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Abstract: The article deals with an innovative solution to the problem of continuity in higher professional education with regard to the foreign language teaching of students of non-language specialities, namely, introducing minors with linguistic vocational focus. By examining the results of the survey conducted among master’s degree students of Ural Federal University the authors have identified the difficulty experienced by their majority when resuming the foreign language education after completion of this course in the second year of study. Additional training of this subject in the third and fourth year of study at the bachelor's degree level to bridge the two-year gap is also admitted as necessary. In this connection the authors have investigated the individual educational trajectories chosen by the students of nonlanguage specialities after completing the compulsory course of foreign language within the framework of Ural Federal University curriculum: additional education programmes, language centres offers, private teachers’ classes, independent students’ work involving online technologies. The authors emphasize the significance of methodological guidance and supervision of students’ independent work in the situation of reducing of the number of hours allocated to the foreign language course in the university curriculum. The authors consider students’ independent work to be crucial for enhancing higher education effectiveness, with students being properly motivated and guided from the very first year of studying at university. In order to enhance students’ foreign language proficiency and therefore provide greater competitiveness of graduates of Ural Federal University on the labour market in conditions of modern postindustrial society the authors suggest a timely and relevant solution to the problem of continuity in foreign language education that is linguistic minors.