Alors
A benchmark level, not a score. Here is what it looks like on the page.
In writing, NCLC 7 starts at TEF Canada 310 and TCF Canada 10. Those two floors are confirmed against published sources — most of the others on our table are interpolated between them and are labelled provisional.
NCLC (Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens) is the Government of Canada's French benchmark scale. CLB is its English counterpart. The band, not the raw score, is what the scale is built to express.
Roughly: you can write connected, purposeful prose about familiar and moderately unfamiliar topics. You can hold a position across several paragraphs, link ideas with more than et and mais, and keep a formal register when the task asks for one.
Errors are still there — plenty of them. What changes at this level is that they mostly stop obstructing the reader. A NCLC 7 piece can contain a wrong agreement, a missed subjunctive, and an awkward preposition and still sit comfortably at the band, provided the argument lands and the register holds.
That surprises people who are grinding grammar drills. The jump from NCLC 6 to 7 is more often about structure and task response than about eliminating mistakes.
| Band | TEF writing | TCF writing | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| NCLC 9 | 371+ | 14+ | TEF floor verified |
| NCLC 8 | 341+ | 12+ | Interpolated |
| NCLC 7 | 310+ | 10+ | Both verified |
| NCLC 6 | 271+ | 8+ | Interpolated |
We are deliberate about that last column. Only TEF 310, TEF 371 and TCF 10 are confirmed against published sources. Everything else on our full table is interpolated between the verified points and is marked as such on the page. They are good enough to aim with and not good enough to plan around.
Confirm any number that matters. If a single point decides something for you, verify it against France Éducation International (TCF) or CCIP Paris Île-de-France (TEF), and against IRCC for how bands are used. Not against us.
NCLC is reported per skill — listening, speaking, reading, writing — and they routinely differ. Writing is commonly the lowest of the four for people who learned French mostly by speaking it, because it is the only skill where nothing can be recovered by fluency, gesture, or a sympathetic listener. It is also the most trainable in a short window, for the same reason: what is missing is usually structural, and structure can be taught quickly.
What band you need. That depends on the programme you are applying under, and it is set by IRCC, not by us. We convert scores and teach French; we are not licensed to advise on immigration and we do not.
Not immigration advice. Alors teaches French and converts exam scores. It does not provide immigration advice, assess eligibility, or recommend a programme. For advice about your own case, consult a lawyer, a Quebec notary, or a CICC-licensed consultant, or read IRCC directly.
Not affiliated with CCIP Paris Île-de-France (TEF Canada) or France Éducation International (TCF). NCLC is a Government of Canada standard, referred to here only to describe what scores mean.