The Istanbul Technical University (ITU) School of Foreign Languages (SFL) English Proficiency Exam is a high-intermediate level test. Below is a chart showing how scores on the ITU Proficiency Exam compare to CEFR levels.

CEFR Level Corresponding score on ITU Prof. Exam
C1 90 – 100
B2+ 75 – 89
B2 70 – 74
B1+ 65 – 69
B1 60 – 64

The ITU Proficiency Exam is administered in two sessions and composed of the following sections. (First Session: Sections 1&2; Second Session: Sections 3&4)

  1. Restatement questions make up 15% of the exam. Students are given a sentence and then asked to find the sentence closest in meaning to that sentence.
  2. Reading comprehension questions make up 45% of the exam. This section is made up of three to five authentic (usually scientific) texts that have been modified. Questions test understanding of the passage as well as the ability to guess a word’s meaning from context or to understand the meaning of reference words.
  3. Listening comprehension questions make up 20% of the exam. Before seeing the exam questions, students listen to a lecture once, taking notes as they listen. After hearing the lecture, they use their notes to answer multiple choice questions about the lecture.
  4. The essay writing section makes up 20% of the exam. In this section, students write one 250 to 350-word essay. The essay types asked are I) compare/contrast, II) cause, and III) effect.