Short, sourced answers to the questions candidates ask most about the reading section.
Sixty minutes in both tests: 39 questions in TCF Canada, 40 in TEF Canada.
In TEF Canada, yes: you can navigate freely and review answers. For TCF Canada FEI does not say whether you can go back on computer; on paper you mark your answers on an answer sheet.
Not as a separate section. TEF part B (questions 8-17) asks you to choose the missing word in sentences and short texts, which tests vocabulary and connectors in context.
No. Wrong and blank answers both score 0.
From signs, menus and timetables to letters, administrative and professional documents, press articles and, at the top of TCF, long literary or specialised texts.
TCF Canada: 453 or more. TEF Canada: 207 or more in the "ancien score" column.
FEI weights each question by its difficulty, so a correct C1 item counts for more than a correct A1 item. The 39 answers are converted into a score from 100 to 699.
In TEF Canada, yes: part C includes a series of four graphs in which you find the one that matches a sentence of interpretation.
The full task-by-task format is on the reading description page, the score tables on the reading scoring page, and worked examples on the reading samples page. For the whole test, see the TCF / TEF test format.
Practise TCF / TEF online
Every section of TCF Canada and TEF Canada is in the TestSucceed app. The tasks are timed like the real exam and marked instantly, and your writing and speaking are assessed by AI trained by our French exam experts. Start with TCF / TEF practice or sit a full TCF / TEF mock test.
Written by Kirill O'Nayd
French test expert and educator at TestSucceed. He prepares candidates for TCF Canada and TEF Canada and follows how each section is timed and marked. See all TestSucceed preparation materials.