--- title: "TCF and TEF Canada exam centres: how to check one is real" description: "The schools candidates ask us about, why we will not tell you which are approved, and the two official lists that answer it in under a minute." canonical: https://francaisprep.com/exam-centres/how-to-check last-updated: 2026-10-14 --- Checking a centre # Is that a real TCF or TEF Canada exam centre? Two official lists answer this in under a minute, and they are the only answer that is current. This page explains how to read them, why we will not vouch for any school ourselves, and the three ways candidates lose money getting this wrong. By [Adèle Sason](/about), Français Prep · Updated 14 October 2026 In short Check the name against the exam owner’s own list, not against any school’s description of itself and not against a page like this one. France Éducation International publishes the approved centres for the TCF, and CCI Paris Île-de-France publishes them for the TEF. If a name is not on the relevant list, it is not a centre for that exam, whatever its own website says. If it is on the list, confirm it is approved for the Canada version specifically, because that is the one Express Entry reads. ## Checking a centre at a glance Who decides The exam owners, not the school: France Éducation International for the TCF and CCI Paris Île-de-France for the TEF. Where the current list lives On the exam owner's own site. Both are linked below, and both change without notice. What we will not tell you Whether any particular school is approved. That is a live fact, and a stale answer from us would cost you a fee and a date. The version that matters The Canada version of each exam. A centre approved for another version is not approved for yours. What preparation buys Teaching and marking. It never reserves a seat, holds a date or registers you for anything. The honest answer ## Why we will not tell you which schools are approved It would be the easiest page on this site to write and the most damaging one to get wrong. Approval is granted, renewed and withdrawn by the exam owners on their own schedule. A list published here would be accurate on the day it was written and silently wrong some months later, with nothing on the page to warn you which day you had caught it on. The cost of that is not abstract. A candidate who books at a place we wrongly described as approved loses the fee, loses the sitting, and depending on how close their submission deadline sits, loses the attempt. We have no way to monitor approval status across every centre in the country, so the honest thing is to say so and hand you the list that is current by definition rather than by maintenance. Treat the same way any preparation provider who does answer it. Confidence about someone else’s accreditation is cheap to display and expensive for you if it is out of date. Where to look ## The two lists, and how to read them properly 1. ### 1. Open the exam owner's own list, not the school's description of itself For the TCF, the approved centres are maintained by [France Éducation International](https://www.france-education-international.fr/). For the TEF, the operator runs its own finder at [Le français des affaires](https://www.lefrancaisdesaffaires.fr/). Those are the sources. Everything else, this page included, is a copy of something that may have moved. 2. ### 2. Check two things, not one: the name and the exam version Two things to check rather than one. First that the name appears at all. Second, and the one candidates skip, that it is listed for the version of the exam you actually need. Only the Canada version of each exam converts to NCLC for federal Express Entry. A centre perfectly properly approved for a different version of the same exam family is not a centre for yours, and the distinction is easy to read past when you are relieved to have found a seat at all. 3. ### 3. Check on the day you book Check on the day you book rather than the day you start researching. Candidates often shortlist a centre weeks ahead, then register later from notes, which is precisely the gap in which a status can change. What candidates ask ## The names candidates type next to the exam These are the organisations people search for alongside the TCF or the TEF often enough to show up in the search data: Concordia, Université Laval, UQAM, UQTR, UQAC, UQAT, Collège ELC, Alliance Française, OPAL, Ashton College, Kuper Academy, Complexe X, GB Language Centre, ILSC, Collège Stanislas. We list them because the question keeps being asked, not as any statement about them. Appearing here means a name is searched. It does not mean the organisation runs either exam, does not run it, is approved, or is not. Some of these teach French and nothing else. Some are universities whose language departments candidates assume must be involved. Some may well administer the exam. We are not the right source for which is which, and neither is a forum thread or a screenshot from last year. Take the name, put it into the relevant list above, and you will have a current answer in under a minute. The confusion ## Three different things that all look like a centre Most of the trouble here comes from one word doing three jobs. A place that **teaches** French runs lessons and may run very good exam preparation. A place that **administers** the exam has been authorised by the exam owner to sit candidates under its rules, with approved rooms, trained invigilators and secure materials. A place that does **both** exists too, and is the reason the first two get confused. Being excellent at the first says nothing about the second. Teaching quality and administration rights are granted by different people for different reasons. We are firmly in the first category and nowhere near the second: Français Prep prepares candidates and does not administer either exam anywhere. Failure modes ## The three ways candidates lose money on this **Paying a provider and believing you are registered.** Preparation and registration are separate transactions with separate organisations. If you have paid a teacher, a school or a coach and have no confirmation email from the exam operator’s own portal, you do not have a seat. Walk through what registration actually looks like on [booking the TCF or TEF Canada](/how-to-book-tcf-tef-canada). **Booking the wrong member of the family.** TCF Canada, TCF Québec, TEF Canada and the TEFAQ are different exams for different immigration systems, and a centre can be approved for one and not another. Confirm which system your application is on before you confirm a seat, not after. **Assuming a session covers every section.** Some sittings are oral-only. For a candidate who needs all four abilities scored, that is a wasted fee rather than a cheaper option. Read what the session includes on the operator portal before paying. Questions ## What candidates ask about exam centres ### Is a named school an approved TCF or TEF Canada centre? We will not answer that about any school, and you should be wary of any preparation provider that does. Approval is granted, renewed and withdrawn by the exam owners, France Éducation International for the TCF and CCI Paris Île-de-France for the TEF. Both publish their own current list. A page like this one goes out of date quietly, and a candidate who books on the strength of a stale answer loses a fee and often a sitting. Check the name on the official list on the day you book. ### A school says it is an official TCF Canada centre. Is that enough? No, and not because schools lie. A centre can be approved for one exam and not another, or approved for the TCF and not the TCF Canada specifically, or have let an approval lapse since the page you are reading was written. The claim is on the school's own site, which has every reason to be optimistic and no obligation to update it the day something changes. The operator list is the only version that is current by definition. ### What is the difference between a school that teaches French and a centre that runs the exam? They are separate roles and plenty of places do only one. A language school teaches, and may run excellent preparation, without being authorised to administer an exam. A centre administers the exam under the exam owner's rules: approved rooms, trained invigilators, secure materials. Some places do both, which is exactly why the two get confused. Being good at teaching French has no bearing on whether an organisation can sit you for the test. ### Does booking preparation anywhere reserve my exam seat? No. Preparation and registration are two separate transactions with two different organisations. Paying us, or any other provider, buys teaching and marking. It does not reserve a seat, hold a date or register you for anything. Your seat exists only once the exam operator's own portal has taken your payment and sent you a confirmation. ### The centre near me only offers some sections. Is that normal? It can be. Some centres run oral-only sittings for candidates who need just those sections, which is most often relevant on the Quebec route rather than federal Express Entry. It is worth reading what a session actually covers before booking, because a sitting that does not include every section you need is a wasted fee rather than a bargain. ## Looking for a centre in a particular city? Our [test centre finder](/tools/test-centre-finder) shows a dated copy of France Éducation International's official TCF centre list by country and city; confirm any centre against the official lists above before you pay. The [city pages](/exam-centres) cover which exam candidates in each place actually sit, which immigration system applies there, and what the timezone does to a live class. NEXT STEP ## Find out where your French actually stands Book a short assessment with Adèle: one writing task, one speaking task, and an honest plan for the weeks you have left before the exam. [Book an assessment](/book)[See the course tiers](/pricing) --- 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).