TEF / TCF Canada to CLB Calculator
Enter your four section scores to see the CLB (NCLC) level each one converts to, which of them governs your eligibility, and how many CRS points your French is worth for Express Entry. Nothing is uploaded and no account is needed — the conversion runs in your browser.
Enter the "Équivalence ancien score" column from your attestation — not the "Score / 699" column, which IRCC does not accept. Speaking and writing are out of 450, listening out of 360, reading out of 300.
| Ability | Your score | CLB / NCLC |
|---|
How to read your result
Your four abilities are converted independently, and then the lowest of the four governs. This is the single most misunderstood part of the process. If you score NCLC 9 in reading and NCLC 6 in speaking, you are treated as NCLC 6 for eligibility — not as an average of the two, and not as your best result. There is no rounding up and no trading a strong skill against a weak one.
That rule is why targeted practice beats general study once you are close to a threshold. A candidate sitting at NCLC 7 in three abilities and NCLC 6 in the fourth gains nothing from more reading practice; the entire benefit is in the one weak skill. Find your weakest ability in the table above and put your hours there.
TEF Canada score bands
Your TEF Canada attestation shows two columns. IRCC only accepts the "Équivalence ancien score" column — the older per-ability scales, where speaking and writing are out of 450, listening out of 360 and reading out of 300. The newer "Score / 699" column is not compatible with Express Entry, and IRCC warns that entering it can get an application refused. The table below, and the calculator above, use the ancien-score column. IRCC's table stops at 9+, so this one does too.
| CLB / NCLC | Reading | Writing | Listening | Speaking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLB 4 | 121–150 | 181–225 | 145–180 | 181–225 |
| CLB 5 | 151–180 | 226–270 | 181–216 | 226–270 |
| CLB 6 | 181–206 | 271–309 | 217–248 | 271–309 |
| CLB 7 | 207–232 | 310–348 | 249–279 | 310–348 |
| CLB 8 | 233–247 | 349–370 | 280–297 | 349–370 |
| CLB 9+ | 248–300 | 371–450 | 298–360 | 371–450 |
TCF Canada score bands
Reading and listening are reported out of 699; writing and speaking are marked out of 20. Because the productive sections use a 20-point scale, the bands are much tighter — a single mark can move you a whole level. NCLC 7, the threshold for the French bonus, is 10 out of 20 in writing and speaking.
| CLB / NCLC | Reading | Writing | Listening | Speaking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLB 4 | 342–374 | 4–5 | 331–368 | 4–5 |
| CLB 5 | 375–405 | 6 | 369–397 | 6 |
| CLB 6 | 406–452 | 7–9 | 398–457 | 7–9 |
| CLB 7 | 453–498 | 10–11 | 458–502 | 10–11 |
| CLB 8 | 499–523 | 12–13 | 503–522 | 12–13 |
| CLB 9 | 524–548 | 14–15 | 523–548 | 14–15 |
| CLB 10+ | 549–699 | 16–20 | 549–699 | 16–20 |
What your French is worth in CRS points
French earns points in two separate ways, and conflating them is a common source of disappointment. The additional French bonus below is the headline number. Separately, your first official language earns core points per ability, which are scored individually and depend on whether you have a spouse or common-law partner — not on your age. This calculator reports the bonus only; read the core rates off IRCC's grid, since they are revised more often.
| Your French (all four abilities) | Your English | Additional CRS points |
|---|---|---|
| NCLC 7+ | CLB 4 or lower, or no test | 25 |
| NCLC 7+ | CLB 5 or higher | 50 |
Two things follow from that table. First, 50 is the ceiling: once you hold NCLC 7 across all four abilities and CLB 5 English, pushing French to NCLC 9 adds nothing more to this bonus. Second, the bonus is all-or-nothing — NCLC 6 in one ability and NCLC 8 in the other three earns zero, because the lowest ability governs here too. For most candidates the cheapest points on the board are the jump from "no English test" to CLB 5 English, which doubles 25 into 50.
A worked example
A candidate sits TEF Canada and their "Équivalence ancien score" column reads 215 reading, 330 writing, 262 listening, 315 speaking. Reading 215 lands in the 207–232 band, so NCLC 7. Writing 330 is inside 310–348, so NCLC 7. Listening 262 is inside 249–279, NCLC 7. Speaking 315 falls in 310–348, NCLC 7. All four are at least 7, so the governing level is NCLC 7 and the French bonus applies. With CLB 5 English they claim 50 CRS points; with no English test, 25.
Change one number and the picture changes completely. Drop speaking to 305 and it becomes NCLC 6 — the governing level falls to 6, and the bonus goes to zero. Five marks in one section, fifty points on the board. That asymmetry is the argument for knowing your weakest ability precisely before you book the exam.
CLB or NCLC — which applies to me?
Both, depending on the language. CLB (Canadian Language Benchmarks) measures English; NCLC (Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens) measures French. They run on the same 1–12 scale and IRCC treats a given level as equivalent, so a French result reported as NCLC 7 counts as CLB 7 wherever a program states a CLB requirement. Because of that equivalence, most tools and guides — this one included — use "CLB" for both.
NCLC is not the same thing as NOC, the National Occupational Classification, which is the unrelated system of job codes used to describe your work experience. The abbreviations look similar and get mixed up constantly, including in published guides.
Before you rely on this
The conversion bands are approximations of IRCC's correspondence tables and the exact boundaries can shift between updates. This tool is for planning your study, not for completing an application. Confirm your own figures against the official language requirements and the CRS grid before acting, and take questions about your own profile to a lawyer or an authorised immigration consultant.
Rules as of 2026-09-24.