You can know the French words in a TEF writing Section A prompt and still struggle to write the next sentence. The opening has already introduced an event. Your job is to develop that event into a clear news report, with enough detail for a reader to understand what happened next.
TEF Canada writing Section A gives you 25 minutes to add at least 80 words to the beginning of a news article, in several paragraphs. The minimum applies to your continuation, not the supplied opening. These requirements come from the official CCI writing sample booklet.
Below are three original practice prompts and complete continuations, followed by explanations and a revision exercise. They are teaching examples by TEF Practice, not official questions or examiner-scored responses. Exam requirements checked September 17, 2026.
What to write in TEF Section A
A fait divers is a short news item about an event. In this task, you receive its beginning. You need to preserve the people, setting and situation already given, then explain the next developments and their outcome.
You can invent the rest of the story for the exercise. The invented details should fit the opening. If a bus driver discovers an object while checking an empty bus, a continuation about a passenger finding it on a crowded train changes the facts you were given.
| Keep from the opening | Add in your continuation | Check before finishing |
|---|---|---|
| Who is involved | Actions and reactions | Can the reader identify who does each action? |
| Where and when it happens | A clear sequence of events | Do the place and timeline still make sense? |
| The event or discovery | Useful details and an explanation | Does each detail develop this particular story? |
| The news-report style | An outcome or current situation | Does it read like the continuation of an article? |
There is no need to start again with a new introduction or address a recipient. Section A is different from the opinion letter in Section B. For both tasks together, see the TEF Canada writing format guide.
Sample 1: an unexpected delivery at a school
Read the opening, then sketch an ending before looking at the sample. For a timed attempt, write your own continuation first.
Original practice opening
Vendredi matin, une école primaire de Sherbrooke a reçu vingt cartons qui ne lui étaient pas destinés. En ouvrant le premier, la directrice a découvert des centaines de petites plantes.
Sample continuation: 102 words
Elle a aussitôt appelé le transporteur, qui a confirmé une erreur de livraison. Les plantes devaient rejoindre une association du quartier pour une vente organisée le lendemain. Cependant, le camion était déjà reparti vers une autre ville.
Comme les cartons occupaient le hall, la directrice a contacté le responsable de l'association. Celui-ci est venu avec deux bénévoles pour les récupérer. Pendant le chargement, les élèves ont posé des questions sur les différentes espèces et leur entretien.
Pour remercier l'école de son aide, l'association lui a offert quelques plants de tomates. Les enfants les installeront bientôt dans le jardin pédagogique avec leur enseignante.
Why the continuation fits
The answer explains the wrong delivery through the transporter's mistake. It keeps the school and plants from the opening, introduces the intended recipient and resolves the problem of the boxes in the hall. The final detail gives the incident a consequence for the school.
Notice the references: elle refers to the headteacher, celui-ci to the association's manager, and les in les récupérer to the boxes. Each pronoun has an identifiable referent. When you introduce several people, repeat a noun if a pronoun could mean either person.
The main actions use the passé composé: a appelé, a contacté, est venu. The transporter's earlier departure uses the plus-que-parfait: était déjà reparti. The last sentence uses the future because planting happens after the reported event. A news continuation does not need every verb in the same tense; the tenses need to express a coherent timeline.
Sample 2: a bicycle recovered during a clean-up
Original practice opening
Samedi, des bénévoles qui nettoyaient les berges d'une rivière ont aperçu un vélo coincé sous une passerelle. Une étiquette encore lisible portait le nom d'un commerce local.
Sample continuation: 110 words
Sans entrer dans l'eau, les bénévoles ont prévenu les services municipaux. Une équipe est arrivée avec le matériel nécessaire et a sorti le vélo en quelques minutes. Malgré la boue, son numéro était toujours visible.
Le commerçant, contacté par la mairie, a reconnu un vélo de location disparu la semaine précédente. Il avait signalé sa disparition, mais ignorait comment il s'était retrouvé sous la passerelle. Il a proposé de prendre en charge sa remise en état.
Le nettoyage s'est ensuite poursuivi sur l'autre rive. Les organisateurs ont rappelé que les objets lourds devaient être laissés aux professionnels. Le vélo sera remis en location après une vérification complète de ses freins.
Why the details matter
The label in the opening becomes useful: it leads to the business and identifies the bicycle as a rental. That connection makes the continuation specific to the prompt. A generic ending about everyone being happy would leave the label unexplained.
The account also separates known and unknown information. The shopkeeper recognizes the bicycle but does not know how it reached the river. You do not have to solve every mystery with a dramatic arrest. Here, recovery and repair provide an ending.
Il avait signalé sa disparition describes an action before the discovery. Le nettoyage s'est ensuite poursuivi returns to the main event. These choices help the reader follow the sequence without a date at the start of every sentence.
Sample 3: a concert interrupted by an alarm
Original practice opening
Dimanche après-midi, un concert amateur venait de commencer dans une salle municipale lorsque l'alarme incendie a retenti. Les musiciens se sont arrêtés et le public a quitté les lieux.
Sample continuation: 110 words
Les bénévoles ont guidé les spectateurs vers la place voisine, pendant que le responsable de la salle appelait les pompiers. Personne n'a été blessé lors de l'évacuation. Plusieurs habitants ont apporté des chaises pour les personnes âgées qui attendaient dehors.
Après avoir inspecté le bâtiment, les pompiers ont indiqué qu'un appareil défectueux avait déclenché l'alarme. Ils ont autorisé le public à rentrer une fois les vérifications terminées.
Le concert a repris avec quarante minutes de retard. Pour permettre aux familles de prendre leur autobus, les organisateurs ont raccourci la pause prévue entre les deux parties. Les musiciens ont remercié les spectateurs pour leur patience avant de jouer le dernier morceau.
How the ending develops the event
The opening has already said that people left the building. The continuation adds what happened outside, what caused the alarm and how the delay affected the programme. It does not spend another paragraph repeating the evacuation.
The shortened interval is connected to the forty-minute delay. That small practical consequence gives the ending more substance than an unrelated surprise would.
Compare les bénévoles ont guidé with le responsable appelait. The first reports a completed action; the second presents an action in progress alongside it. Use this distinction when it helps convey your meaning. Do not insert an imparfait simply because a template tells you to alternate tenses.
How to improve a weak TEF writing Section A paragraph
Here is an original short draft for the concert prompt. This is an excerpt for revision, not a complete answer:
Il y avait un problème. Les gens étaient inquiets. Les pompiers sont arrivés et ils ont réglé le problème. Tout le monde était content et le concert était bien.
The main weakness is missing information. What was the problem? What did the firefighters discover? What allowed the concert to resume? Replacing bien with an impressive adjective would not answer those questions.
A more precise version is:
Les pompiers ont inspecté la salle et identifié un appareil défectueux. Après les vérifications, ils ont autorisé les spectateurs à rentrer. Le concert a repris avec quarante minutes de retard, ce qui a obligé les organisateurs à raccourcir la pause.
The revision names the cause, explains the return and connects the delay to a decision. It also avoids an ambiguous ils: the firefighters inspect and authorize, while the organizers change the programme.
When you revise your own paragraph, ask a reader to name the event's cause and outcome. If they have to guess, add the missing link. Use the Section A writing lesson for another example of continuing a report.
French tenses and useful expressions for a fait divers
Choose expressions for what they do in your story. These examples are language tools, not sentences to paste into every answer.
| Purpose | Example | Why it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Give background | Le hall était encombré de cartons. | The imparfait describes the setting. |
| Report an action | La directrice a appelé le transporteur. | The passé composé advances the event. |
| Explain an earlier action | Le camion était déjà reparti. | The plus-que-parfait places it before the call. |
| Connect a cause and response | Comme la salle était fermée, le public a attendu dehors. | The cause explains the response. |
| Attribute information | Selon le responsable, les vérifications étaient terminées. | The reader knows who supplied the information. |
| State a planned consequence | Le vélo sera vérifié avant sa remise en location. | The future describes the next step. |
Check the auxiliary as well as the tense: elle a contacté, but l'équipe est arrivée. Review agreements in sentences you actually use. A shorter sentence you can control is more useful than a complicated construction whose meaning you cannot check.
A practical 25-minute writing plan
Try this allocation, then adjust it after a timed attempt. It is a study method, not an official division of the test time.
| Time | What to do | What you should have |
|---|---|---|
| Minutes 0–3 | Identify the fixed facts and decide what happens next | A cause or development, a response and an ending |
| Minutes 3–20 | Write the continuation in several paragraphs | A complete account with at least 80 added words |
| Minutes 20–25 | Check relevance, references, verbs and spelling | A revised answer that still fits the opening |
Do not rewrite the supplied opening to reach the word minimum. Count your added text. Leave yourself some room above 80 words so a deletion during revision does not take you below the requirement, but avoid adding a second storyline just to make the answer longer.
During the final check, read the opening and your first sentence together. Then read your last paragraph. This catches two common drafting problems: restarting the story and finishing without explaining what happened.
If timing remains difficult, first practise planning and writing one coherent continuation without a timer. Then repeat with a fresh prompt under the time limit. The TEF Canada preparation plan places writing practice alongside the other three skills.
TEF Section A writing questions
Is Section A also called TEF writing Task 1?
Some preparation sites use “Task 1” for the first writing activity. CCI's sample booklet calls it Section A. Check that the material asks you to continue a news article; an email or a survey response belongs to a different task format.
Does the 80-word minimum include the opening?
No. CCI asks you to add a continuation of at least 80 words. The text supplied in the question is not part of what you add. The booklet also asks for several paragraphs.
Do I need a title, quotation or surprising ending?
The sample instructions require a continuation in several paragraphs. They do not list those devices as mandatory. A quotation can contribute useful information, but a clear sequence and an ending that fits the opening are better priorities than forcing a surprise into every response.
Will these samples earn NCLC 7?
No official score has been assigned to these examples. They demonstrate writing choices you can study. An NCLC result comes from an assessed test performance, not a template or an isolated paragraph. See the TEF score-to-NCLC explanation for how reported results are interpreted.
Write your own continuation
Choose one prompt above and write for 25 minutes without viewing the sample. Compare the two accounts afterwards: did yours preserve the opening, develop a sequence and resolve the event? Pick one paragraph to revise before moving to a different prompt.
For another attempt, open the TEF Section A writing exercises. A free TEF Practice account includes one AI writing assessment. Use the feedback to choose a specific revision; its level estimate is practice guidance, not an official TEF score. The writing practice overview explains the available tools and access.
