CELPIP vs PTE Core vs TCF Canada
IRCC accepts five language tests — CELPIP-General, IELTS General Training and PTE Core in English, TEF Canada and TCF Canada in French — and the three compared here differ most in the speaking component. CELPIP gives eight recorded tasks in 15 minutes, judged by trained raters against four dimensions. PTE Core folds five speaking question types into a 50–65 minute Speaking & Writing section scored by Pearson's AI engine. TCF Canada tests French through a 12-minute face-to-face interview with an examiner. All three are reported against the CLB (or NCLC) scale, and all three results are valid for two years.
Free plan · 3 attempts a day · no card, no expiry
Three tests, three different speaking formats
The same CLB level can mean very different things on test day. Everything below is what each test owner publishes, not a summary of opinions.
CELPIP-General
English- Time
- Four separately timed components: Listening 46–55 min, Reading 43–56 min, Writing 53 min, Speaking 15 min
- Score
- One CELPIP level from 0 to 12 per component; there is no single overall score
- Speaking
- 8 tasks, recorded, 15 minutes, trained raters on four dimensions
PTE Core
English- Time
- One 2-hour sitting: Speaking & Writing 50–65 min, Reading 27–37 min, Listening 22–37 min
- Score
- 10–90 overall, plus a score for each skill
- Speaking
- 5 speaking question types inside Part 1, scored by an AI engine
TCF Canada
French- Time
- 2 h 47 in total: Listening 35 min, Reading 60 min, Writing 60 min, Speaking 12 min
- Score
- Section by section: comprehension out of 699, expression out of 20
- Speaking
- 3 tasks, 12 minutes, face to face with one examiner
Component timings as published by celpip.ca, Pearson and France Éducation international, checked 5 November 2026.
The differences that change how you prepare
Rows are the questions people actually ask before booking; columns are the three tests. Where an official table has a number, it is quoted rather than paraphrased.
| What differs | CELPIP-General | PTE Core | TCF Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Language | English | English | French |
| Where you take it | Computer, at a CELPIP test centre | Computer, at a PTE test centre — not at home | Paper or computer, at an approved centre |
| Speaking time | 15 minutes for 8 tasks | Part of a 50–65 minute Speaking & Writing section | 12 minutes for 3 tasks |
| Who judges the speaking | Trained raters, working through four dimensions | Pearson's AI scoring engine | One examiner, face to face |
| What you get back | A CELPIP level from 0 to 12 for each component | An overall score of 10–90 plus a score per skill | A score per section, with a CEFR level |
| How long it is valid | 2 years | 2 years | 2 years |
| What else it is accepted for | IRCC economic immigration and citizenship | IRCC economic immigration, citizenship and the post-graduation work permit | IRCC economic immigration and citizenship; Quebec immigration (MIFI) |
On a phone, swipe the table sideways to see the TCF Canada column.
Sources: IRCC · CELPIP · Pearson · France Éducation international.
Same skill, three different performances
Practising one of these tests does not prepare you for the others. The tasks ask for different behaviour, and the judging method changes what counts as a good answer.
CELPIP: eight recorded tasks, one level out
Fifteen minutes, eight tasks in a fixed order: giving advice, talking about a personal experience, describing a scene, making predictions, comparing and persuading, dealing with a difficult situation, expressing opinions, describing an unusual situation. Each answer is recorded and judged against Content/Coherence, Vocabulary, Listenability and Task Fulfillment, then reported as a single CELPIP level.
What it rewards: doing the specific thing the prompt asks — advising, persuading, predicting — out loud and inside a fixed time box. A fluent answer that describes instead of persuading still loses on Task Fulfillment.
PTE Core: five speaking types, scored by machine
Speaking sits inside Part 1 (Speaking & Writing, 50–65 minutes) next to two writing tasks. The speaking question types are Read Aloud, Repeat Sentence, Describe Image, Respond to a Situation and Answer Short Question; an unscored Personal Introduction comes first. Pearson describes the scoring as an AI-powered engine that maps directly to CLB.
What it rewards: accurate reproduction and steady delivery. Read Aloud and Repeat Sentence reward pronunciation, rhythm and word-for-word accuracy rather than ideas of your own; Describe Image and Respond to a Situation are the closest to CELPIP's open tasks.
TCF Canada: twelve minutes, one examiner
Three tasks with a live examiner: a 2-minute structured interview with no preparation, a 5.5-minute interaction task (2 of those minutes are preparation), and a 4.5-minute task in which you express and defend a point of view with no preparation. The whole test runs 2 h 47, including Listening (35 min), Reading (60 min) and Writing (60 min).
What it rewards: interactive French — asking questions, holding a position, adjusting to another speaker. It is a conversation rather than a set of monologues, and the third task cannot be scripted in advance.
CLB 7, 8 and 9 in speaking, per test
IRCC publishes the equivalency chart that applications are assessed against. This is its speaking column for the three tests on this page.
| CLB level | CELPIP Speaking | PTE Core Speaking | TCF Canada Speaking (NCLC) |
|---|---|---|---|
| CLB 7 | 7 | 68–75 | 10–11 |
| CLB 8 | 8 | 76–83 | 12–13 |
| CLB 9 | 9 | 84–88 | 14+ |
| CLB 10+ | 10+ | 89+ | 14+ |
Two things are worth reading slowly. From CLB 4 upwards the CELPIP level and the CLB level are the same number, which is why that column looks like a repeat. PTE Core and TCF Canada are scored on their own scales, so IRCC gives ranges — and for TCF Canada the chart stops separating 9 from 10+, because 14+ covers both.
Source: IRCC — Language testing (Express Entry), equivalency charts, checked 5 November 2026.
How to decide, in four steps
There is no official ranking of difficulty, and anyone who offers you one is guessing. What you can do is narrow the choice with facts.
- Start with the language you can prove. CELPIP and PTE Core test English; TCF Canada and TEF Canada test French. If your French is stronger, the French route can reach NCLC 7 with far less study than pushing English to CLB 7.
- Check the level your application needs. IRCC ties the CLB/NCLC requirement to the job's NOC TEER — CLB 7 for TEER 0 and 1, CLB 5 for TEER 2 and 3 in the skilled-trades and Canadian-experience streams — and the table above shows what that level costs in each test's speaking score.
- Match the format to how you actually speak. If a live interviewer makes you freeze, the recorded formats are friendlier; if you need a human to hear nuance a machine may miss, that is an argument for CELPIP's raters or TCF's examiner, not against them.
- Match your deadline. PTE Core publishes results typically within two days; TCF Canada within 15 working days; CELPIP's booking page gives the current reporting time for your centre. All three results last two years, so testing early is not wasted.
If CELPIP is the one you pick, the next question is how its speaking is scored — four dimensions, one level — and what a CLB target looks like on that scale, in the CLB 4–10 chart.
What this page does not do
Comparison pages tend to overreach. These are the four lines this one stays behind.
- It does not recommend a test. Whether a test is accepted for your stream, and which level you need, is settled by IRCC program pages, not by a comparison table.
- It does not rank difficulty. The three tests use different scales, different raters and different tasks; no official body publishes a difficulty order, so neither do we.
- It does not convert scores. The only conversion shown is IRCC's own CLB/NCLC chart — nothing here turns a CELPIP 8 into a PTE Core score, or the reverse.
- It does not cover IELTS or TEF Canada, and CLB Pilot does not prepare anyone for PTE Core or TCF Canada. The practice tool on this site trains CELPIP Speaking only.
What that practice does and does not claim is set out on the scoring page and in the answers section of the home page.
CELPIP, PTE Core and TCF Canada in practice
Is PTE Core easier than CELPIP?
No official comparison exists, and the scales are not interchangeable: CELPIP reports a level from 0 to 12 per component, PTE Core reports 10–90 with a score per skill. IRCC's chart is the only sanctioned bridge, and it gives ranges — CLB 7 speaking is CELPIP 7, or PTE Core 68–75. Which test feels easier depends on the tasks: Read Aloud and Repeat Sentence suit people who speak accurately from a text, while CELPIP's open tasks suit people who can improvise about everyday situations.
Can I use PTE Core for Canadian citizenship?
Yes. IRCC accepts PTE Core as proof of English for citizenship as well as for economic immigration, and Pearson also lists the post-graduation work permit. CELPIP-General is accepted for the same purposes. Confirm on the current IRCC page before you book.
Does TCF Canada test English?
No. TCF Canada is a French test run by France Éducation international and is one of the two French tests IRCC accepts, the other being TEF Canada. It is scored against the NCLC scale rather than the CLB scale, and it is also recognised for immigration to Quebec.
How long are these test results valid?
Two years for all three. CELPIP scores are valid for two years from the score report date, a PTE Core score for two years from the test date, and a TCF Canada certificate for two years from the date the results were issued. IRCC additionally requires the result to be less than two years old when you submit your application.
Do I need CLB 7 in all four skills?
It depends on the program. Under the federal skilled worker stream each of the four abilities is scored separately, so a strong speaking score cannot compensate for a weak reading score. For citizenship the requirement is CLB/NCLC 4 or higher in speaking and listening for applicants aged 18–54. Check the program page for your stream rather than assuming one number.
Where every number comes from
Four pages, all read on 5 November 2026. If a number on this page disagrees with one of them, they are right.
-
IRCC — Language testing (accepted tests, CLB/NCLC charts)
canada.ca
The authoritative list of accepted tests and the equivalency charts quoted in the table above.
-
CELPIP — Test Format & Scoring
celpip.ca
Component timings, the eight speaking tasks, and how a CELPIP level maps to CLB.
-
Pearson — PTE Core
pearsonpte.com
The two-hour format, section timings, the five speaking question types and the 10–90 scale.
-
France Éducation international — TCF Canada
france-education-international.fr
The four mandatory tests, their timings, the 12-minute speaking test and the 15-working-day result window.
Corrections welcome: support@clbpilot.online. If a test owner changes a format or IRCC changes a chart, this page is updated and the date above changes with it.
Practise the CELPIP speaking tasks, free
Eight task types, the official time limits, and feedback on the four dimensions the raters use. Three attempts a day without an account.
Practice freeFree plan · 3 attempts a day · no card, no expiry