TEF Practice listening benchmarks
Analysis by TEF Practice · Snapshot: 30 October 2026
How 40 learners scored on listening mock 1, which parts cost them the most points and how the numbers were counted. These are results on our practice questions, not official TEF scores.
- Learners
- 40
- Average score
- 22.2/40
- Median score
- 23/40
- Middle half
- 16 to 28
Where does your mock 1 score land?
Move the slider to your listening mock 1 score out of 40. The chart shows how the 40 learners in this snapshot spread across the same 40 questions, on their first timed attempt.
Use your first timed attempt, before reviewing the solutions. Everyone in this chart is on their first try.
23/40 is at or above the median of 23/40 and below the upper quartile of 28/40.
17 of 40 learners (42.5%) scored 20 to 29.
No score yet? Take the same 40 questions for free and see where you fit.
Take the free listening mockShow the numbersHide the numbers
| Score out of 40 | Learners | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 9 | 5 | 12.5% |
| 10 to 19 | 9 | 22.5% |
| 20 to 29 | 17 | 42.5% |
| 30 to 40 | 9 | 22.5% |
Which listening parts were harder?
The paper starts with short conversations matched to pictures and ends with exchanges and opinions from everyday situations. Each rate divides correct answers by every question assigned in that part, so it is a question-level rate, not the share of people who passed the part. It does not establish official difficulty levels for these parts.
- Conversations and picturesQuestions 1 to 472%
- Messages and announcementsQuestions 5 to 2064%
- Radio and interviewsQuestions 21 to 3046%
- Everyday situationsQuestions 31 to 4046%
Show the numbersHide the numbers
| Listening part | Questions | Correct / assigned | Correct |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conversations and pictures | 1 to 4 | 115 / 160 | 71.9% |
| Messages and announcements | 5 to 20 | 407 / 640 | 63.6% |
| Radio and interviews | 21 to 30 | 184 / 400 | 46.0% |
| Everyday situations | 31 to 40 | 183 / 400 | 45.8% |
How much do unanswered questions cost?
About one answer in seven was unanswered or invalid: 238 of 1,600, counting early submissions and answer windows that closed. Learners who answered at least 36 questions scored higher, but they are a different group, so the gap cannot be read as the effect of answering more.
- Correct
- 55.6%889 answers
- Wrong
- 29.6%473 answers
- Unanswered or invalid
- 14.9%238 answers
- All 40 learnersAverage 22.2/40162328
- 32 who answered at least 36Average 25.3/40212530
In the real exam each recording plays once. A blank always scores zero, while a guess among four options can still score, so read the options before the recording starts and pick an answer before the window closes. Afterwards, check the transcript for the questions you missed.
How we calculated the benchmark
Each learner counts once, on their first timed attempt at these 40 questions. The reading benchmarks follow the same rules.
- 1
48 submissions completed timed sittings of the current mock 1
- 2
44 learners took this version on their first attempt; that sitting is kept
- 3
40 learners remain after excluding 4 who had seen these questions before
Which records were counted
We read retained signed-in practice records before 12:00 Vancouver time on 30 October 2026. Known owner and test accounts, guests and deleted records were excluded. Only completed timed-mode sessions that assigned all 40 questions of the current listening mock 1 qualified, including the listening part of a full mock.
Each learner's earliest eligible sitting was kept. Learners with an earlier retained assignment of any question from either version of this form were excluded, leaving 40. Earlier guest practice, removed records or exposure elsewhere may still be missing.
Why only the current version of mock 1 counts
On 15 October 2026 we revised five listening mock 1 questions (21, 28, 30, 39 and 40). They play the same recordings with reworded questions and new answer options; the other 35 questions did not change. Scores on the two versions come from different sets of 40 questions, so they are never added together.
This benchmark covers the current version. The 79 learners whose first attempt used the earlier version are a separate group and are not in these results. They also practised at a different time, so comparing the two groups would not show what the revision changed.
How scores and quartiles were calculated
A correct answer received one point. Wrong, invalid and unanswered choices received zero, and the score denominator was always 40. Quartiles use the nearest-rank method. The median averages the two middle scores when there is an even number of learners.
Retained choices were checked against the current answer key. Historical sessions did not preserve immutable question snapshots, so these are reconstructed results rather than preserved original grades.
Limits of this sample
The sample is small and self-selected, and the current version has been available for about two weeks. Home practice is unsupervised, and outside help, listening conditions and real working time cannot be verified. The practice player also lets learners pause and replay a recording, which the official exam does not. Percentiles may shift as the group grows. This snapshot applies to the current listening mock 1, not automatically to other mocks.
What the question screening found
Every question's results rose and fell with the rest of the paper when unanswered questions count as zero. The three questions with the lowest correct rates were all among the five revised in October, and they are flagged for review.
Unlike the reading benchmark, these listening questions have not had a separate editorial review of every answer key. Difficulty and quality are different: a low correct rate can reflect a demanding recording or unclear options. Independent TEF teacher calibration remains outstanding.
Includes the form fingerprint, part totals and both groups. No learner identities, response histories, individual answer choices or answer keys.
Can this predict an official TEF score?
Not yet. We have not established how these practice results relate to official TEF Canada scores.
What this benchmark shows
- How your mock 1 result compares with other learners on the same 40 questions
- Which listening parts cost this group the most points
- How much unanswered questions pull a timed score down
What it cannot tell you
- Your official TEF score. CCI converts raw correct-answer totals into calibrated scores that account for test difficulty.
- Your NCLC level. The TEF to NCLC tables apply to official scores, not to the percentages on this page.
CCI's official listening sample booklet says its sample questions do not reflect the real test's difficulty, so we use it to check format and task coverage only. The next validation step is to pair learners' fixed-form practice results with their recent official TEF results.
Read how CCI calculates TEF Canada results and the official examination conditions: listening has 40 questions in 40 minutes, with wrong and unanswered questions receiving zero. Once you have an official score, convert it with the TEF to NCLC tables or the score calculator.
Take a full listening mock for free and see where you fit
Listening mock 1 has the same 40 questions and recordings the 40 learners on this page answered. Finish it, then put your score on the chart above.
What you get
- 40 questions across all four listening parts
- The 40-minute section in exam order
- Your score, then every transcript and solution to review