Changes to TCF writing tasks

As they so often do, the TCF designers have introduced another small change — interesting and useful, but without feeling the need to tell anyone. True to form, it happened quietly, without an announcement.

I learned about the latest changes not from official sources, but directly in class - from my student. That’s right, “from the horse’s mouth.” Information that may actually be important for anyone preparing for an exam or working with TCF professionally.

The gist of the news is this.
In May 2025, TCF published an updated version of its Manuel du candidat.
At first glance, everything is familiar; it is emphasized that written work is evaluated on the principle of “blind checking” by two proofreaders, each of whom is trained and has the appropriate qualifications.

But if you look more closely, you will notice an interesting footnote. It states that from now on, in some cases, when checking written work, artificial intelligence will be used.

We are talking about individual writing tasks that are submitted on a computer (TCF SO). In such cases, the following scheme is possible: the first check will be performed by FIDELIA - this is an automated assessment assistance system. The second check will still be carried out by a human.

⚠The document also clarifies that if the candidate does not want his work to be assessed by this automated system, he has this opportunity. To do this, he must simply select the paper exam format. Thanks, Cap! Only in this case, its written part will not be subject to automatic primary verification.

In addition, in the section that I conventionally call “threats” (because it lists cases when written work can be rated as “A1 non atteint”), two new points have appeared. Previously there were four, now there are six.

Now a work can receive a grade lower than A1 if:
📌your letter cannot be read (in case of a paper exam format);
📌at least one of the tasks was not completed with the required volume of words;
📌you have gone off topic;
📌one or more tasks have not been completed;
📌you rewrite one or more phrases from the terms of the task or document (here they went along the beaten track TEF);
📌you submit a draft instead of a clean one (and this happens, it turns out).
For those who like to “rewrite a piece of the assignment to make it longer,” they can now give a “failure” for this.

Regarding the terms and conditions for obtaining results, as well as the appeal procedure:
📌 Exam results are promised to be sent within 15 working days after passing.
📌 An appeal is still possible - the candidate has one month from the moment the center received the results to submit a request for re-verification. The appeal service may be paid, and the amount of payment is set by the examination center itself; the candidate must be informed in advance about the cost of this service - even during registration; if two requests are submitted - for re-checking the oral and written part - they are paid separately.

It is important to understand that after rechecking:
✔️Written works are not commented on,
✔️Audio recordings of the oral part are not accompanied by any comments.
That is, even if you file an appeal, you will not receive any explanations, comments or recommendations for improvement. The result is either confirmed or revised - and that’s it. No additional materials are provided.

About artificial intelligence in next post.

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