IRCC scores your Express Entry profile using Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) for English and Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) for French. Test providers report raw scores on their own scales, so you need a conversion step. The CLB and NCLC scales are numerically identical and parallel, so a given level number describes the same proficiency whichever language you tested in.

Why the tables stop at 4 and 10

The tables below cover CLB or NCLC 4 through 10 or above. Below that range, levels 3 and under do not meet the minimum for any federal economic program, and IRCC does not publish conversion values for them on the Express Entry chart. Above that range, CRS awards no additional language points past level 10, so everything at 10 or more is pooled. The ranges in between are where your score actually changes your outcome.

The numbers below come from the official IRCC language test page, which is the single source of truth. Check that page before you submit a profile in case IRCC has updated a threshold.

English tests to CLB

IELTS General Training

Raw IELTS General Training band scores per ability, from the IRCC IELTS conversion chart.

CELPIP-General

Raw CELPIP-General scores per ability, from the IRCC CELPIP conversion chart. CELPIP reports whole-number levels, so every raw score lines up directly with a CLB level.

PTE Core

Raw PTE Core section scores per ability, from the IRCC PTE Core conversion chart.

French tests to NCLC

TEF Canada

TEF Canada raw section scores per ability, from the IRCC TEF Canada conversion chart. IRCC uses the "Équivalence ancien score" column on your TEF Canada attestation, not the "Score / 699" column, which is why these ranges top out below 699.

TCF Canada

TCF Canada raw section scores per ability, from the IRCC TCF Canada conversion chart.

One last reminder

IRCC assigns a CLB or NCLC level per ability based on the range your raw score falls into, and your weakest ability sets the floor for any program minimum. That means pushing a single raw score across a threshold, even by one point, can change the CLB level recorded for that ability and can ripple through both your eligibility and your CRS total. Results are valid for two years from the test date.

For the why behind these numbers, see Canada's language tests, CLB and NCLC, explained.

What this means for your report

You never have to do this conversion yourself. Our questionnaire takes your raw test scores, ability by ability, and the engine converts them to CLB or NCLC levels with the same code the free calculators use, so the level you see on the free page is the level the report scores. From there it applies each route's own language minimum, which differs by program and by the TEER category of your occupation, and shows the result beside your own answer rather than as a single verdict.

Two things follow that are easy to miss from a table. The report checks all four abilities in one language, never a mix of your best scores across two. And where a result is close to lapsing it carries the checklist step "Make sure your language test result is less than 2 years old", so an expiry does not catch you between the profile and the invitation.

When you are ready to see how a level translates into points, use the free CRS calculator or the Express Entry eligibility checker. To see what your level means across every Canadian route at once, answer the free questionnaire: the questionnaire is free, the eligibility summary at the end of it is free, and payment unlocks the full report.