Please refer to our English Language policy before applying and/or taking any exams to ensure your test scores will satisfy our application requirements. 

What Do I Need to Score on One of These Tests?

We don’t have minimum score requirements, but competitive applicants will receive:

  • 100 and above on the TOEFL iBT
  • 130 and above on the Duolingo English Test
  • 7.5 and above on the IELTS Academic
  • 70 and above on the PTE Academic
  • 191 and above on the Cambridge English Scale
  • 4.5 and above on the iTEP (C1 Advanced and C2 Mastery)

How Do I Submit My Results to NYU? 

For the TOEFL iBT, use NYU's code 2562.

For the IELTS Academic, please follow the instructions on this site; when prompted, search for "New York University" and release results to Undergraduate Admissions as opposed to one of our schools or colleges. Similarly, for the PTE Academic, C1 Advanced and C2 Proficiency, select "New York University" as opposed to one of our specific NYU schools or colleges. Searching for "NYU" will not return any results; you must search using our official name.

For the Duolingo English Test, please follow the instructions outlined in Duolingo's "How do I send my Duolingo English Test results to institutions?" documentation to send your score to NYU for free.

If you are unable to submit official results for any test except the Duolingo English Test, you can alternatively self-report unofficial results or upload unofficial test result documents to your portal after you apply (for admissions review purposes only).  

Am I Required to Interview with NYU?

No. Interviews are not required and cannot be requested by candidates for admission to NYU.

Additional Information

NYU reserves the right to request an English language exam if we believe this information would be helpful in the review of the application.

English as a second language (ESL) courses will not be considered as meeting the all-English language requirement for the year they were taken in.