The article provides a theoretical understanding of the key principles of the competency-based approach in the process of teaching English to students of higher education institutions. Various interpretations of basic concepts are considered and analyzed, in particular: “competence”, “communicative competence”, “foreign language communicative competence” and “competence-based approach”. Competence is interpreted as an integrated characteristicof a person, which includes a set of knowledge, abilities, skills and personal qualities that determine his motivation, readiness and ability to act effectively in specific life and professional situations.Within the framework of the analysis of foreign language competence, its main components are identified: a grammatical component, which includes vocabulary, knowledge of spelling norms and skills in syntactic expression; a sociolinguistic component, which concerns the ability to communicate effectively in accordance with the social context using means of description, information and persuasion; a discursive component, which involves theability to logically and consistently formulate speech within a coherent statement; a strategic component, which is expressed in the ability to use both verbal and non-verbal means to ensure successful communication.The study analyzes the key principles of implementing the competency-based approach in the process of teaching English to students of higher education institutions. In particular, the following methodological principles are identified: the principle of economical use of basic vocabulary; the principle of linguistic affinity between English and Latin; the principle of purposeful presentation of lexical units in the learning environment; the principle of taking into account the linguistic characteristics of lexemes in the context of learning; as well as the principle of an integrated approach to solving didactic and methodological tasks in the field of teaching lexical material.Based on the analysis, it was determined that the most effective means of forming foreign language professional communicative competence is the use of interactive forms of educational activity. In this regard, the pedagogical practice of an English teacher in higher education institutions should be based on modern approaches to organizing the educational process, which involves the implementation of innovative methods, effective educational and methodological technologies and relevant pedagogical strategies in the field of foreign language education.