The organization of professional training of students of a pedagogical university is realized on a competence-based approach, which requires a implementation of new methods, tools and procedures aimed at assessment educational results. The complexity of the formation and assessment of competencies is explained by their multicomponent structure and the ability to manifest themselves during students’ performance. Modern methods and tools of assessing competencies should be based on modeling situations that enable students to perform quasi-professional activity and the description of key elements of each competence domain. The purpose of the article is to develop a methodology for assessing the communicative competence of students of a pedagogical university studying at the Faculty of foreign languages. Methodology and methods of research. The methodological basis of the study was made up of: the competence-based approach and its views on new results of the educational process at the university, methods of assessing competencies (N. F. Efremova, Ibragimov G.I., Baartman L.K., Kanik M.); a contextual approach that explains the need to create educational situations that model the conditions of professional activities for the formation and assessment of modern educational results (A. A. Verbitskiy). Research methods: analysis of scientific literature, pedagogical modeling. Research results. A methodology for assessing the communicative competence of students of a pedagogical university studying at the Faculty of Foreign Languages has been developed and presented. The quality criteria for modern assessment methods and instruments are formulated (authenticity, transparency, the significance of the content of assessment materials for students, effectiveness). The author of the article develops and presents a model of an assessment method based on the analysis of video fragments of communicative situations. The procedure for modeling communicative situations that can be used to compile assessment materials is described in detail. The foreign experience of designing pragmatic tests of oral communication (Discourse Completion Task) is analyzed, ways of improving these tasks are proposed.