English Language Test
Assessment of English proficiency for the English-taught AI bachelor program.
Learning objectives
At VU Amsterdam, having a strong command of the language of your study programme is crucial to your academic success. Therefore, all first-year Bachelor students must take a Dutch or English language proficiency test at the beginning of their studies. The required test depends on the language of instruction for your Bachelor's programme.
The VU English Language Proficiency Test is a mandatory digital test for all first-year bachelor students in English-taught programmes. It takes place in September in the DigiTenT at the VU campus.
The test consists of 200 closed questions (multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank) covering eight topic areas: • Grammar — parts of speech, verb tenses, subject–verb agreement, articles, prepositions, conditionals • Spelling and punctuation — commonly misspelled words, apostrophes, commas, semicolons, colons • Structuring — sentence and paragraph organisation, logical connectors, cohesion • Vocabulary/usage — academic and general word choice, collocations, commonly confused words • Phrasing — natural English expressions, formal vs. informal register, idiomatic language • Reading comprehension — understanding main ideas, inferring meaning from context, identifying tone • Pronunciation — word stress, vowel sounds, silent letters (tested via written phonetic/audio questions) • Classroom English — academic phrases used in lectures, discussions, and presentations
Most students finish in 1.5–2 hours (maximum: 2 hours 45 minutes). If you score above 67% you pass directly. A score of 67% or below ("Low" level) means you must attend a refresher course, so a quick review of grammar terminology and spelling rules is worth the small effort.
The test is designed at a level expected of a high school graduate starting an academic career — you are NOT expected to prepare extensively. If you are comfortable reading and speaking English, you should be fine. That said, knowing the names of grammar concepts (e.g. "present perfect continuous", "subordinating conjunction") can trip you up if you've never formally studied grammar terminology. A short refresher is recommended.
Assessment
The language proficiency test is a digital test consisting of 200 closed questions. Scoring above 67% means you pass directly. A score of 67% or below requires attending a refresher course.
Teaching methods
The language proficiency test will take place in September in the DigiTenT at the VU campus. No formal teaching — it is a one-time test. If you score Low, you will attend a refresher course afterwards.