Research notes

IRCC rules, retakes, logistics, and TCF vs TEF for NCLC 7

Prepared 4 November 2026 for a learner starting French from zero who will sit TCF Canada or TEF Canada in late December 2026 and needs NCLC 7 in listening (CO), reading (CE), writing (EE) and speaking (EO). NCLC 7 in all 4 French abilities is also the entry condition for Express Entry's French-language proficiency category (IRCC category-based selection, modified 2026-10-16) [H].

Confidence tags

• [H] high: official text I read myself, or a test centre's own page for facts about that centre.
• [M] medium: official text seen through a teammate's report, several secondary sources that agree, or an inference from a rule's absence in official texts.
• [L] low: one secondary source, or my own calculation or reasoning (labelled).

Method and limits

• I read directly:
  • 9 IRCC pages and officer instructions;
  • 6 pages and tutorial screens from Le français des affaires (LFA, which runs TEF);
  • the France Éducation international (FEI) Manuel du candidat for TCF, Version J, September 2024, from a mirror at Alianza Francesa de Medellín;
  • about 19 pages from 6 test centres in Canada and India;
  • 8 prep or platform pages that compare the two tests;
  • 1 practice-platform dataset.
• FEI's own website blocked every automated request with a bot-protection error. Current FEI web text was therefore read only through the manual and through centres that relay FEI rules.
• The shared web-search budget was already used up when this task started, so I made no new searches. Every page was reached from a known official address or by following links.
• The fetch tool cannot open Reddit, and YouTube and Facebook could not be reached without search. The opinion count in §4.4 therefore rests on 8 prep and platform pages plus one mock-test dataset, not on Reddit threads. This is the biggest gap in this report.
• Facts marked via team report come from the other reports in this folder and keep their original URLs.

0. Answers in brief

1. (a) IRCC does not combine sittings.
   • IRCC's officer instructions say: "The results must all be demonstrated on the same single test report." (IRCC FSW language instructions, modified 2026-06-23) [H]
   • IRCC also refuses the IELTS One Skill Retake for Express Entry (IRCC Express Entry language testing, modified 2026-10-16) [H].
   • LFA says Canada recognises a TEF Canada certificate only if all four tests were taken on the same day (LFA TEF Canada presentation) [H].
2. (b) Neither test lets you resit one skill for IRCC.
   • TCF Canada has four compulsory parts (FEI manual p.15) [H].
   • A TEF Canada immigration registration must include all four in one session (LFA conditions) [H].
   • The modular products (TCF Québec, TCF tout public expression papers, TEFAQ, the 2-module TEF Canada) are not accepted for Express Entry (IRCC language requirements) [H].
3. The usable workaround is to alternate tests.
   • The 20-day wait applies within each test family.
   • I found no rule linking TCF and TEF, so you can sit them days apart and submit whichever single report shows NCLC 7 in all four [H for each rule; M for the absence of a cross-test rule].
4. (c) Waits, results, validity and fees.
   • Wait between sittings: 20 days for both at every centre checked, except AF Ottawa (30 days for TEF). FEI's 2024 manual said 30 days for TCF.
   • Results: about 2 weeks; centres quote from 1 day to 4 weeks, and up to 6 weeks in summer at Concordia.
   • Validity: 2 years.
   • Fees: CAD 390–400 in Canada; INR 26,000 in India.
   • Re-marking: not available on either test for a December 2026 sitting (§2, §3).
5. Seats are the bottleneck [H for each centre]:
   • On 4 Nov 2026, AF Toronto had no TCF or TEF Canada session left in 2026. Its next release, for January–March 2027, opens on 1 Dec 2026 at 10:00.
   • AF Delhi's 18 and 25 November TCF sessions (15 seats each) went on sale on 4 Nov, and the page already marks registration closed and fully booked.
   • AF Chandigarh says its TEF Canada waiting list can reach 10–12 months.
   • No centre page I could read lists a session after 7 December 2026.
6. (d) The official cut-offs split by skill.
   • Both providers put B2 at 400–499 on their /699 scales.
   • TEF places NCLC 7 lower inside B2 for listening and reading: 434, against TCF's 458 and 453.
   • TCF places it lower for writing and speaking: 10/20 is its lowest B2 mark, while TEF needs 428 in writing and 456 in speaking.
   • [H for the numbers; L–M for reading them as difficulty, because the two scales are calibrated separately.]
7. The formats point the same way.
   • TEF listening gives reading time before each clip, plays radio interviews twice and now uses 3-option vox-pops [H/M].
   • TCF speaking is the shortest (12 min) and opens with a 2-minute guided interview. TCF also has a large circulating bank of monthly writing and speaking subjects [H for format; L–M for the bank].
8. What 8 prep and platform pages say:
   • Overall: 6 say neither test is easier or that it depends, 1 says TCF is slightly easier, and none says TEF.
   • Listening leans TEF (2 to 1); reading leans TCF (2 to 0); writing is split (1 each, 1 conditional); speaking leans TCF (2 to 1, 1 "depends").
   • One mock-test dataset of 2,091 sections has more listening sections at B2 or above on TEF (25.6%) than on TCF (19.5%), and no gap in reading (23.1% vs 23.7%) [L–M].
9. Recommendation [L, my inference from points 6–8]:
   • Make TCF Canada your primary test. Its writing and speaking cut-offs are the lower of the two, and its recurring subject banks suit a plan that learns what repeats first.
   • Add a TEF Canada sitting if listening is your weakest skill in full mock tests.
   • Because neither test lets you resit one skill, book both, a few days apart.

1. (a) Can results from different sittings be combined for IRCC?

No. [H]

What the official texts say

• IRCC officer instructions (federal skilled workers, official language proficiency; modified 2026-06-23):
  • Applicants must meet the required level in all 4 skill areas with valid results from an approved test.
  • The results must all be on one single test report.
  • The next paragraph sets the 2-year validity rule for Express Entry profiles and applications (IRCC FSW language instructions).
  • [H]
• IRCC Express Entry language-testing page (modified 2026-10-16): IELTS One Skill Retake is not accepted for Express Entry (IRCC Express Entry language testing) [H].
• IRCC language requirements instructions (modified 2026-06-23): the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot is the only program that accepts IELTS One Skill Retake (IRCC language requirements) [H].
• LFA, for TEF Canada:
  • Canadian authorities recognise the certificate only if all tests were taken on the same day (LFA TEF Canada presentation).
  • An immigration registration must cover reading, listening, writing and speaking in the same session (LFA conditions).
  • [H]
• FEI and centres, for TCF Canada:
  • The test has 4 compulsory parts lasting 2 h 47 in total (FEI manual p.15).
  • Concordia says all sections are taken on the same day (Concordia).
  • AF Toronto says the test must be taken as a complete exam (AF Toronto TCF).
  • [H]

What this means in practice

• One attestation covers one session. You cannot pair the listening score from one sitting with the speaking score from another, even on the same test [H].
• You cannot mix TEF and TCF scores in one French result [H for the IRCC rule]. Four prep pages say the same: mocko.ai, francaisprep, frenchforpr and tcfcanada.ai [M].
• You may hold several valid attestations and submit one.
  • No IRCC page I read requires the most recent one.
  • Three prep pages say you submit the strongest valid result: frenchforpr, francaisprep and mocko.ai.
  • [M]
• Scope. The single-report sentence is in the federal skilled worker instructions. I did not find the same sentence on a Canadian Experience Class or Federal Skilled Trades page. The One Skill Retake refusal, however, covers Express Entry as a whole (IRCC Express Entry language testing) [M for CEC and FST].
• A centre's partial-retake offer does not change this. The partial options that exist (§2) belong to other tests or other purposes.

2. (b) Can you retake only one skill?

Not for IRCC, on either test. [H]

Re-marking, the other way to rescue one skill, is not available for a December 2026 sitting.

• TCF Canada.
  • Re-marking requests are suspended for sessions from 1 September 2026, for about a year (AF Delhi notice relaying FEI). Concordia expects the service back in autumn 2027 (Concordia). [H]
  • AF Ottawa's TCF page still offers re-marking at CAD 100 per paper (AF Ottawa TCF). This conflicts with the suspension, so treat it as out of date [M].
• TEF Canada.
  • A re-mark can never be requested.
  • A free resit is offered only if a serious technical fault is confirmed, and the request must be made within 30 days.
  • Taking that resit cancels the earlier certificate, even if the new scores are lower (LFA results).
  • [H]

3. (c) Waits, results, validity, fees and booking

3.1 Side by side

3.2 IRCC's validity rules

• Results must be less than 2 years old when you complete your Express Entry profile and when you submit your PR application (IRCC Express Entry language testing) [H].
• In category-based rounds, such as the French category, they must be under 2 years old at the invitation and at the e-APR (IRCC A11.2 instructions) [H].
• Officers count up to the date IRCC receives the application (IRCC language requirements) [H].
• None of these IRCC pages says whether the 2 years start from the test date or the result date. LFA counts from the issue date (LFA presentation), and one prep page says the test date (francaisprep). Plan from the test date to be safe [L].

3.3 How fast seats go (centre pages read on 4 Nov 2026)

• FEI says computer-based TCF sessions have shorter registration lead times and faster results (FEI manual p.33) [H].

4. (d) Which test makes NCLC 7 easier, skill by skill?

4.1 The official cut-offs, placed on each test's own CEFR scale

• Both providers put B2 at 400–499 on their /699 scales (FEI manual p.25; LFA CEFR chart).
• On TCF, B2 in writing and speaking is 10–13 out of 20 (FEI manual p.26).
• NCLC 7 thresholds come from IRCC (IRCC Express Entry language testing) and from LFA's /699 chart (LFA NCLC chart).

• The thresholds are official [H]. The percentages are my arithmetic [L].
• Caveat. Each provider calibrates its own scale, and no official source says TEF B2 equals TCF B2. Treat the table as a structural signal, not proof [L–M].
• IRCC's TEF column. IRCC reads TEF's Équivalence ancien score column. There NCLC 7 starts at 249/360 for listening, 207/300 for reading and 310/450 for writing and speaking (IRCC Express Entry language testing). It gives the same NCLC level as the /699 column (LFA NCLC chart) [H].

4.2 Correct answers needed in listening and reading (unofficial)

• TCF.
  • FEI weights each question by difficulty and does not publish the weights (FEI manual p.22) [H].
  • Under the community weighting grid found on 8 prep sites (for example luckytcf and paliertcf), any 31 correct answers out of 39 reach 458, while 30 can fall short (via team report: tcf-format-scoring.md §3) [L].
• TEF.
  • LFA converts the raw count to a calibrated score and does not publish the table (LFA results) [H].
  • The team's estimate is about 27–28 correct out of 40 for 434 (via team report: tef-format-scoring.md §3.4) [L].
• Together: roughly 70% correct on TEF against 75–80% on TCF. This agrees with §4.1 [L].

4.3 Format differences that matter for an English-speaking beginner

4.4 What prep pages and candidates say (counted)

These are the 8 comparison pages I could read. All are commercial, and none gives candidate counts or pass rates.

Counts:

• Overall: 6 of 8 say neither is easier or that it depends; 1 says TCF; none says TEF; 1 makes no comparison.
• Listening: TEF 2, TCF 1.
• Reading: TCF 2, TEF 0.
• Writing: TCF 1, TEF 1, conditional 1.
• Speaking: TCF 2, TEF 1, depends 1.
• One page adds that writing and speaking are where candidates most often miss by one NCLC level (frenchforpr) [L].

One dataset with numbers (mocko.ai statistics, data from 11 Sep 2025 to 10 Sep 2026) [L–M]:

• 2,091 scored mock sections from 693 candidates (1,211 TEF sittings and 312 TCF sittings).
• Listening sections at B2 or above: TEF 25.6% (759 sections), TCF 19.5% (149).
• Reading sections at B2 or above: TEF 23.1% (942), TCF 23.7% (241).
• Limits: these are the platform's own mocks, the candidates chose themselves, the TCF groups are small, B2 is only an upper bound on NCLC 7, and writing and speaking are not included.

Not counted: Reddit, YouTube and Facebook (see Method and limits).

4.5 Verdict by skill

4.6 Overall recommendation and what to do if one skill is weaker [L, my inference from §4.1–4.5]

1. Primary test: TCF Canada.
   • Two of the four skills favour it, and they are the production skills, which one source names as where candidates most often fall short.
   • Its recurring writing and speaking subjects fit the plan to learn what repeats first.
2. If one skill is likely to be weaker:
   • Listening: choose TEF Canada.
   • Speaking or writing: choose TCF Canada.
   • Reading: either. TEF's cut-off is lower, and TCF's format is simpler.
3. Which test lets you redo just the failed skill? Neither, for IRCC.
   • The nearest substitute is to book both tests a few days apart: for example TCF, then TEF, then TCF again at least 20 days after the first TCF.
   • Each sitting must still clear all four skills on its own report.
4. Practise both formats only if you book both. The skills are the same, but the task shapes differ: 3 short writing tasks against 2 longer ones, and 3 speaking tasks against 2 role-plays.

5. What this changes in the study calendar

Booking first

• Register the moment seats are released.
• Toronto: January–March 2027 seats go on sale on 1 Dec 2026 at 10:00 (AF Toronto TCF registration).
• Delhi: sale days are announced about 2 weeks before each session, and seats can go on the first day (AF Delhi TCF).
• Search other centres for any date after 7 December, and prefer computer-based TCF, which FEI says has shorter registration lead times and faster results (FEI manual p.33).

Targets and retake timing

• Aim above the cut-off in every skill, because no re-marking is possible (§2).
  • TCF: aim for 11–12/20 in writing and speaking, not 10 (via team report: tcf-format-scoring.md §4.5).
  • TEF: aim for the middle of the NCLC 7 band or higher (my suggestion) [L].
• Retake cycle. Allow at least 20 days between two sittings of the same test, and expect results about 2 weeks after each (§3.1). You can book the next sitting before the results arrive.

Grammar and topics this choice affects (via team reports, which cite the official samples)

• TCF writing task 3 and speaking task 3 need opinion structures and contrast connectors (alors que, tandis que, en revanche). Writing task 3 needs a two-part structure: 40–60 words restating the two views, then 80–120 words giving yours (FEI writing demo).
• TCF speaking task 2 and TEF speaking section A need question formation: est-ce que, inversion, quel / combien / quand, polite pourriez-vous (FEI manual pp.19–20; LFA examiner handbook).
• TEF writing section A needs past tenses (passé composé against imparfait). TEF section B, in writing and speaking, needs argument, the subjunctive and a switch to tu (LFA writing sample; LFA examiner handbook).
• Topics in the official samples: work, travel and leisure, culture and media, environment and food, education, volunteering, shopping and money (TEF samples); food, travel, shopping, administrative appointments and childcare (TCF samples) (via team reports: tef-format-scoring.md §6b, tcf-format-scoring.md §6).

6. Conflicts found

7. Open questions

1. Whether IRCC would ever accept two attestations for one language. No official text allows it. The officer-instruction sentence rules it out for federal skilled workers, but I found no wording specific to CEC or FST.
2. Whether the TCF 20-day wait also applies between different TCF versions, for example TCF Québec followed by TCF Canada.
3. Whether any reachable centre has a TCF or TEF Canada session between 8 and 31 December 2026. None of the pages I read lists one, but AF Delhi's PDF calendar was not opened.
4. What large numbers of candidates say about TEF against TCF by skill (Reddit r/ImmigrationCanada and r/French, Facebook groups, YouTube). These could not be read in this run.
5. Whether the TEF listening changes in the 2025 tutorial (two plays for interviews, 3-option vox-pops) apply in every live session. They appear in LFA's own tutorial, but I found no LFA announcement of them.
6. Whether IRCC's 2 years run from the test date or the result date.

8. Sources

IRCC (official)

• Officer instructions, federal skilled workers, official language proficiency (modified 2026-06-23): https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/standard-requirements/language-requirements/federal-skilled-workers-selection-criteria-official-proficiency.html
• Officer instructions, language requirements (modified 2026-06-23): https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/standard-requirements/language-requirements.html
• Express Entry language testing (modified 2026-10-16): https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/documents/language-requirements/language-testing.html
• Officer instructions, assessing an e-application under A11.2: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/permanent-residence/express-entry/assessing-electronic-application-on-section-a11-2.html
• Category-based selection (modified 2026-10-16): https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/rounds-invitations/category-based-selection.html

FEI, for TCF (official)

• Manuel du candidat TCF, Version J, Sept 2024 (mirror): https://medellin.alianzafrancesa.edu.co/manuel_du_candidat_tcf
• TCF writing demo paper (mirror): https://lepole-formation.fr/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/tcf-tp-qc-ca-exemple-epreuve-ee.pdf
• TCF Canada page (blocked to automated reading): https://www.france-education-international.fr/test/tcf-canada?langue=fr

LFA, for TEF (official)

• TEF Canada presentation: https://www.lefrancaisdesaffaires.fr/en/candidate/test-evaluation-francais/tef-canada/presentation/
• Registration and test conditions: https://www.lefrancaisdesaffaires.fr/candidat/conditions-dinscription-et-de-passation/
• TEF Canada main page: https://www.lefrancaisdesaffaires.fr/en/candidate/test-evaluation-francais/tef-canada/
• Results page: https://www.lefrancaisdesaffaires.fr/en/candidate/test-evaluation-francais/tef-canada/results/
• NCLC chart: https://www.lefrancaisdesaffaires.fr/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/correspondance-tef-nclc.pdf
• CEFR chart: https://www.lefrancaisdesaffaires.fr/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/correspondance-tef-cecr.pdf
• Listening tutorial: https://www.lefrancaisdesaffaires.fr/documents/Tutoriel-TEF-CO/story.html ; vox-pop screen: https://www.lefrancaisdesaffaires.fr/documents/Tutoriel-TEF-CO/html5/data/js/5ou2BVFdAlr.js ; interview screen: https://www.lefrancaisdesaffaires.fr/documents/Tutoriel-TEF-CO/html5/data/js/69dexwxTr1c.js
• Samples (via team report): listening https://lefrancaisdesaffaires.fr/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/tef-exemples-epreuves-co.pdf ; reading https://www.lefrancaisdesaffaires.fr/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/tef-exemples-epreuves-ce.pdf ; writing https://www.lefrancaisdesaffaires.fr/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/tef-exemples-epreuve-ee.pdf
• 2024 speaking examiner handbook (via team report): https://lefrancaisdesaffaires.fr/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2024-livret-de-examinateur-tef-eo.pdf
• 2026 centre handbook (via team report): https://www.lefrancaisdesaffaires.fr/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2026-livret-du-responsable-tef.pdf
• 2016 e-TEF manual (via team report): https://ualberta.ca/fr/campus-saint-jean/media-library/programmes/edl/qmmanuele-tefcanadamars-20160-1.pdf

Test centres

• Concordia, Montréal (TCF): https://www.concordia.ca/cce/language-testing/tcf-test.html
• AF Toronto: TCF https://www.alliance-francaise.ca/en/exams/tests/informations-about-tcf-canada ; TCF registration https://www.alliance-francaise.ca/en/exams/tests/informations-about-tcf-canada/tcf-canada ; TEF 4 modules https://www.alliance-francaise.ca/en/exams/tests/informations-about-the-tef-canada-4-modules ; TEF registration https://www.alliance-francaise.ca/en/exams/tests/informations-about-the-tef-canada-4-modules/tef-canada ; TEF 2 modules https://www.alliance-francaise.ca/en/exams/tests/informations-about-the-tef-canada-2-modules
• AF Ottawa: TEF https://af.ca/ottawa/tests_et_examens/tef-canada/ ; TCF https://af.ca/ottawa/tests_et_examens/tcf-2/
• AF Vancouver: https://www.alliancefrancaise.ca/en/language/exams/tef-tcf/
• AF Delhi: TCF https://afdelhi.org/tcf-exams/ ; schedule https://afdelhi.org/tcf-canada-exam-schedule-2026/ ; re-marking notice https://afdelhi.org/?p=94417
• AF Chandigarh: TEF https://chandigarh.afindia.org/tef-general-information/ ; https://chandigarh.afindia.org/tef-canada/

Prep and platform pages (counted in §4.4; not authorities)

• frenchforpr: https://frenchforpr.com/tef-vs-tcf/
• tcftefprep: https://tcftefprep.com/blog/tef-vs-tcf-canada-immigration-2026 ; results guide https://www.tcftefprep.com/blog/tef-canada-tcf-canada-results-2026
• Learn French With Alexa: https://learnfrenchwithalexa.com/blog/the-difference-between-the-tef-and-tcf-exams
• tcfcanada.ai: https://www.tcfcanada.ai/en/guide/tcf-vs-tef
• mocko.ai: https://mocko.ai/express-entry-language-test ; statistics https://mocko.ai/tef-tcf-statistics
• francaisprep: https://francaisprep.com/tef-vs-tcf
• go-tcfcanada: https://go-tcfcanada.com/
• LanguageNext: https://www.languagenext.com/blog/tef-tcf-canada-exam-topics/

Practice-material banks

• Mes4C2, TCF writing subjects: https://www.mes4c2-tcfcanada.com/expression-ecrite/sujets/ ; speaking subjects: https://www.mes4c2-tcfcanada.com/expression-orale/sujets/
• OPAL listening and reading series (via team report): https://tcfcanada.opal-ca.com/courses/comprehension-orale/ ; https://tcfcanada.opal-ca.com/courses/comprehension-ecrite/
• Community weighting grid (via team report): https://luckytcf-www.pages.dev/en/tcf-canada ; https://paliertcf.com/tcf-canada
• TV5MONDE support page (via team report): https://tv5monde.freshdesk.com/en/support/solutions/articles/61000311553-how-can-i-practise-for-the-tcf-with-tv5monde-

Team reports in this folder

• research/tcf-format-scoring.md
• research/tef-format-scoring.md
• research/tcf-co-ce-items.md
• research/tef-co-ce-items.md