--- title: "Your TCF Canada result: how to read it and what to do next" description: "The attestation does not say pass, and it does not print an NCLC level." canonical: https://francaisprep.com/blog/resultat-tcf-canada last-updated: 2026-05-23 --- Short answer The attestation does not say pass, and it does not print an NCLC level. It reports four numbers on scales that belong to the exam, and the part that decides your file happens after you read it. ![Adèle Sason](/_next/image?url=%2Fadele.png&w=96&q=75) Adèle Sason Founder, Français Prep ![Adèle, the native French teacher who runs Français Prep](/_next/image?url=%2Fadele.png&w=3840&q=75) Not sure which of this you actually need? A 15-minute video call works out which of your four abilities is furthest from the level your application needs. It is free, and some candidates leave with a plan and no purchase. Adèle Sason · Native French teacher - every class, every correction [Book the free call](/book) Most people open a TCF Canada result expecting one of two things: the word pass, or the number Canada asked them for. Neither is on the page. The attestation reports four separate results on scales that belong to the exam, and it says nothing at all about what those results are worth to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. That is not an oversight. The exam and the Canadian language scale are run by different organisations, and the conversion between them happens outside the exam. Once you know that, the document stops looking incomplete and starts looking like what it is: raw material that only means something once you read it against a chart. ## What the attestation actually reports Four abilities, tested and reported separately: compréhension orale, compréhension écrite, expression écrite and expression orale. Each one carries its own result and its own level on the Council of Europe scale that runs from A1 to C2. There is no total, no average and no pass mark, because the exam is not built to produce one. The two comprehension sections are marked automatically and reported on a scale that runs into the hundreds. The two production sections are marked by examiners and reported out of 20. This is why the four numbers on your attestation cannot sensibly be compared with each other, and why comparing one of them with a number a friend quotes you is meaningless unless you both know which section it came from. ## Where the NCLC level comes from Your NCLC level is not printed anywhere on the result. Canada publishes an equivalency chart that maps each TCF Canada result onto its twelve-level scale, and that chart is what turns four exam numbers into four Canadian levels. The conversions are laid out in full on the [TCF Canada score chart](/tcf-canada/score-chart), and you can put your own four results through the [score converter](/tools/score-converter) to see them together. Two things surprise people at this step. The bands are not the same width, so a few points can move one ability up a level while a much larger gain leaves another where it was. And the bands differ between the TCF Canada and the [TEF Canada](/tef-canada), so a number that means one level on one exam means nothing at all on the other. ## Your weakest ability is your result Each ability converts on its own, and the level you can claim is the lowest of the four. Nothing averages. A candidate sitting at NCLC 7 in listening, reading and speaking with NCLC 6 in writing is a candidate below 7, and the three strong results do not soften that. So the first useful thing to do with a result is not to look at the best number. It is to find the worst one, convert it, and measure the distance from there to the level you are aiming at. That distance is your actual to-do list. ## When the result arrives The two comprehension sections are machine-marked, so they are not what sets the pace. Your writing and speaking go to examiners, and the attestation cannot be issued until both have been marked and the centre has completed its own administration. That is the mechanism, and it is why timings vary between centres and between sessions. Do not [plan around a turnaround](/blog/how-long-tcf-tef-results-take) you read in a forum or heard from someone who sat a different session. Ask the centre you booked with what it currently tells candidates, and treat that as an estimate rather than a date you can build a submission around. If a deadline depends on the result arriving, build slack into it. You can check which centres run sessions near you on our [exam centres page](/exam-centres). ## Check the document before you rely on it When it does arrive, read the identity details before you read the scores. Your name should appear exactly as it does in the passport you will use for the application, along with the correct date of birth and the right identity document number. A mismatch is easier to have corrected in the weeks after a sitting than in the middle of an immigration file. Check two other things. That the attestation names the Canada version of the exam, and that the sitting date is what you expect, because the two-year clock on a language result runs from the exam, not from the day the document reached you. ## If a section lands short Start by assuming that you will need all four abilities from a single sitting rather than the best of each across two. That is the safe planning assumption, and if you want to rely on anything else, confirm it with IRCC or a licensed immigration consultant rather than with a preparation service. The same goes for what any particular level entitles you to, which is not a question this site can answer for your file. Then work out what the short section is telling you. If it is a comprehension section, the gap is usually speed and stamina rather than knowledge, and it responds to volume. If it is [expression écrite](/tcf-canada/expression-ecrite) or [expression orale](/tcf-canada/expression-orale), the mark came from a human reading your work against criteria, and repeating the same practice on your own tends to reproduce the same score. Those two sections are the ones where being told what a marker sees changes the outcome fastest. Before you rebook, decide how long the preparation actually needs, and check the retake conditions and any waiting period with your centre directly, since those are set by the exam body rather than by you. If you want a second opinion on which ability is furthest from the line and how long it should take to close, a [15-minute call](/book) is usually enough to work that out, and the options for marked work are on the [pricing page](/pricing). ## If the result cleared Note the sitting date somewhere you will see it again, because that is the date the two-year validity is measured from at each point it is checked. Then take the eligibility question, the points question and the timing question to IRCC or a licensed consultant. The exam is finished; what happens next is not something a result document decides on its own. ## Frequently asked questions ### Does the TCF Canada result show my NCLC level? No. The attestation reports your four abilities on the exam's own scales, along with a level on the A1 to C2 scale, and nothing else. The NCLC level comes from applying Canada's published equivalency chart to those results afterwards, which is a step that happens outside the exam. ### Is there a pass mark on the TCF Canada? No. The exam measures your level rather than deciding whether you cleared one, so there is [no pass, no fail and no total score](/nclc-7). What counts as good enough is set by the Canadian procedure you are applying under, not by the exam. ### How long does a TCF Canada result take to arrive? The comprehension sections are machine-marked, but your writing and speaking go to examiners, and the attestation cannot be issued until both are marked and the centre has completed its administration. Timings therefore vary by centre and by session. Ask the centre you booked with what it currently tells candidates, and build slack into any deadline that depends on the result. ### Can I retake just the section that landed short? Plan on needing all four abilities from a single sitting rather than combining your best results across two. Retake conditions and any waiting period between sittings are set by the exam body, so confirm them with your centre, and confirm with IRCC or a licensed immigration consultant before relying on any other arrangement in an application. 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You will leave knowing which of your four abilities is furthest from the level you need, and whether the exam date you have in mind leaves enough weeks. No sales pitch. [Book a 15-minute video call](/book) ## Related posts - [ ![](/home/people/peep-sitting-6.svg) Scores ### What B2 means on the TCF and TEF Canada, in actual scores B2 is a CEFR level, not a number either exam prints. What B2 maps to in raw TCF and TEF Canada scores, and how it relates to NCLC 7, in one table. 22 July 2026 · 9 min read ](/blog/tcf-tef-b2-score) - [ ![](/home/people/peep-sitting-6.svg) Scores ### How to get your TCF/TEF Canada results and send them to IRCC Getting the attestation is one job; using it is another. How to retrieve your TCF or TEF Canada result, and what IRCC asks you to type from it. 21 July 2026 · 8 min read ](/blog/how-to-check-tcf-canada-results) - [ ![](/home/people/peep-standing-26.svg) Scores ### How long is a TEF Canada result valid? When it expires A TEF Canada result is valid two years, but the date that matters is not the one you think. The two application moments it must cover, and how to time it. 20 July 2026 · 8 min read ](/blog/how-long-is-tef-canada-valid) - [ ![](/home/people/peep-standing-16.svg) Scores ### How TCF Canada scoring works: the adaptive test explained TCF Canada listening and reading scores are not a count of right answers. How the difficulty-weighted scale works, and how the écrite and orale are marked. 18 July 2026 · 9 min read ](/blog/how-tcf-canada-scoring-works) [ Previous NCLC 5 on the TCF Canada: what it is worth, and to whom ](/blog/nclc-5-tcf-canada)[ Next NCLC 7 and CLB 7 are the same level with two names ](/blog/nclc-7-and-clb-7) Where these facts come from The raw score scales belong to the exam boards; the conversion into NCLC levels is IRCC's, in a separate document. Only the second one decides an Express Entry file. - [IRCC: Express Entry language test results and NCLC equivalencies](https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/documents/language-test.html) - [France Éducation International: TCF Canada](https://www.france-education-international.fr/test/tcf-canada) - [Le français des affaires: TEF Canada](https://www.lefrancaisdesaffaires.fr/candidat/test-evaluation-francais/tef-canada/presentation/) Exam boards reissue formats, fees and conversion tables without announcing it. Where a number here matters to a decision that costs money, check it against the source above rather than trusting any preparation site, including this one. --- For agents: site index https://francaisprep.com/llms.txt, developer access https://francaisprep.com/developers, and TCF or TEF to NCLC conversion over a plain GET at https://api.francaisprep.com/v1/score/convert?exam=tcf_canada&listening=512&reading=470&writing=12&speaking=11 (exam is tcf_canada or tef_canada).