The article addresses the problem of competence-based approach in solving the problem of reading. The problem of defining competence and various approaches to its solution is considered. The concepts of "competence / competence" at the present stage have become key and determining the goals and content of training. The main ability of the graduate is the ability to form his speech utterance for special purposes. For this reason, the main category of linguodidactics becomes communicative competence.

The establishment of a new paradigm of education, on which the updating of the content of education in school is based, requires the development of new approaches to planning the expected learning outcomes. This aspect determines the relevance of the described issue.

The authors determine the theoretical basis for the formation of reading competence. At the same time, an attempt is made not only to give its own definition of the term, but also to draw a line between the concepts of "reading competence", "literary competence", "reading literacy".

In the course of addressing the problem of the formation of reading competence, the article defines the descriptors of reading competence, which give the teacher a direction that requires the application of efforts. Functional literacy, which is one of the results of learning at school, also includes structural elements of the competence under consideration.