TEF Canada expression écrite: format, criteria and sample answers
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 the exact format, the published marking criteria, worked model answers for both sections, and what the mark converts to.
- Two sections, one mark on the TEF scale
- Model answers for both sections, with a downloadable PDF
- Written by Adèle, a native French teacher
In short
The TEF Canada expression écrite is a written section built from two parts, sat in one 60-minute block. Section A gives you the opening of a factual text and asks you to continue it in the same register and tense, 25 minutes and an 80-word floor. Section B gives you a subject and asks you to state and defend a position, 35 minutes and a 200-word floor. 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. Model answers for both sections, with a downloadable PDF, are further down this page.
TEF Canada expression écrite at a glance
- Sections
- Two, labelled Section A and Section B, marked together into one expression écrite score.
- Timing
- 60 minutes total: 25 minutes for Section A, 35 for Section B.
- Section A length
- 80 words minimum. No official maximum is published, so a longer text is not penalised for length alone.
- Section B length
- 200 words minimum. No official maximum is published for this task either.
- 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.
- Format currency
- The timings and word floors above match the exam board's current preparation material. (Verify: exam boards revise format details from time to time, so reconfirm both figures against the current official candidate guide before you plan a test date around them.)
One section tests narrative, the other tests argument
| Section | What you are asked to do | What the marker is looking for |
|---|---|---|
| Section A25 minutes, 80 words minimum. 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 B35 minutes, 200 words minimum. 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.
The marking criteria, as the exam board publishes them
Section A is marked against four published criteria; Section B against six. The extra two lines in Section B are not new ground, they split what Section A grades as a single line, coherence and cohesion, into two separate criteria, and add a dedicated line for the quality of the arguments rather than the quality of the information.
Two independent, trained correctors read every script, and each one arrives with a candidate number only, no name attached. The exam board does not publish how much weight each criterion carries, and you do not receive a per-criterion breakdown, only the criteria themselves and a single combined mark. Plan against the list below rather than against any exact weighting you find elsewhere, because nobody outside the exam board has that number.
The wording below is quoted from the exam board's own preparation material. (Verify: reconfirm it against the current version before treating it as exhaustive, since exam boards revise their published grids from time to time.)
Section A, four criteria
- Relevance of the information given (fit with the subject)
- Quality of the information (development, detail, illustration)
- Internal coherence of the text, sentence and text cohesion, and the quality of the sentences and vocabulary used
- Spelling and punctuation
Section B, six criteria
- Relevance of the information given (fit with the subject)
- Quality of the arguments (development, detail, illustration)
- Internal coherence of the text
- Sentence and text cohesion
- Quality of the sentences and vocabulary used (range, correctness, precision, fit with the subject)
- Spelling and punctuation
How to spend the hour
The danger is well known and easy to fall into: Section A is the more enjoyable task to write, so candidates linger on it and reach Section B with too little time for a task that carries a higher word floor and two more criteria. A plan for each section, timed to the minute, is what stops that.
Section A
25 minutes
- 3 minutes: read the opening twice and note what it already tells the reader. That information is now off limits.
- 2 minutes: jot down five facts the opening does not contain: a cause, a number of people affected, a witness, an immediate consequence, what happens next.
- 15 minutes: write straight through without going back.
- 5 minutes: reread only for spelling and punctuation: agreements, verb endings, capitals, closed quotation marks.
Section B
35 minutes
- 5 minutes: decode the statement and pick the side you have examples for, not the side you agree with most.
- 5 minutes: plan four blocks, with one concrete example written next to each argument.
- 20 minutes: write straight through without going back.
- 5 minutes: reread for spelling and punctuation, a criterion on its own on the published grid.
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.
Two full worked answers for each section
Every sample below is an illustrative model written for this course, not a script from a real candidate, and none of them has been scored against the live exam. The weaker version for each main prompt is not a bad script invented for contrast, it is the kind of answer that hits the word count and says nothing new, which is the single most common way candidates cap their own Section A score.
Section A samples: continue a factual text
Prompt: a delivery truck hits a bus shelter
Mardi matin, peu avant sept heures, un camion de livraison a percuté un abribus sur le boulevard Saint-Laurent, à Montréal. Le conducteur a été légèrement blessé.
Below the mark
C'est un accident très grave et très triste. Les gens qui attendaient l'autobus ont eu très peur. Il y avait beaucoup de monde dans la rue ce matin-là. La police est arrivée, et les pompiers aussi. Ils ont fait leur travail. Le conducteur a été transporté à l'hôpital. On ne sait pas encore pourquoi il a perdu le contrôle de son camion. C'est peut-être la fatigue, ou la vitesse. Il faut faire attention quand on conduit. La sécurité routière est très importante pour tout le monde.
Model answer
Selon les premiers éléments recueillis par la police de Montréal, le véhicule aurait glissé sur une plaque de verglas avant de monter sur le trottoir. Trois personnes attendaient l'autobus à cet endroit ; deux d'entre elles, légèrement blessées, ont été transportées à l'hôpital Saint-Luc, d'où elles sont ressorties dans la matinée. « J'ai entendu un bruit sourd, puis j'ai vu l'abribus se plier comme du carton », raconte Sylvie Nadeau, qui tient le commerce d'en face. Le boulevard est resté fermé à la circulation jusqu'à midi, le temps de dégager les débris. La Ville a annoncé qu'un nouvel abribus serait installé la semaine prochaine. L'enquête devra établir si le camion roulait trop vite.
- Relevance: every sentence adds something the opening did not say, the probable cause, the number of people hurt, the hospital, the road closure, the city's response.
- Quality of information: a named detail rather than a vague one, an ice patch rather than “a problem”, a witness quoted in her own words with a stated reason for being there.
- Coherence and cohesion: a recognisable order, cause, victims, testimony, consequence, what happens next, with pronouns carrying the links instead of repeated nouns.
- Spelling and punctuation: closed quotation marks, a comma before the aside, agreements checked (‘légèrement blessées’, ‘ont été transportées’).
- The conditional ‘aurait glissé’ marks information the police have not confirmed, the register a journalist would use for an unverified fact, and markers reading hundreds of scripts notice when a candidate controls it.
Second prompt: firefighters rescue a dog
Samedi après-midi, les pompiers de Montréal ont secouru un chien tombé dans le canal de Lachine. Une passante avait donné l'alerte peu après quinze heures.
Model answer
L'animal, un labrador de sept ans répondant au nom de Mika, avait échappé à son maître pendant une promenade avant de glisser sur la berge gelée. Deux plongeurs sont intervenus et l'ont ramené sur la rive au bout d'une vingtaine de minutes, transi mais indemne. « Il ne pouvait plus remonter, il tournait en rond dans l'eau », a expliqué Claire Doucet, la passante qui avait appelé les secours. Le chien a été confié à une clinique vétérinaire du quartier pour un examen de contrôle. La Ville étudie la pose d'une rambarde à cet endroit du canal, où deux accidents semblables se sont produits l'hiver dernier.
Section B samples: state and defend a position
Prompt: should phones be banned in secondary schools?
Les téléphones portables devraient être interdits dans les écoles secondaires. Qu'en pensez-vous ?
Below the mark
Je pense que c'est une bonne idée. Aujourd'hui, les jeunes utilisent beaucoup trop leur téléphone. C'est un problème pour la concentration en classe. Il y a aussi le cyberharcèlement, qui est un très gros problème. Donc, il faut interdire les téléphones dans les écoles. C'est mon opinion personnelle sur cette question.
Model answer
Interdire le téléphone en classe me paraît justifié, mais pour une raison qu'on cite rarement : ce n'est pas l'appareil qui nuit, c'est l'interruption. Une notification ne vole que quelques secondes d'attention ; le retour à la tâche, lui, en coûte plusieurs minutes. Un professeur de mon ancienne école a rangé les téléphones dans une boîte au début de chaque cours pendant un trimestre, sans rien changer d'autre à sa manière d'enseigner, et les résultats de sa classe ont nettement progressé. Certains répondront que les élèves doivent apprendre à s'autoréguler, et l'objection est sérieuse. Elle suppose pourtant une discipline que l'on demande rarement aux adultes eux-mêmes en réunion.
- A thesis, not just an opinion: the model gives a reason the subject did not already suggest, the cost of interruption rather than screen time in general.
- The example carries evidence: dated, bounded and built to isolate one variable, instead of a bare label like ‘cyberharcèlement’ dropped on the table.
- The counter-argument is handled: named, credited as serious, then answered, which is what a simple argumentative text looks like at B2 and above.
- The language does work: a semicolon opposing two clauses, a cleft sentence for emphasis (‘ce n'est pas l'appareil qui nuit, c'est l'interruption’), sentence lengths that vary.
Second prompt: should remote work become the norm?
Le télétravail devrait devenir la norme pour tous les emplois de bureau. Partagez-vous cet avis ?
Model answer
Faire du télétravail la norme pour tous les emplois de bureau serait une erreur, non parce que le travail à distance échoue, mais parce qu'il ne distribue pas ses bénéfices également. Un cadre expérimenté qui connaît déjà ses dossiers et son réseau gagne du temps chez lui. Une personne recrutée le mois dernier, elle, apprend surtout par ce qu'elle entend autour d'elle : une question posée à voix haute, une réunion à laquelle elle assiste sans y participer. Mon ancienne équipe a intégré deux nouveaux collègues en pleine période de télétravail intégral, et il a fallu près d'un an pour qu'ils deviennent autonomes, contre quelques mois auparavant.
On m'objectera que ces échanges peuvent se reproduire en ligne, et il est vrai que rien n'interdit d'ouvrir un canal de discussion permanent. Encore faut-il que le débutant ose y écrire. C'est précisément ce que le bureau rend facile et que l'écran rend coûteux : la question qu'on n'ose pas formaliser.
What caps a score before grammar even enters into it
The six patterns below account for most of the marks Adèle sees candidates lose, and none of them is a grammar error.
Rephrasing the opening instead of continuing it
In Section A the marker has the opening in front of them. A continuation that restates the same facts in different words scores badly on relevance, even when the French is clean.
Judgements standing in for facts
“Very serious, very sad, very important” fill a line without giving the marker anything to credit. A named detail, a figure, a place, a quoted witness is what the quality-of-information criterion actually rewards.
A generic opening or closing in Section B
“This is a subject that divides a lot of people today” costs twenty words and earns nothing. The exam board is explicit that stock introductions and conclusions are not credited.
A stated opinion with no argument behind it
“I agree, because it is a good idea” is an opinion, not the reasoning the quality-of-arguments criterion is checking for. Every position needs a reason and an example the prompt did not already hand you.
Ignoring the other side entirely
A Section B text that never acknowledges a counter-argument reads as a monologue rather than a reasoned position. Naming the objection and answering it is what a text argumentatif simple looks like at B2, and markers notice its absence.
Letting Section A eat Section B's time
Section A is the more enjoyable task to write, which is exactly why candidates overrun it. Section B carries the higher word floor and two more criteria; a plan cut short there costs more than a paragraph left unfinished in Section A.
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?
Is TEF Canada Section A the same as 'Task 1'?
Is there a sample TEF Canada writing answer I can study?
What score do I need for NCLC 7 in writing?
Why is writing the ability that most often holds a file back?
Does spelling and punctuation actually count?
Is the TEF Canada expression écrite handwritten or typed?
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 includes a model answer for every task, the same kind you just read above, to check your own work against.
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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.
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.
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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 side by side on format, scoring, timing and fit, with a straight recommendation, since neither exam is worth more CRS points than the other.
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