Enter your four scores (or your target scores) to see your points.
Writing is the hardest ability to judge on your own. Plume grades your TCF Canada writing tasks and estimates your NCLC level — the first evaluation is free.
Grade a text for freeIndicative tool based on the official IRCC tables. Only a TCF Canada attestation and IRCC’s official calculation count for an immigration application.
The full TCF Canada → NCLC table
IRCC’s published equivalencies for all four abilities. Listening and reading use a points scale; speaking and writing are scored out of 20. NCLC and CLB share the same numbered levels, so an NCLC 7 in French is the counterpart of a CLB 7 in English.
| Level | Listeningof 699 | Readingof 699 | Speakingof 20 | Writingof 20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCLC 10+ | 549–699 | 549–699 | 16–20 | 16–20 |
| NCLC 9 | 523–548 | 524–548 | 14–15 | 14–15 |
| NCLC 8 | 503–522 | 499–523 | 12–13 | 12–13 |
| NCLC 7Express Entry threshold | 458–502 | 453–498 | 10–11 | 10–11 |
| NCLC 6 | 398–457 | 406–452 | 7–9 | 7–9 |
| NCLC 5 | 369–397 | 375–405 | 6–6 | 6–6 |
| NCLC 4 | 331–368 | 342–374 | 4–5 | 4–5 |
How the 25 or 50 points work
The Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) awards additional points for French, separate from the core language points:
- 25 points — NCLC 7 or higher in all four French abilities, with CLB 4 or lower in English (or no English test).
- 50 points — NCLC 7 or higher in all four French abilities, with CLB 5 or higher in all four English abilities.
Reaching NCLC 7 across the board also makes you eligible for the French-language proficiency category draws, whose CRS cut-offs have historically been lower than the general draws. French remains one of the fastest ways to raise an Express Entry score.
Writing is the ability to watch
Listening and reading are multiple-choice, so you can drill them with practice tests. Writing and speaking are judged by human raters against a rubric — and writing is the one you can prepare for on your own, if you get honest feedback on structure, register and task coverage rather than just grammar. That is what Plume grades, in the TCF Canada format, with a practice NCLC estimate on every draft.