Your paper is graded twice, blind, by two different examiners.
Your written expression score feels unfair. You tell yourself you got a tough grader, a bad day, a scale applied too strictly. France Éducation International publishes its assessment procedure. It rules that explanation out.
What actually happens
Every written expression paper is assessed twice, independently and blind: neither grader knows the level the other one gave.
If the two disagree, a third human correction settles it.
Key points
- Graders are recruited through a selection test, then trained by France Éducation International.
- A low score is not one person's opinion: it is two independent readings landing on the same level.
- The published criteria are linguistic: range of vocabulary, grammatical accuracy, spelling, sentence construction.
Why the bad grader story is so comforting
It puts the cause outside you. As long as the score comes down to bad luck, nothing in your method needs to change: you just book the test again. That is comfortable, and it is how candidates lose a whole session. Blind double correction exists precisely to cancel out the atypical grader. When two trained readers who cannot see each other's work land on the same level, that level is repeatable.
What actually moves your score
What survives two independent readings are the measurable criteria, not the originality of your ideas. Range of vocabulary, grammar, spelling, sentence construction: two different graders see those the same way. That is where your level is decided. Our written expression tests give you detailed feedback, task by task, before it counts.
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You cannot influence the grader. You can influence the criteria they apply.
Assess your level for free and practice in the official TCF Canada format.