Proficiency Exam is designed to assess the English language proficiency level of students who are entitled to undertake their undergraduate or graduate studies at Uskudar University. The aim of the exam is to determine whether the students’ proficiency in English is at a level that will enable them to follow courses offered in their respective fields of study and fulfill the requirements of the courses with relative ease. Thus, the Proficiency is mainly concerned with assessing students’ proficiency in reading and understanding academic texts, their ability to follow lectures, take notes and make use of these notes, as well as their competence in composing academic texts of varying length. Therefore, the main focus of the Proficiency is English for Academic Purposes and it may well serve the needs of students in other English-medium universities, provided it is recognized by their institutions.
The Proficiency Exam is structured into two main parts: Receptive Skills and Productive Skills. The total score is out of 100 points, divided as follows:
|
Exam Component |
Percentage |
Total Points |
|
Reading & Listening (Receptive) |
60% |
60 Points |
|
Writing (Productive) |
30% |
30 Points |
|
Speaking (Productive) |
10% |
10 Points |
Section-by-Section Overview
1. Reading Comprehension (30 Points)
- Weight: 35% of the overall profile grade.
- Format: 2 texts (1000–1500 words total); 20 multiple-choice questions total (10 questions per text).
- Value: 1.5 points per question.
- Tested Skills: Main idea tracking, summary completion, True/False indicators, inference evaluation, reference tracking
and vocabulary contextual guessing.
2. Listening Comprehension (30 Points)
- Weight: 25% of the overall profile grade.
- Format: 2 audio recordings played ONCE only.
- Part A (While Listening): 10 multiple-choice questions (15 points total / 1.5 points each).
- Part B (Note-Taking): Guided skeleton outline sheet followed by 10 multiple-choice questions answered from your notes
(15 points total / 1.5 points each).
3. Writing Assessment (30 Points)
- Weight: 30% of the overall profile grade.
- Format: 1 academic essay of 300–350 words.
- Options: Students are given 7 distinct essay prompts covering rhetorical styles: Cause, Effect,
Argumentative/Opinion, Classification, Compare/Contrast, or Advantage/Disadvantage, and Problem/Solution.
They must select and write on ONE topic.
4. Speaking Interview (10 Points)
- Weight: 10% of the overall profile grade.
- Schedule: Begins at 13:00 following a scheduled break after the written components.
- Format: Administered in pairs. Each student receives 2 topic-based questions from academic domains (Psychology,
Technology, Environment, Sociology, Media, etc.).
- Timing Constraints: 20 seconds for mental brainstorming and 1.5 minutes response time per question.