TEF Canada expression écrite, section by section
Two sections that test opposite things: one asks you to continue someone else's factual text, the other to argue your own case. Here is what each wants, and what the mark converts to.
- Two sections, one mark on the TEF scale
- Marked by hand, with the corrections returned to you
- Written by Adèle, a native French teacher
In short
The TEF Canada expression écrite is a written section built from two parts. Section A gives you the opening of a factual text and asks you to continue it in the same register and tense. Section B gives you a subject and asks you to state and defend a position. Together they produce one mark on the TEF writing scale, and IRCC converts that mark to an NCLC level: 310 to 348 is NCLC 7. Writing is the ability that most often keeps a file below the line, because it is the one nobody corrects when you study alone.
TEF Canada expression écrite at a glance
- Sections
- Two, labelled Section A and Section B.
- Total length
- About 60 minutes for the writing section as a whole. (Verify: confirm the current duration and how it is split between the two sections in the official candidate guide.)
- Length expected
- Set per section and stated in the paper. (Verify: confirm the current minimum word counts with the operator rather than relying on figures circulating in forums.)
- What you may bring
- Nothing written in advance. No dictionary.
- Score
- One mark on the TEF writing scale, which IRCC converts to an NCLC level.
- NCLC 7 needs
- 310 to 348 on the published conversion for expression écrite.
One section tests narrative, the other tests argument
| Section | What you are asked to do | What the marker is looking for |
|---|---|---|
| Section AYou continue a text you are given. | You are given the opening of a factual text, typically a news item or an account of an event, and have to continue it in the same register and the same tense. | Whether you can write narrative prose that holds together: consistent past tenses, coherent sequencing, and a register that matches what you were handed rather than the one you find comfortable. |
| Section BYou take a position and defend it. | You are given a subject and have to express and support an opinion, usually in a letter or an article aimed at a stated reader. | Whether you can build an argument on paper: a position stated early, reasons in a deliberate order, connectors doing real work, and a close that lands rather than trails off. |
Scroll the table sideways to see both columns.
Where the marks are actually lost
Almost every capped script fails in one of two places, and neither is vocabulary. The first is register: Section A hands you a text with a voice, and a continuation written in your own comfortable voice reads as not having understood the task. The second is structure in Section B, where ideas arrive in the order they occurred to the candidate rather than in an order chosen to convince.
Both are fixable in weeks, and neither is fixable alone. That is the honest case for having writing marked: not that you cannot learn the grammar by yourself, but that you cannot see your own register drift or your own missing plan, because to you the text reads exactly as you intended it.
Answering the actual prompt
The most expensive mistake on this paper is writing a good text that answers a nearby question. Section A asks you to continue what you were given, in its register and its tense. Drifting into your own subject reads as not having done the task.
Tense consistency across a whole text
Section A is where past tenses get tested properly. Passé composé and imparfait used correctly for a paragraph is very different from used correctly across a full text under time pressure, and markers see the difference immediately.
Connectors that carry an argument
Section B rewards structure you can see. A text where each paragraph announces its function, and where connectors mark real relationships rather than decorate sentences, reads a band higher than one with the same ideas in an undifferentiated block.
Range, not just accuracy
A text with no mistakes and no ambition sits in the middle bands. Subordinate clauses, the conditional, relative pronouns and topic-specific vocabulary are what move a script up, provided they are controlled.
What the writing mark converts to
The expression écrite and expression orale sections share band boundaries on the TEF scale. Express Entry reads the NCLC level, not the raw mark.
| NCLC / CLB | TEF Canada | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Listening | Reading | Speaking | Writing | |
| NCLC 10 | - | - | 393-450 | 393-450 |
| NCLC 9 | - | - | 371-392 | 371-392 |
| NCLC 8 | - | - | 349-370 | 349-370 |
| NCLC 7 Level highlighted on this page | - | - | 310-348 | 310-348 |
| NCLC 6 | - | - | 271-309 | 271-309 |
| NCLC 5 | - | - | 226-270 | 226-270 |
| NCLC 4 | - | - | 181-225 | 181-225 |
Scroll the table sideways to see all four abilities.
TEF Canada expression écrite, answered
How many parts does the TEF Canada expression écrite have?
What score do I need for NCLC 7 in writing?
Why is writing the ability that most often holds a file back?
Does handwriting or spelling matter?
How is this different from the TCF Canada writing section?
Can I learn model answers?
How many practice texts should I write before the exam?
Writing only improves when someone reads it
Both live tiers include marked writing every week, corrected by hand against the exam's own criteria.
Self-paced
The full lesson library plus timed practice tests for all four sections, worked on your own schedule.
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One-to-one tutoring
Private sessions scheduled around your test date, with a study plan built from your diagnostic results.
Book one-to-oneCA$950per 10 sessionsCA$95 a session, booked around your test date.
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Not sure which tier fits? Book a free 15-minute video call.
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.
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.
A native French teacher marks your work
Adèle reads every writing task and listens to every recording, then tells you which specific 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.
Every result mapped to an NCLC level
Practice results are converted to NCLC levels using the published conversion tables, so you always know how far you are from the level your profile needs.
Study from anywhere, in your timezone
Lessons run online for candidates in Morocco, Algeria, Cameroon, Senegal, France and Canada. If you cannot attend live, the recording and the correction still reach you.
The rest of the TEF Canada, in the same detail
- TEF Canada: format, scoring and NCLC levelsHow the TEF Canada is structured, what each section tests, how results map to NCLC levels for Canadian immigration, and what registration costs.
- TEF Canada expression orale: Section A and Section B explainedThe two TEF Canada speaking sections, what each one asks you to do, how the mark converts to an NCLC level, and where candidates lose points they could keep.
- TEF Canada score chart: results to NCLC levelsThe full TEF Canada score-to-NCLC conversion table for reading, writing, listening and speaking, with the CRS points each level is worth.
- TEF vs TCF Canada: which exam should you take?TEF Canada and TCF Canada compared on format, scoring, difficulty, fees and availability, so you can pick the exam that gets you the most CRS points.
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.