ITU English Proficiency Exam is designed to determine students' readiness for their academic studies in English.
The exam is held in 2 sessions, and only students with a passing score (25 out of 50) in the first session can take the second session of the exam. To pass the exam, students need to have a minimum score of 25 out of 50 in the second session, too. Click here for the minimum total scores for ITU Undergraduate and Graduate Programs.
Session 1: Language Comprehension & Reading
Session 2: Writing & Listening
Session 1:
Language Comprehension
The aim of this section of the exam is to test students’ abilities to recognize language structures commonly used in general and academic texts. This section is comprised of 2 parts: Cloze Text and Restatement. In the Cloze Text part, students are expected to complete a text of about 400 words with appropriate grammar structures, vocabulary and connectors. There are 10 multiple-choice questions in this part, and each question is worth 0.5 points. In the Restatement part, each question requires students to choose the best alternative that expresses the meaning in the given sentence. There are 9 multiple-choice questions in this part, and each question is worth 1 point. The Language Comprehension section is worth 14 points in total.
Reading
There are 3 authentic/semi-authentic reading texts of differing length (500-900 words) in this section. The question types vary from main idea questions to specific information and inference questions. There are 24 multiple-choice questions in this section, each worth 1.5 points. The Reading section is worth 36 points in total.
Session 2:
Writing
This section is comprised of 2 parts: Academic Essay and Integrated Task.
Students are expected to write an academic essay* on the causes or effects of a topic, or state their opinions about a given argument. Students are given 2 questions to choose from. Then, they write an essay of about 250-350 words on the topic they choose. This part of the exam is worth 20 points.
* The academic essay should be written in this format: an introduction paragraph, two body paragraphs and a conclusion paragraph. Essays are graded by evaluating the usage of grammar and vocabulary as well as unity and coherence, and the use of examples to support ideas.
In the Integrated Task* part, students write a text by synthesizing ideas from a Reading text and a Listening text. This part of the exam is worth 10 points.
* Responses in the Integrated Task part are graded by evaluating the usage of grammar and vocabulary as well as unity and coherence in presenting a synthesis of the two texts with reference to the main ideas and essential examples in each.
The Writing Section is worth 30 points in total.
Listening
Students need to take notes as they listen to a lecture (about 10 minutes in length) in this section. Once they finish listening, they are given questions which they answer by using their notes. There are 10 multiple-choice questions in this section, worth 20 points (2 points for each question).
The details about the content and duration of the exam are given in the table below:
ITU English Proficiency Exam 1st Session (120 minutes)
Exam Content
|
Number of Questions
|
Points for Each Question
|
Total Points
|
Language Comprehension
- Cloze Text
- Restatement
|
10
9
|
0.5
1
|
14
|
Reading
|
24
|
1.5
|
36
|
ITU English Proficiency Exam 2nd Session (135 minutes)
Exam Content
|
Number of Questions
|
Points for Each Question
|
Total Points
|
Writing
- Academic Essay
- Integrated Task
|
1
1
|
20
10
|
30
|
Listening
|
10
|
2
|
20
|
Sample Exam and Previous Exams
Click here for the sample exam and the analysis. Click here for previous exams that include Restatement, Reading, Academic Essay and Listening questions.
Exam Dates
You can find the exam dates on the academic calendar.
Applying for the Exam
Relevant information are posted on ITU School of Foreign Languages website within the exam application dates specified on the academic calendar.
Announcement of the Exam Scores and Objection Procedure
The exam scores are announced on ITU School of Foreign Languages website. For students wishing to object to their score, details about the objection procedure are also announced on the website.