The intermediate-level English exam (CEFR level B1, or "Threshold") assesses intermediate proficiency, focusing particularly on communication skills, spontaneous interaction, correct pronunciation, and the ability to construct complex sentences when conveying information on a specific topic. It also tests students’ knowledge of specialised civil engineering vocabulary from eleven different topic areas as well as intermediate-level grammar, requiring the student to be able to:

• understand the general meaning of information regarding familiar topics and situations—such as those encountered at work, school, or during leisure time—provided the information is expressed clearly and understandably;
• use English to communicate successfully in most situations encountered while traveling abroad;
• describe experiences, events, ambitions, expectations, and plans, and briefly explain or justify opinions and statements;
• successfully complete intermediate-level grammar exercises;
• recall a wide range of technical vocabulary used in many branches of civil Engineering.

In everyday communication, students should be able to use past, present, and present perfect tenses, as well as future forms to express plans. They should be able to formulate questions, provide personal information, and understand standard English regarding familiar topics. They should be able to make comparisons using adjectives, handle first and second conditional sentences, and use countable and uncountable nouns as well as certain modal verbs. They should be able to describe long-term and short-term situations in their lives; use modal verbs to express permission and obligation regarding rules and behavior; use the passive voice to describe processes; use future forms to predict and plan future actions; and use conditional sentences to express future situations and general theoretical possibilities.

Two intermediate level support courses are offered for this exam: VYA008 English Intermediate 1 (general English) and VYA009 English intermediate 2 (technical English), where students acquire the knowledge and skills they need to pass the exam.