English practice
French practiceTCF or TEF: which French exam does your file need?
Both are official French tests, both are accepted by Canadian immigration, and they are run by two completely different organizations through two different center networks. That last part is where most of the confusion starts, and it is the part that decides where you register.
Checked August 8, 2026
Side by side
| What is being compared | TCF | TEF |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs it | France Éducation international, the public operator of the French Ministry of Education. The TCF is that ministry's own language test. | The Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Paris Île-de-France, which has delivered the TEF since 1998 under its Le français des affaires brand. |
| Versions | TCF tout public, plus versions built for specific procedures, including TCF Canada and the versions used for integration, residence and nationality files. | TEF Études, TEF Canada, TEF Québec (TEFAQ) and TEF IRN. Which one you sit depends on the procedure you are in. |
| What you sit | Three compulsory multiple-choice papers: listening, 29 questions in 25 minutes; language structures, 18 questions in 15 minutes; reading, 29 questions in 45 minutes. Writing (60 minutes) and speaking (12 minutes) are optional papers you add when your procedure asks for them. | For a Canadian immigration file, four papers: reading, 40 questions in 60 minutes; listening, 40 questions in 40 minutes; writing, 60 minutes in two sections; speaking, 15 minutes. A citizenship file needs only listening and speaking. |
| How it is scored | Comprehension papers run on a scale that goes up to 699; each expression paper is marked out of 20. The two use different cut-offs for the same level. | Each paper is scored on its own points scale and read against CCI Paris Île-de-France's own TEF to CECR grid. |
| How long results last | The attestation is valid for two years from the date the results are issued, and that date is printed on it. | The certification is valid for two years from the date you sat the test. |
| Canadian immigration | TCF Canada is on IRCC's approved list of language tests for Express Entry. | TEF Canada is on the same IRCC list, and has been recognized by IRCC since 2002. |
| Recognized by | The French higher-education ministry, the interior ministry's integration and nationality directorate, the culture ministry, Québec's MIFI, universities and language-training bodies. | The French education, higher-education and interior ministries, IRCC, Québec's MIFI, and the Swiss State Secretariat for Migration. |
| Retaking it | You can sit the TCF tout public as many times as you want, with 20 days between sittings. | Conditions are published per version and applied by the center. We found no stated waiting period, so ask the center where you register. |
| Price and dates | France Éducation international publishes no price. It tells candidates to contact their nearest approved center, which sets the session dates, the registration procedure, the venue, the format and the fee. | Registration also goes through an approved center, and we found no single fee published centrally by CCI Paris Île-de-France. |
Each column states what that exam's own organization publishes. The TCF column describes the TCF tout public and the TEF column describes the TEF Canada, because those are the versions people compare; both exams have other versions, listed in the same documents.
So which one
If your file is Canadian
Both count. IRCC's approved list names TEF Canada and TCF Canada side by side, and your results have to be less than two years old both when you complete your profile and when you apply for permanent residence. So the choice is rarely about the exam: it is about which center near you has a session inside your window.
If your file is French or Québécois
Read the procedure, not a comparison page. The two exams have overlapping but not identical recognition lists. The TCF is the education ministry's own test and is the one named in the DAP procedure for French university admission. The TEF is recognized by the same French ministries and by Québec's MIFI. When the paperwork names one of them, sit that one and stop comparing.
Is one of them easier?
Neither organization publishes anything that would let anyone answer that, and we are not going to invent it. They report on different scales, so a score on one does not translate into a score on the other. What genuinely differs is what you have to sit: the TCF makes writing and speaking optional, while a TEF Canada immigration file needs all four papers.
Sources
Every line in the table is what the awarding body publishes about its own exam. Where a figure is not published anywhere we could check, the line says that instead of guessing one.
- TCF tout publicFrance Éducation international, checked August 8, 2026
- Test d'évaluation de français (TEF)CCI Paris Île-de-France, checked August 8, 2026
- TEF CanadaCCI Paris Île-de-France, checked August 8, 2026
- Express Entry: Language test resultsImmigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, checked August 8, 2026
If you cannot get a seat
Sessions are organized by approved centers, on their own calendars, at their own prices. That is why the next date near you can be weeks or months out, and why two cities can have very different waits for the same exam. It is a real constraint and no website can fix it for you.
What we can do is smaller, and worth saying plainly: our free exam gives you a CEFR level today, so you find out whether you are ready before you pay for a session and wait for it. It is not accepted by immigration authorities, universities or employers who ask for one of the exams on this page, and nothing we issue changes that.
How our own exam reports a level
Fennec360 Certified runs its own free CEFR exam, scored out of 100. These are the bands it uses. They are a separate thing from the tables above: our exam has its own questions, its own scoring, and its own scale.
| Level | In plain words | Our score |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | Beginner | 0-34 |
| A2 | Elementary | 35-49 |
| B1 | Intermediate | 50-64 |
| B2 | Upper Intermediate | 65-79 |
| C1 | Advanced | 80-89 |
| C2 | Proficiency | 90-100 |
This is not a conversion. A score on our exam does not become a score on any exam named on this page, and no exam board recognizes it as one. What it gives you is your own CEFR level, from a full exam you can sit today.
Questions people actually ask
Which one does Express Entry accept?
Both, as TCF Canada and TEF Canada. IRCC lists them together as the approved French tests, and requires results less than two years old when you complete your profile and again when you apply.
I got B2 on one. Will I get B2 on the other?
Nobody promises that. The two exams are built and scaled independently, and neither organization publishes a concordance between them. A level on one is evidence about your French, not a prediction about the other.
Can I sit both?
Yes. They are separate registrations at separate centers and nothing stops you. It costs twice, and most procedures accept either one, so it is rarely worth it.
Which one is cheaper?
We cannot tell you, because neither organization publishes a single price: the fee is set by the center where you register. Ask two centers near you and compare what they quote, including the papers you actually need.
Where does the free Fennec360 exam fit in?
It gives you a CEFR level in French in about 50 minutes, free, before you pay for a session. It is not a TCF or a TEF score, and no authority that asks for one accepts it instead.
Not sure which level you are at yet?
Before you book a session you may wait months for, find out whether you are near the level your file needs.
Take a free CEFR exam and find out. About 50 minutes, four languages, no appointment and no card.
Our exam gives you a CEFR level and a certificate anyone can verify. It does not replace any official exam.