TCF Canada writing mistakes that cost you NCLC 7

Mistakes in TCF Canada writing (expression écrite) fall into two groups. Some are cases France Éducation international (FEI) itself lists as possible triggers for “A1 non atteint”, such as a word count outside the range, copying, a memorized text or a task not done. The rest lower your mark through the marking criteria, such as a missed point, the wrong register, weak cohesion or grammar. To reach NCLC 7 you need at least 10/20, and 9/20 is NCLC 6.

Every mistake below is labelled. “Listed by FEI” means the candidate manual (September 2026 version) names it. “Our reading” means it is our interpretation of what the official criteria penalize, because FEI publishes no detailed mark scheme and no annotated papers. For the overall setup, see the writing test guide.

Mistake	Status
Word count outside the range	Listed by FEI as a task not done with the required word count. No penalty is published for going over
Missing a point of the consigne	Our reading. Going off topic is listed by FEI
Copying the documents or the instructions	Listed by FEI
A memorized text	Listed by FEI for a learned text. For stock phrases it is our reading
Wrong register	Our reading. The sociolinguistic criterion is FEI’s
No paragraphs or connectors	Our reading. The coherence and cohesion criterion is FEI’s
Agreement and tense errors	Our reading. The linguistic criterion is FEI’s
Not finishing task 3	Listed by FEI as a task not done
Writing on the draft sheet	Listed by FEI

What FEI lists

According to the manual, the writing test could be rated “A1 non atteint” if any of these happens. The handwriting is illegible (paper test), a task is not done with the required number of words, the text is off topic, one or more tasks are not done, you copy one or more sentences from the consigne or a document, you write a text learned by heart, or you write on the draft sheet. The verb is conditional (“pourrait”), and how it is applied case by case is not published.

Word count outside the range

Say you write 45 words in task 1, where the minimum is 60. Or you write 210 words in task 3, where the maximum is 180, because you put down everything you knew.

The manual tells candidates to complete all three tasks “en respectant le nombre de mots minimum et maximum requis”, and a task without the right word count is one of the “A1 non atteint” cases. FEI mentions no specific penalty for going over the maximum and we won’t invent one, but nothing suggests you gain anything by it.

Aim for the middle of each range, which means 80 to 110 words in task 1, 125 to 145 in task 2 and 140 to 175 in task 3. Find out how many of your handwritten lines make 100 words, and count every practice text. The limits for each task are listed in word limit for each task.

Copying the documents

This matters most in task 3. Suppose the document says “Le télétravail permet de gagner deux heures par jour en évitant les transports.” (Remote work saves two hours a day by avoiding commuting.) A copying candidate writes the same sentence, or the same with one word changed.

Copying one or more sentences from a document or the instructions is a case FEI lists. Task 3 also asks you to compare two points of view, and a copied sentence does not do that. In our reading, the thematic development criterion is not met either.

Restate the idea in your own words and say who holds which view. For example, “Le premier auteur apprécie de ne plus perdre de temps dans les trajets. Le second craint que l’équipe se parle moins.” (The first author likes not wasting time commuting. The second fears the team will talk less.) The task 3 page goes through restating step by step.

A memorized text

An introduction that never changes is the typical case. “De nos jours, la société moderne est confrontée à de nombreux défis. Il est donc primordial d’en débattre.” Whether the topic is remote work, rents or social media, the sentence stays the same.

FEI lists a text learned by heart, but the manual doesn’t define where a stock phrase ends and a learned text begins. In our reading, a paragraph that would fit any topic is exactly what a marker recognizes, and it tells the reader nothing about the topic you were given.

Memorize connectors and sentence patterns, and leave whole paragraphs alone. Begin from the content of the topic instead, as in “Selon le premier document, …” (According to the first document, …).

Not finishing task 3

Tasks 1 and 2 can easily take 40 minutes, which leaves 20 to read two documents and write 120 to 180 words. Some candidates stop at 60 words, or write nothing.

“One or more tasks not done” is a listed case, and FEI’s own advice is to do all 3 tasks properly. Decide on a timing before test day. A suggestion that is not an FEI rule is 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, then 5 minutes to check. If time runs short, a simple, complete task 3 beats a brilliant, unfinished one.

Writing on the draft sheet

Writing on the draft sheet is a case FEI lists. A common version is drafting the whole of task 3 there “to copy it later”, then running out of time, or leaving the text on the draft. On paper the draft is destroyed and only what is in the booklet is marked.

Use the draft sheet for ideas in three words. Make a three-line plan, then write straight into the space provided for your answer.

Our reading of what the criteria penalize

The manual groups its criteria in three. They are linguistic (vocabulary, grammatical accuracy, spelling, sentence elaboration), pragmatic (coherence and cohesion, development of the topic) and sociolinguistic (fit to the situation). The mistakes below map onto them. How much each one moves your mark is not published.

Missing a point of the consigne

A consigne asks you to inform, explain and suggest a solution, and the text informs, explains, and stops. FEI assesses the ability to give the information requested, so a missing point reduces what the text proves. If several points or the whole theme are missing, the text slides towards off topic, which FEI lists.

Before writing, underline the verbs of the consigne and tick them off one by one on your draft sheet in three words.

Wrong register

Writing to a manager, a candidate produces “Madame, je te remercie pour ta réponse, salut !” Writing to a friend, the same candidate produces “Je vous prie d’agréer mes salutations distinguées.”

This is the sociolinguistic criterion, whether the text fits the situation, and the mismatch is visible at once. Choose tu or vous when you read the recipient’s status, then reread only the pronouns and possessives (te/vous, ton/votre).

No paragraphs, no connectors

A block of short, unconnected sentences reads like a list. “Je travaille à la maison. J’économise du temps. Je suis plus fatigué. Les transports sont bondés.” The coherence and cohesion criterion looks at whether ideas are linked, and without connectors a text shows ideas but no reasoning.

Compare “Je travaille à la maison, donc j’économise le temps de transport. En revanche, je me sens parfois isolé.” Vary the connectors (de plus, mais, par conséquent, en revanche, par exemple) and separate the paragraphs into opening, development and closing.

Agreement and tense errors typical at B1–B2

These rarely block understanding, but they add up under the grammatical accuracy criterion. Four classics.

Wrong	Corrected	Rule
Les photos que j’ai prise hier sont belles.	Les photos que j’ai prises hier sont belles.	The past participle agrees with a direct object placed before avoir.
Si j’aurais le temps, je viendrais.	Si j’avais le temps, je viendrais.	No conditional after “si”, use the imparfait.
Il faut que je fais les courses.	Il faut que je fasse les courses.	“Il faut que” takes the subjunctive.
Hier, je vais au bureau et je prends le bus.	Hier, je suis allé au bureau et j’ai pris le bus.	A story in the past stays in the past throughout.

Another frequent trap is “Les informations que vous m’avez donné”, which must become “données” by the same rule as the first row.

Keep 5 minutes for checking, and hunt for these points specifically instead of rereading in general. Go through the text in this order. Check past participles after “que”, then tenses after “si” and “il faut que”, then consistency of tenses in a narrative.

Spotting your own mistakes

You read badly what you have just written, so reread a text you wrote a few days ago. You can also have NCLC Prep give a practice text a mark out of 20 with the NCLC range. That is an estimate and not the official mark, but it shows what is weighing on the text. The practice prompts let you redo the same task after correcting.