By-product of Bologna: a Minimum Level of English for European University Students

This article is a report of work in progress. It describes the development and implementation of an on-line entrance test in English, and a related on-line support course, in the Faculty of Languages in Venice University (2008), against the background of the Bologna Agreement, and the perceived need for incoming students in the Italian university system - and elsewhere in Europe - to have a minimum level of English if they are to be able to successfully complete their course of studies, whether at their home university or in another European university as part of an exchange programme. It goes on to consider the kinds of competences in English which are most likely to be required during a course of studies at a European university, and concludes by calling for a targeted test of those competences which would be more valid than the 'default' B1 tests currently being administered in the Italian system.