Is NCLC 7 the same as B2?
Checked November 1, 2026
Mostly, yes. In the table France Éducation international (FEI) prints for TCF Canada, NCLC 7 sits at B2 for reading, writing and speaking and at B2–C1 for listening. It is a close match for this test, but not an official equivalence between the two scales.
| Skill | NCLC 7 | CEFR level in FEI’s table |
|---|---|---|
| Listening | 458–502 | B2–C1 |
| Reading | 453–498 | B2 |
| Writing | 10–11 out of 20 | B2 |
| Speaking | 10–11 out of 20 | B2 |
The two are not strictly equal, for three reasons.
- At the low end of the band, the mark decides. A writing mark of 9 out of 20 is NCLC 6 (B1), even if your French feels close to B2.
- B2 is a wider band than NCLC 7. In writing and speaking, NCLC 8 (12–13) is also B2, so the label alone cannot tell you whether you have NCLC 7 or 8.
- The scales come from different places. NCLC is Canadian and the CEFR (B1, B2, C1 and so on) is European. The pairing above is simply the one FEI prints for TCF Canada scores.
IRCC goes by your scores converted to NCLC with its own table. The B2 label does not enter into it.
More on this level and the others in NCLC 7 at TCF Canada. The exact scores are in what score you need for NCLC 7.