Guide

DELF, DALF, TCF: which French exam do you actually need?

Three names, one language, and a choice that costs money if you get it wrong. The real difference is not difficulty: it is that one is a diploma you keep for life and the other a snapshot that expires. Which you need depends entirely on who is asking.

In short

The DELF and the DALF are diplomas: you pass one level, and it is yours for life. The TCF is a test: it places you on a scale, and the result expires.
You choose a DELF level in advance and sit that one. The TCF cannot be failed — it returns whatever level you actually reached that day.
Both exams test the same four skills, and each is marked out of 25. On the DELF you need 50 out of 100 overall, and at least 5 in every part — one collapsed part sinks the whole exam.
For most files, the level asked for is B1 or B2. Below that, an exam is rarely worth its fee unless someone has explicitly asked for it.

A diploma, or a snapshot

The DELF and the DALF are diplomas awarded by the French Ministry of Education. They come in levels — A1, A2, B1, B2 for the DELF, C1 and C2 for the DALF — and you register for one specific level. Pass it and the diploma is yours permanently: no renewal, no expiry, no second fee in five years.

The TCF is a different object: a placement test. You do not choose a level, you sit the test and it tells you where you are. Nobody fails a TCF — you can only be disappointed by the result. And that result is a snapshot: it is valid for a limited period, after which the file that asked for it will want a fresh one.

Who asks for what

The rule of thumb is simple: administrative files tend to accept or require the TCF, academic and personal files favour the DELF. Immigration and citizenship procedures usually name a specific test and a specific level, and they change: the authority handling your file is the only source that counts, and it is worth reading it the week you register, not the year before.

If nobody is asking — if you want a level for yourself, for a CV, for the proof that a year of work led somewhere — take the DELF. It does not expire, it names a level rather than a score, and preparing for a fixed target is a far better use of a year than drifting.

The four parts, and where candidates lose

Both exams test the same four skills, each marked out of 25: listening, reading, writing, speaking. On the DELF, the pass mark is 50 out of 100 with a minimum of 5 in every single part. That second condition is what actually eliminates people. A candidate who is comfortable in conversation and never writes can score 60 overall and still fail on a collapsed writing paper.

The parts are also unequal in how much they can be trained. Listening and reading improve with volume — more hours of French in the ear and in the eye. Writing and speaking improve with correction, which means they improve with someone who reads and listens to you. That asymmetry is the whole argument for preparing an exam with a teacher rather than with a book.

How to prepare, without wasting a year

Start from the exam date and work backwards. The plan then writes itself: how many weeks are left, how many lessons that allows, and which of the four parts is furthest from the bar. Preparing « in general » is how candidates arrive strong in the two parts they enjoyed and short in the one that decides.

Sit a real past paper first, timed, before doing anything else. It is unpleasant and it saves months, because it tells you where you actually are.
Work the format, not just the language. Both exams have fixed shapes and a strict clock. Knowing what comes next is worth several points.
Write, and have it corrected. This is the part that quietly fails people, and the only one that cannot be improved alone.
Rehearse the speaking part out loud, against a timer, with someone answering back — not in your head.

Formats change, this page does not follow them

Registration dates, fees, session calendars and the exact rules of each exam are set by the awarding bodies and by the centre where you sit — and they do change. This guide describes what the exams are and how to prepare for them. For anything with a number or a date on it, the official body and your examination centre are the only sources that count.

Choose the level, then the date

Two decisions settle everything else: which level you are aiming at, and when you sit it. Everything else — how many lessons, at what pace, what to fix first — follows from those two. If you are not sure which level is realistic, a timed past paper will tell you in ninety minutes what months of hesitation will not.

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