CLB Calculator: convert your test score, and see what it pays

What each level is worth

Language is scored per ability and the four are added together, which is why the converter asks four questions rather than one. Reading at CLB 10 and speaking two levels below does not average out — each ability is looked up on its own row and paid on its own.

The jump that matters most is into 10: it pays 3 more points per ability than the level below, so across four abilities it is worth 12 — more than most people expect from one band.

A second official language is scored separately and pays up to 24 on top. Where language sits against everything else is on the CRS score calculator.

If you sat TEF Canada, your certificate shows a score Express Entry will not read

IRCC publishes three TEF Canada charts, split by when the test was taken. For Express Entry it uses only one of them — the chart for tests taken before 30 September 2019 — and it uses it regardless of when you actually sat the test. IRCC's words:

“Applicants are instructed to only enter the scores for each language ability from that column into their electronic applications for permanent residence (e-APR) regardless of the date the test was taken.”

Your attestation de résultats also carries a column marked “Score / 699”. That is the one most people read, because it is the prominent one — and it belongs to a different chart. The scales do not overlap: on the chart Express Entry reads, reading tops out at 300, while the current chart's lowest band starts at 306. So a “Score / 699” score is not slightly wrong here. It is off the scale entirely.

That is why entering it does not produce an error. A converter that looks up the highest band your score clears will hand back the top level, confidently, and you will have no reason to doubt it. The converter above rejects an off-scale score instead of rounding it into the top band and tells you which column to look for.

IRCC states the consequence plainly on its own Express Entry page: “If you don't enter the correct scores, we may refuse your application.” On the officer-facing page it adds that the other two charts “are not compatible with our system at this time” — which is a different claim from saying they are wrong, and worth keeping separate.

Which tests IRCC accepts

CELPIP-General, IELTS General Training and PTE Core for English; TEF Canada and TCF Canada for French. That is the whole list for Express Entry.

Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) Essentials is designated by IRCC but is not on it. Educational Testing Services administers it, and IRCC's own note reads: “This test isn't currently accepted by IRCC. This page will be updated once we start accepting it.” A result from it cannot be converted here, because there is nothing to convert it to.

The same CLB scale is used for study permits, post-graduation work permits and citizenship, on their own rules. This page is about points, and covers only the range and the tests Express Entry scores.