The one language on this list that is worth points in a permanent residency application as well as a university file. Taught to the diploma you actually need, not to a generic syllabus.
DELF covers A1 to B2 and DALF covers C1 to C2. The diploma name is the CEFR level, so the certificate you hold states exactly where you stand.
DELF and DALF are valid for life. TCF and TEF expire after two years, which is why the diploma is the safer choice if your timeline is not fixed.
French has more certificate variants than any other language we teach, and picking the wrong one is the most common and most expensive mistake.
For Canadian immigration only TEF Canada and TCF Canada are accepted. A DELF B2, however good, does not count for Express Entry. This catches people out every year, usually after they have already paid for the wrong exam.
Four papers, twenty five points each, one hundred in total. You pass at fifty. A score below five out of twenty five in any single paper is eliminatory no matter how well you did elsewhere, so a candidate strong in reading and weak in speaking can score sixty overall and still fail.
| Level | Written papers | Oral |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | 1 hour 20 minutes | 15 minutes |
| A2 | 1 hour 40 minutes | 20 minutes |
| B1 | 1 hour 55 minutes | 25 minutes |
| B2 | 2 hours 30 minutes | 50 minutes |
| C1 | 4 hours | 1 hour 30 minutes |
| C2 | 3 hours 30 minutes | 2 hours |
Durations published by accredited exam centres. France Éducation International has been rolling out a revised DELF format progressively, so confirm the current timings with your exam centre when you book.
There is a minimum of forty five days between attempts at the same level.
Campus France states that B2 is the minimum for most institutions, with C1 strongly recommended for humanities. Accepted proofs are TCF SO, TCF DAP for the DAP admission route, DELF A1 to B2 and DALF C1 to C2. Because DELF and DALF do not expire, they are the safer credential if your application timeline might slip. A TCF must still be valid at the point you register in France, not just when you apply.
This is the strongest commercial case for French from India, and it is badly understood.
Fifty CRS points is a very large swing. For a candidate sitting just below the cut off, French is often a faster route than any other lever available to them.
Quebec runs its own provincial French requirements through TEF Québec and TCF Québec. Those thresholds are separate from federal Express Entry and we check them individually rather than assuming.
These are the guided hours The Acadevo plans each French programme around. They are what our own cohorts have actually needed, not a marketing estimate:
| From, to | Guided hours |
|---|---|
| A1 to A2 | 100 to 150 |
| A2 to B1 | 150 to 200 |
| B1 to B2 | 200 to 250 |
| B2 to C1 | 250 to 300 |
A1 and the C1 to C2 step vary too much between learners for a single honest figure, so we set those from your diagnostic instead.
India. The Alliance Française network runs accredited DELF and DALF centres in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad and elsewhere. Alliance Française de Delhi is also an official TCF Canada centre.
UAE. Alliance Française Dubai offers DELF Prim, DELF Junior, DELF and DALF for adults, and TCF Tout Public, with a published 2026 calendar covering TEF, TCF and DELF/DALF. Alliance Française Abu Dhabi offers DELF and DALF plus TCF for integration, residence and nationality.
A language is only worth the hours if it clears the bar your destination sets. TAICF, our own assessment framework, reads your target countries and courses and tells you the level to aim for, the certificate that proves it, and how it fits around your exams.
How TAICF worksFive things are in every language programme we run, whatever the language and whatever the level you start at.
Every programme includes dedicated one to one sessions with your own teacher for the questions that came up after class. Booked when you need them, not parked until the next group session.
The recording reaches you the same day, every time. Miss a class for a school exam, a work trip or a bad week and you have not missed the lesson. It is also the fastest revision tool you will have in the last fortnight.
Complete papers in the official format, timed, including the oral. Most candidates lose marks to the format rather than the language, and a mock is the cheapest place to find that out.
Before you start, we set the target and the timeline. Midway, we reset it against your mock results. Before you book the exam, we confirm you are sitting the right version on the right date. Teaching without this is just hours.
The whole course can run one to one rather than in a cohort. Your own teacher, your own pace, sessions timed around school or work, and the syllabus reordered around what you actually need first.
French routes are assessed on the certificate, not on how long you studied. A Campus France file for a French taught programme is built around a DELF B2, and the grandes écoles and most French taught master’s programmes want DALF C1.
Our French faculty prepares for the DELF and DALF examinations set by France Éducation International, and the programmes are designed to carry you to those high level passes rather than stopping at the entry certificates that feel like progress and unlock very little.
DELF if you want a permanent credential and you are heading for a French university. TCF if you need a fast result, or specifically TCF DAP for first year undergraduate entry, or TCF Canada for immigration. If Canada is the goal, it must be TCF Canada or TEF Canada, not DELF.
We plan for roughly 450 to 600 guided hours cumulative from A1 to B2. At a realistic pace alongside school or work, that is usually two to three years. Anyone promising B2 in six months is describing an exam technique, not a language.
Yes, materially. NCLC 7 across all four French skills is worth 25 or 50 additional CRS points depending on your English, and French proficiency is a category based selection category in its own right. For a candidate near the cut off it is often the single highest leverage thing they can do.
No. They are valid for life. TCF and TEF results are valid for two years.
You need fifty out of one hundred overall and at least five out of twenty five in every paper. Below five in any one paper is eliminatory regardless of your total. There is a minimum forty five day wait before retaking the same level.
We start with a short conversation and a level check, so you join at the right level rather than repeating what you already know. Classes run at Gurugram and Dubai Silicon Oasis, in person and online, in small cohorts, or one to one.
Acadevo Intelligent Response Assistant