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Inicio > Degree Programmes > Bachelor Degree in Computer Engineering > Level B2 English language certification

Information on the Level B2 English language certification process and on scheduled student support activities

All undergraduate informatics engineering and mathematics and informatics students have to certify to having an English language proficiency level of B2 to qualify to take "English for professional and academic communication" in the 7th semester of both degree courses. This is a compulsory subject, meaning that the above requirement is also a compulsory requirement for qualifying for a bachelor's degree.

This web page sets out to inform on the support activities scheduled by the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) and the Facultad de Informática (FI), and describe the Level B2 English language proficiency certification process and the procedures set up for certification purposes.

Guidelines

Students should take the level test at their earliest convenience. This way, they will be able to opt for the certification process if they already have an English language proficiency level of B2 or can start to take measures to attain the B2 level before it is too late. Students that fail to take the necessary measures will not be eligible to enrol in the compulsory "English for Professional and Academic Communication" subject or for fourth-year stays abroad, etc. All this will ultimately delay their graduation. Note that the workload for moving up one level (e.g., B1 to B2) is about 240 hours.

Students that need support to move up from their current English proficiency level to B2 should try to make the best use of the support activities provided by the UPM, as well as any other steps they decide to take on their own account. In particular, students should participate in the face-to-face support courses that will be organized every semester. To be eligible for these courses, students must first have taken the level test.

Students that already have a B2 English proficiency level should apply for the certification process at their earliest convenience. There are two certification processes a year. Certification never expires. Students can apply for certification no more than 4 times. On this ground, students should not apply for accreditation unless they have achieved a B2 proficiency level in the leveL test.

Students that already have had their English language proficiency certified as Level B2 by an external accreditation agency should apply for certification at their earliest convenience.

Preliminaries

The amended text of the agreements reached by the UPM's Governance Council (Meetings of 26 June, 10 and 24 July 2008) states that:

  1. All the bachelor's degree programmes will include a compulsory subject, allocated 6 ECTS credits, focusing on the development of oral and written communication skills in the English language. To be eligible to take this subject, students shall have to previously certify to having an English proficiency level of B2 as stipulated by the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for languages established by the Council of Europe or equivalent.

  2. The above certification may be awarded by official bodies outside the UPM, by passing certification tests specified by the UPM or by special-purpose tests designed by the UPM through its Department of Lingustics Applied to Science and Technology or departments responsible for language teaching.

  3. The UPM will design foreign language learning support activities, focusing on the English language, for its bachelor's and master's degree students.

Accordingly, a number of support initiatives and activities have been set up, as has a certification process providing two special-purpose procedures for students to certify to having a Level B2 language proficiency.

Level test

A 30-minute level test is available to students throughout the academic year, providing guidance as to their English language level. Students can take the test once a year. The test is available all year round at the Virtual Universidad Politécnica's Starting Point.

Although the level test is voluntary, students will have to have taken this level test to be able to apply for any of the three face-to-face courses offered as part of the support activities by the UPM (see next section).

Support activities

The UPM will set up special-purpose courses to encourage students to follow through their English language education and attain a proficiency level of B2. There will be three types of courses:
  1. On-line courses offered by other institutions. The UPM shall endeavour to reach agreements with reputed institutions that offer on-line training under beneficial conditions for UPM students. An agreement with "My Oxford English" is already in place, but this does rule out other options being offered in the future. The UPM's role regarding this type of courses is confined to offering a framework agreement with the company, whereas students will have to deal directly with the company offering the course concerning enrolment, training and, if any, assessment. 

  2. On-line courses offered via Fine Tuning. Students will find free English language learning resources on the Fine-Tuning Platform, although students will be neither be tutored nor monitored.

  3. Face-to-face support courses. These are courses organized every term, offered at three sublevels and taught by faculty from the Department of Linguistics Applied to Science and Technology:

    • Beginner B1 (40 hours face-to-face tuition + 40 hours e-learning). Leads to intermediate Level B1.

    • Intermediate B1 (40 hours face-to-face tuition + 40 hours e-learning). Leads to Advanced Level B1

    • Advanced B1 (40 hours face-to-face tuition + 40 hours e-learning). Leads to Level B2.

Face-to-face support courses

The workload demanded of students to successfully complete the three courses (Beginner B1, Intermediate B1, Advanced B1) is considered to be as required for someone to move up from Level B1 to B2. Students that have a lower level than B1 shall be entitled to enrol for "Beginner B1" provided that they undertake to take complementary measures and a workload proportional to the distance of their level to B1, taking into account that it takes a workload of 240 hours to move up from one level to another.

These courses are organized as follows:

At the start of each semester there is an (on-line) registration period where students state their interest in taking the course and their current English proficiency level, for which purpose they will have to have taken the level test at the Starting Point as mentioned earlier.

At the end of this period, the courses on offer are scheduled depending on the applications received and the availability of faculty from the Department of Linguistics Applied to Science and Technology.

If there is a shortage of resources or student demand is low, courses will be offered by grouping students from different institutions.

When demand is greater than supply, students shall be selected according to attainment and homogeneity criteria.

Students that have been admitted to a specific course shall have to enrol at their Registry, paying the equivalent of three European credits (3 ECTS) per course. If they pass the course, the fees that they paid shall be added up and discounted from the enrolment fee for "English for professional and academic communication".

The registration and enrolment schedule shall be published in July and January.

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs