Guides
Forum threads answer these questions with anecdotes. These pages answer them from IRCC and test-maker sources, with the verification date on every claim. Start with the format of your test, then decode your score.
Test formats & structure
What each exam actually looks like — sections, timing, navigation and scoring.
IELTS format: sections, timing & scoring
Every section, how long it runs, how the 1–9 bands work, and the Academic vs General Training differences — computer-delivered, 2026.
PTE format: the 3-part test (Academic & Core)
Speaking & Writing → Reading → Listening, forward-only, machine-scored 10–90 — and which version Canada actually accepts.
CELPIP-General format: all four skills, part by part
The 6 listening parts, 4 reading parts, 2 writing and 8 speaking tasks, the real timing, and the 1–12 levels.
Duolingo English Test (DET) format
The adaptive one-hour test, its task types, the 10–160 score and four subscores, and the proctoring rules.
TEF Canada format: sections, timing & 0–699 scoring
The current post-2025 40/40 format, all four sections, and the NCLC thresholds for Express Entry French points.
TCF Canada format: sections, timing & scoring
39/39 listening and reading, three writing tasks, the live speaking, and how 100–699 maps to your NCLC.
Choosing your test
Pick the right test — and the right version of it — before you book.
CELPIP vs IELTS vs PTE Core — which test?
The honest three-way comparison from a site that preps all of them: where each CLB 9 bar sits, who each format favours.
Did you book the right test version?
GT not Academic, Core not Academic, General not LS, TEF/TCF Canada not the regular ones. The $300 mistake, prevented in a minute.
Understand your score
Read your score report, find your CLB, and see what the next band really needs.
PTE score report decoder
Why Listening depends on Write From Dictation, where the enabling skills went, and how to read the four numbers like a strategist.
CELPIP score decoder — levels, "M", and the 8→9 wall
Levels are CLB 1:1, M is a level (not an error), and the 8→9 jump is about developed content, not grammar.
Why is my IELTS writing score lower than expected?
The 6.5 wall decoded criterion by criterion — Task Response development and error-free sentences, not fancier vocabulary.
CELPIP writing: Task 1 & Task 2, dimension by dimension
What raters reward on the four published dimensions, and the profile that caps people at Level 8.
"8777" explained — what CLB 9 really requires
Why listening needs 8.0, why one 6.5 drags everything down, and the exact IRCC numbers.
🧮 CLB/NCLC converter (tool)
Any test's scores → your CLB/NCLC per skill, instantly, from the official IRCC tables.
Test-day rules
The rules that quietly cost marks, answered from official guidance.
IELTS answer rules: ALL CAPS, spelling, word limits
The rules people lose sleep over, answered from official IELTS guidance — capitals are fine, both spellings count.
Remark, re-evaluation or rescore — worth it?
The official challenge policies compared. Spoiler: a PTE rescore can LOWER your score and always replaces it; CELPIP refunds per component.
Immigration & timing
IRCC acceptance, validity windows and the rules that keep changing.
When does your test expire for Express Entry?
Valid at profile AND at eAPR submission — the two-checkpoint rule, plus the citizenship exception.
Does IRCC accept One Skill Retake? (dated status)
Currently no open IRCC pathway accepts OSR. A dated page for a question whose answer keeps changing.
TEF Canada changed — most guides didn't
The current 40/40 format and /699 scoring vs what stale pages still say, with confirmed-vs-reported clearly labelled.