Section A — short public texts
Notices, small ads, signs, short messages
Find one specific detail quickly: a time, a price, who to contact, what is allowed.
TEF Canada · compréhension écrite
The TEF Canada reading paper, explained
Sixty minutes, multiple choice, on a computer, with documents that get longer and more formal as you go. Here is what the paper asks, how it is scored on the NCLC scale, and how to practise for it on real texts.
At a glance
- Duration
- 60 minutes
- Questions
- 40 multiple-choice, one answer each (older guides describe the previous 50-question version)
- Delivery
- On a computer at an accredited centre; you cannot go back to a question once you have moved on
- Scoring
- One point per correct answer, no penalty for a wrong or blank one
- Result
- A score out of 699 for reading, which IRCC converts to an NCLC level
- Register
- Everyday notices and adverts first; news, opinion and argued texts last
What the paper asks, section by section
The paper runs from short public texts to argued articles, so the reading skill it tests changes as you go: locating a detail, then following a text, then weighing a position.
Section B — everyday and professional documents
Emails, forms, timetables, memos, short administrative letters
Locate information across a document and match it to a need — which option fits, what the sender wants, what to do next.
Section C — informative texts
News reports, magazine pieces, texts with figures
Follow the facts of a text and read numbers and vocabulary precisely: what happened, how much, according to whom.
Section D — argued and comparative texts
Opinion pieces, editorials, longer reports up to roughly a thousand words
Identify the author’s position, the reasons given, and the exact meaning of a formal phrase in context.
How the reading score maps to NCLC
TEF Canada reports a score per skill; IRCC publishes the conversion to the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens. For reading, out of 699 (the revised paper — older guides quote the previous 300-point scale):
| Reading level | Score band |
|---|---|
| NCLC 4 | 306 – 351 |
| NCLC 5 | 352 – 392 |
| NCLC 6 | 393 – 433 |
| NCLC 7 | 434 – 461 |
| NCLC 8 | 462 – 502 |
| NCLC 9 | 503 – 545 |
| NCLC 10+ | 546 – 699 |
Pacing that works
- Ninety seconds a question on average — but a notice in Section A takes twenty, and that is time you are saving for Section D.
- Read the question before the document in A and B: you are looking for one thing, so look for it.
- In C, check every number against the text, not your memory. The distractors are the other figures in the passage.
- In D, find the author’s position before the details. Most questions there are “why does the author…”, and the reasons are in the text in that order.
- Never leave a blank. There is no penalty, and a guess among four is worth a quarter of a point on average.
How to practise the reading paper here
Every article on this site is published at four reading levels, and the two that matter for the exam — B1 and the B2–C1 original — are the register of the paper’s later documents. What the site adds is the clock and the questions.
Find your band first
Two timed rounds with exam-style questions estimate your reading level on the NCLC scale. Free, about fifteen minutes, no account.
Sit a full-length paper
Forty questions in sixty minutes, in the four-section shape of the real paper — signboards to editorials — written from recent news, with an estimated band and every question reviewed at the end. A new paper each week. With Plus.
Read at exam pace, every day
Any article at your level against a clock set to the paper’s rhythm, then five questions with word lookup off until you submit; or the exam-format document written from the article, with its own questions. With Plus.
Build the vocabulary the paper assumes
Tap any word for a translation, save it, and review it with spaced repetition. The later documents assume the vocabulary of current affairs; daily news is where it comes from.
Practise the reading paper, from today’s news
Real articles at the register of Sections C and D, timed, with exam-style questions and exam-format documents — this is TEF/TCF reading practice built on what was published this morning. The placement is free.
| Easy French News Plus | A leading paid French-news service |
|---|---|
| $2.99 / month · $8.99 for one exam cycle (6 months) | $22.90 / month — Plus is 7× less |