TCF Canada speaking guide
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Exam format · NCLC
- speaking tasks
- 3
- section length
- 12 min
- longest preparation
- 2 min
- result reported as
- NCLC
Quick answer
The TCF Canada speaking section is a recorded conversation of about 12 minutes with an examiner, in 3 tasks: a guided interview, an interaction where you ask the questions, and an argued point of view. It is marked out of 20 and converted to an NCLC level; NCLC 7 needs 10 or more.
Format at a glance
- 1. Guided interview2 min
- 2. Interaction2 min + 3.5 min
- 3. Point of view4.5 min
- 1
Task 1: the guided interview
No preparationSpeaking time · 2 minTwo minutes, no preparation. The examiner asks about you: your work, your studies, your city, your plans. The trap is answering in single sentences.
- 2
Task 2: the interaction
Preparation · 2 minSpeaking time · 3.5 minTwo minutes to prepare, then about three and a half minutes in which you obtain information from the examiner in an everyday situation: renting a flat, joining a club, booking a course. You lead. The mark rewards varied, polite, well-formed questions in a natural order, so prepare eight to ten questions covering when, where, how much, conditions and what happens next.
- 3
Task 3: the point of view
No preparationSpeaking time · 4.5 minAbout four and a half minutes, no preparation, on a statement about society: work, family, technology, education. State your position in the first sentence, give two or three reasons with an example each, acknowledge the other side, and conclude.
How to practise
Record yourself under the real timing, then listen back for the three things examiners mark first: whether you completed the task, how organised the answer was, and how accurate and varied the language was.
In Studio, each task runs on the official clock and gets an instant evaluation on those criteria. Send your best two recordings to Coach Review before test day for an examiner’s annotations.