The Graduate School has strict policies on English requirements for international students who plan to study at the University of Washington. The policies are described in Graduate School Policy 3.2 and Policy 5.2. Policy 3.2 describes UW's requirements on English proficiency for all international applicants. Policy 5.2 defines the eligibility of international students to serve as teaching assistants (TA) at the UW.

All international students should read these two policies carefully. These two policies are issued by the Graduate School to define minimal requirements on English proficiency. The Department uses the conditions defined in these two policies for admission and TA consideration of all international students.

The most common way for international students to establish English proficiency is to pass tests with the following minimum scores:

• 92 on the ITOEFL iBT
• 580 on the ITOEFL pBT (paper-based)
• 120 on the Duolingo test 

Test scores should be sent electronically to UW institution code 4854.

The TOEFL is not required for students who hold a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree from a regionally accredited institution in the United States or from an institution in Australia, the Bahamas, Canada, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, New Zealand, Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago, or the United Kingdom.

Please see more details about the Graduate School English language proficiency requirements in Graduate School Policy 3.2.