--- title: "TCF Canada listening 2026: 39 questions, NCLC 7 at 458" description: "Thirty-nine questions in thirty-five minutes, audio played once, reported to 699 where 458 to 502 is NCLC 7. The full listening conversion chart." canonical: https://francaisprep.com/tcf-canada/comprehension-orale last-updated: 2026-10-25 --- TCF Canada # TCF Canada compréhension orale: format, timing and score chart 39 questions, 35 minutes, one play of the recording. Here is exactly how the section is timed and scored, what the raw score converts to in NCLC, and what actually costs candidates marks. [Book a placement call](/book)[See the full score chart](/tcf-canada/score-chart) - 39 questions, 35 minutes, audio played once - Scored 0 to 699, with a CEFR level attached - Written by Adèle, a native French teacher ![Adèle, the native French teacher who runs Français Prep](/_next/image?url=%2Fadele.png&w=3840&q=75) Adèle SasonNative French teacher - every class, every correction By [Adèle Sason](/about), Français Prep · Updated 25 October 2026 In short The TCF Canada compréhension orale is a 35 minute listening section built from 39 multiple-choice questions. Each recording plays once, with no replay. The score converts to an NCLC level on a published table: 458 to 502 points is NCLC 7, the level most Express Entry French-language profiles need in every ability. It is marked automatically against an answer key and reported on the same 0 to 699 point scale as compréhension écrite, with a CEFR level attached. ## TCF Canada compréhension orale at a glance Total length 35 minutes for the whole section. Number of questions 39, all multiple choice, four options each. Format Recorded dialogues, public announcements, radio extracts and short reports. Each recording plays once, with no replay. Marked by An answer key, not an examiner. Reported out of 699 points, on the same scale as compréhension écrite, with a CEFR level attached. NCLC 7 needs 458 to 502 points on the published conversion. Exam format ## What actually happens during the 35 minutes The section moves through recorded dialogues, public announcements, radio extracts and short reports, each answered as a multiple-choice question with four options. You hear each recording once: there is no second playback, no pause, and the section does not wait for you to catch up before the next item starts. Because marking is automatic, the 0 to 699 score is a plain, weighted count of correct answers rather than a judgement call. That is the same mechanism as compréhension écrite and different from expression écrite and expression orale, which are marked by examiners against published criteria and take longer to come back. - ### Practising with a pause button In the exam the audio plays once, there is no replay, and the next question starts moving regardless. Practice built on rewinding, slowing the recording down, or reading a transcript first trains a skill the test never measures, then leaves candidates stranded on test day. - ### Losing the thread and reconstructing from one word A short recording can turn on a single negation, a time, or who is speaking to whom. Missing two seconds and guessing from a keyword you caught is where candidates who understand French still drop marks. - ### Wrong options built from the exact words you heard The commonest distractor pattern reuses vocabulary straight from the recording while the correct answer paraphrases what was actually said. An option that sounds most familiar is not the same as an option that is correct. - ### Reading the question after the recording starts There is no second pass. Reading the four answer options before the audio begins is the single habit that recovers the most otherwise-lost items, and it costs nothing to practise. Score chart ## Compréhension orale: raw score to NCLC level The listening column is what a compréhension orale result converts to. The other three columns are shown alongside it because Express Entry reads all four abilities separately, and a strong listening score does not lift a weak one elsewhere. | NCLC / CLB | TCF Canada | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Listening | Reading | Speaking | Writing | | | NCLC 10 | 549-699 | 549-699 | 16-20 | 16-20 | | NCLC 9 | 523-548 | 524-548 | 14-15 | 14-15 | | NCLC 8 | 503-522 | 499-523 | 12-13 | 12-13 | | NCLC 7 Level highlighted on this pageThe level most Express Entry files target. | 458-502 | 453-498 | 10-11 | 10-11 | | NCLC 6 | 398-457 | 406-452 | 7-9 | 7-9 | | NCLC 5 | 369-397 | 375-405 | 6-6 | 6-6 | | NCLC 4 | 331-368 | 342-374 | 4-5 | 4-5 | These bands come from the same published conversion table as our full [TCF Canada score chart](/tcf-canada/score-chart), and a test in this repository fails if the two disagree. Confirm every band against the current official chart before planning a test date around a boundary. Working out your level ## How to turn a raw score into an NCLC level There is no formula to apply by hand. IRCC reads your compréhension orale result against the same banded table shown above, and because listening is the least evenly spaced ability on this scale, one point can be the difference between two NCLC levels in a narrow band, or make no difference across a band sixty points wide. Our free [score converter](/tools/score-converter) does the lookup for you: enter your compréhension orale result alongside your other three, if you have them, and it returns the NCLC level for each and tells you which ability is holding your file back. No account and no email required. Practice, honestly ## What we can and cannot give you for free here There is no audio player on this page, and that is deliberate. A fair compréhension orale exercise needs a real recording delivered at natural pace and played once, and a synthetic or badly recorded one would train the wrong habits faster than no practice at all. What this page gives you for free is the exact timing and scoring mechanics above, the score chart, and our [exam timer](/tools/exam-timer) set to the real 35-minute clock, so you can rehearse the pacing even without the recordings themselves. Marked listening practice with real recordings, played once the way the exam runs it, is part of the course. For the full week-by-week plan across all four sections, see [how to pass the TCF Canada](/how-to-pass-tcf-canada). Questions ## TCF Canada compréhension orale, answered ### How many questions are on the TCF Canada compréhension orale? 39 multiple-choice questions, each with four options, in 35 minutes. The recordings are recorded dialogues, public announcements, radio extracts and short reports, and each one plays only once. ### What is the TCF Canada listening score chart? Compréhension orale is reported on a 0 to 699 point scale, the same scale used for compréhension écrite, with a CEFR level attached to your raw score. 458 to 502 points on that scale converts to NCLC 7, the level most Express Entry French-language profiles are built around. The full seven-band chart is on this page and on our TCF Canada score chart. ### What is a good TCF Canada listening score? Depends on the target. For NCLC 7 you need 458 points or more. Listening is also the least evenly spaced of the four abilities on this scale: some NCLC bands span 60 points and others span 20, so two candidates at the same level can be many points apart, and a small gain can mean nothing or a whole level depending on where you sit in the band. ### How is TCF Canada listening scored, exactly? Automatically, against an answer key. Your 39 correct or incorrect answers are converted to a mark on the 0 to 699 scale, which also carries a CEFR level. IRCC does not read the raw count of correct answers or the CEFR level directly: it reads the NCLC level the 0 to 699 score converts to. ### Does the TCF Canada listening recording play more than once? No. Each recording plays once, with no repeat and no pause available in the exam itself, which is the single most common thing candidates are unprepared for on test day. ### Can I retake only the compréhension orale? TCF Canada is registered and taken as a complete session covering all four abilities, and an immigration application needs results for all four from one attestation. Confirm with your test centre whether any partial or repeat arrangement exists for listening alone. ### Is there a free TCF Canada listening practice test on this page? No, and we would rather say so than pad this page with something misleading. An honest listening question needs a real recording played once at natural pace, and we cannot supply that here without recording it properly. What you get for free here is the exact timing, the scoring mechanics, and the full score-to-NCLC chart. Marked listening practice with real recordings is part of the course. The [TCF Canada score chart](/tcf-canada/score-chart) puts this listening column beside the other three, and [how to pass the TCF Canada](/how-to-pass-tcf-canada) shows how listening fits a four-section plan. For timed listening work with a teacher, see the [TCF Canada preparation course](/tcf-canada-course) or [book a placement call](/book). Preparation ## Marked listening practice, not a pause button Every tier includes listening built from real recordings played once, the way the exam actually runs it. - ### Weekly plan The whole practice platform: every TCF and TEF Canada series, unlimited AI corrections, timed mock tests and the course lessons. CA$9.99per week Canadian dollars (CAD) Billed weekly, cancel any time. Access runs to the end of the week you paid for. [Start the weekly plan](/dashboard/premium) - Every practice series in all four exam sections - Unlimited AI writing and speaking corrections - Timed mock tests in the real exam format - Course lessons and a weekly study plan - ### Small-group live Weekly live classes with Adèle, in groups small enough that everyone speaks, plus marked writing and speaking. CA$449per 8-week block Canadian dollars (CAD) Eight weekly classes of 60 minutes: 8 hours of live teaching, CA$56 an hour, with your writing and speaking marked every week. [Join a small group](https://buy.stripe.com/fZu4gyfXZ9uK5Aj1P46Vq01) Full refund within 14 days of purchase if you have not taken a session. - Everything in the weekly plan - One 60-minute live class with Adèle every week - Marked writing submissions every week - Marked speaking recordings every week - Most popular ### One-to-one tutoring Private sessions scheduled around your test date, with a study plan built from your diagnostic results. CA$800per 10 sessions Canadian dollars (CAD) CA$80 an hour, booked around your test date: ten 60-minute sessions. [Book one-to-one](https://buy.stripe.com/dRm8wOfXZdL07IralA6Vq0a) Full refund within 14 days of purchase if you have not taken a session. - Everything in small-group live - Private 60-minute sessions scheduled around your test date - Study plan built from your diagnostic test - Unlimited marked writing and speaking during your block Not ready to commit to a block? Try a trial class. One 40-minute class with Adèle, one to one. The CA$30 comes off any block you book within 30 days. [Try one class for CA$30](https://buy.stripe.com/6oU4gy3bd9uK4wf0L06Vq0c) Not sure which tier fits? [Book a free 15-minute video call.](/book) Prices are in Canadian dollars and include any tax that applies. Exam registration fees are paid directly to your test centre and are not included in any tier. WHY PREPARE HERE ## Preparation built around the exam you are actually sitting Four things every tier includes, whether you study on your own or work with Adèle every week. - ### Marked against the real criteria Every writing and speaking task comes with a model answer and the marking grid, so you can see exactly what an examiner rewards. On the live tiers, Adèle marks your own work by hand and tells you which mistakes are costing you the most points. - ### Timed practice in the real exam format You practise each section under the clock, in the order and the length you will meet on test day, so the paper itself is never the surprise. - ### The NCLC threshold always in view Every section is worked against the NCLC thresholds IRCC publishes. A practice result is not an NCLC level; only your attestation gives one. Practice shows you where you lose marks. - ### Study from anywhere, in your timezone Everything is online, for candidates in Morocco, Algeria, Cameroon, India, France and Canada. The free plan and the weekly plan run entirely on your own clock. On the live tiers, if you miss a class the recording and the correction still reach you. Keep reading ## The rest of the TCF Canada, in the same detail - [TCF Canada 2026: NCLC 7 needs 453 reading, 458 listeningFour tests in 2 h 47: listening 39 questions in 35 min, reading 39 in 60, writing 3 tasks in 60, speaking 3 in 12. Scored to 699 and out of 20.](/tcf-canada) - [TCF Canada score chart 2026: NCLC 7 = 453 CE, 458 CONCLC 7 is 453 to 498 reading, 458 to 502 listening and 10 to 11 out of 20 in writing and speaking. Full conversion table from NCLC 4 to NCLC 10.](/tcf-canada/score-chart) - [TCF Canada expression orale 2026: 12 min, NCLC 7 at 10/20Three tasks in twelve minutes, marked out of 20, where 10 to 11 is NCLC 7. What the examiner listens for, and the per-task split FEI never published.](/tcf-canada/expression-orale) - [TCF Canada expression écrite 2026: 3 tasks, 60 minutesThree tasks in 60 minutes: 60 to 120 words, then 120 to 150, then 120 to 180. What each asks for, how it is marked out of 20, and where marks are lost.](/tcf-canada/expression-ecrite) - [NCLC 7 on the TCF Canada 2026: 458 listening, 453 readingCLB 7 in French is NCLC 7: TCF Canada 453 reading, 458 listening, 10/20 in production; TEF Canada 207, 249, 310, 310 in the Équivalence ancien score column.](/nclc-7) 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](#tiers) Where these facts come from Question counts, timing and the reporting scale come from France Éducation International. The NCLC conversion is IRCC's, not the exam board's, which is why the two are cited separately. - [France Éducation International: TCF Canada](https://www.france-education-international.fr/test/tcf-canada) - [France Éducation International: TCF reference site](https://www.france-education-international.fr/sites-ressources/tcf) - [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) 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).