Government of Canada SLE Test Explained: Levels A/B/C and How to Prepare

The SLE test is the federal government of Canada’s Second Language Evaluation: the tests the Public Service Commission of Canada (PSC) uses to check whether you can work in your second official language, French or English, in a bilingual public service job. It is not one exam but three separate tests: reading comprehension, written expression and an oral language assessment. Each gives its own result, A, B or C, or X below level A; the oral and the supervised written tests can also give an E, an exemption from further testing. A bilingual position lists the three levels it needs, such as BBB or CBC.

This guide explains what each test measures, the format and timing, the official score that gives each level, how long results stay valid, the 30-day retest rule, and a study plan. The examples are in French, for English speakers being tested in French; the rules are the same for French speakers tested in English.

ProSyllabus is an independent study site. It is not part of the Public Service Commission of Canada (PSC), the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat or any federal department, and nothing here is an official test. The rules on this page are quoted or summarised from the canada.ca pages listed at the end; the French examples are our own, not PSC test content, which is protected.

Public Service Commission of Canada test pages, read 6 Nov 2026.

You cannot simply book an SLE test, and the PSC says plainly that candidates cannot pay to be tested. How you get a test depends on who you are:

The organization that invites you makes the arrangements, so follow the format and instructions in your own invitation. The levels required come from the position’s linguistic profile, which managers set for each bilingual position.

The Treasury Board’s qualification standards say a bilingual position’s profile has three letters, always in the same order: reading comprehension, then written expression, then oral communication. So CBC means level C in reading, B in writing and C in oral. When a skill is not required, a dash replaces its letter. The highest profile a bilingual position can require is CCC.

The levels are cumulative: a person at level B can do the level A tasks too, and level C covers A and B. X and E are results, not levels. X means you did not reach level A. E means you met level C and are expected to keep it, so the PSC grants an indefinite exemption from retesting in that skill.

Note that the written expression test is multiple choice: you do not write an essay or an email. You choose words and spot errors in work texts such as emails, memos, letters, information bulletins, excerpts from reports and research papers.

The supervised versions are taken in person in a federal government building, online in the PSC’s Candidate Assessment Tool (a paper version only in exceptional circumstances). Both include 10 pilot questions that are not identified and do not count; that is why 65 questions give a score out of 55 in writing, and 60 questions a score out of 50 in reading. You cannot tell which questions are pilots, so answer every one as if it counts.

Two question types. Fill in the blank: a text with a blank and four options; choose the best word or group of words. Error identification: some words or groups of words in a text are in bold; choose the bolded section that contains one or more errors, or the fourth option, « Aucun des choix offerts » (none of the choices offered), if there is no error. That option is sometimes the right answer, so do not assume every text has an error.

Two question types. Choose the best word or group of words to insert in the blank of a work text (the PSC’s own example has two blanks in one email). And answer a question about the text: a short work text, then a question on its main idea, a detail or what it implies.

The unsupervised tests are shorter: 30 written expression questions or 25 reading questions in 45 minutes, taken online and unsupervised through the Candidate Assessment Tool, on a desktop or laptop computer; you do not go to a government office. The PSC asks you to be alone in a quiet place, on a device not connected to a VPN and with a modern browser.

The supervised test gives you 90 minutes for 65 questions, about 83 seconds a question; the unsupervised one gives 45 minutes for 30, or 90 seconds each. The time does not divide evenly in practice: the PSC says the questions at the beginning are the shortest and simplest, so move through them briskly and keep minutes for the longer texts near the end.

These grammar points catch many English speakers in both question types, fill in the blank and error identification. Each has a short wrong-and-right pair; the examples are our own, not PSC test content.

The practice test’s 20-question written-expression drill works through traps like these, with an explanation in English for every answer. If your position needs only one of the written tests, the Written Expression simulation (with the drill) and the Reading simulation are also sold on their own: see the single-test options on the practice test page.

These are the official pass marks the PSC publishes for each level. Your result is the band your score falls in, so a B on the supervised written expression test means 31 to 42 of the 55 scored questions right.

Two things to notice. First, the step from B to C is narrow on the supervised tests: in writing, 42 is a B and 43 is a C. Second, on the written tests an E (exemption) is possible only on the supervised versions, for 52 to 55 in writing or 45 to 50 in reading. An unsupervised written test cannot give you an exemption. (The oral can also give an E.)

The Oral Language Assessment is a conversation with a second language assessor certified by the PSC, held remotely on Microsoft Teams with your camera on. It lasts 20 to 40 minutes, including the instructions. You do not need to be in a government office, but you must be alone in a quiet place where you cannot be overheard or recorded, not in a cubicle or open workspace, and blurred or virtual backgrounds are not allowed.

Unlike the written tests in the Candidate Assessment Tool, which cannot be rescored, the oral has a rescore: you can ask, in writing through the departmental HR officer who invited you, within 10 business days after the result was sent to the department. A different assessor listens to the recording, and the new result, higher, lower or the same, becomes the official one. A one-hour feedback session is also available on a cost-recovery basis, with your manager’s approval, if you have taken the oral at least twice without the result you needed and your last test was within 8 weeks of the request; the PSC accepts these requests only from federal departments and agencies.

Our practice test does not cover the oral. The best preparation for it is speaking practice on work topics: describing your job, explaining a process, comparing two options, and giving and defending an opinion on a work issue or a hypothetical situation, which are the tasks the level descriptions above name.

Because the most recent valid result is the one that counts, a retake replaces the result on file even if it is lower. The oral and unsupervised test pages also say a manager may ask for reassessment at any time before or after making an appointment, if there are concerns about your level or to respect departmental policies on updating expired results.

One example of each written test, in the formats the PSC describes. Try them before you open the answers.

The PSC pages listed here set out no official study plan; they point you to sample questions on the test pages, the sample test in the Candidate Assessment Tool and the PSC’s self-assessment tests. The plan below is ours, for someone with about six weeks before a written test.

These play in our practice player: press Start, answer them, and the result page explains each answer in English. They are our own questions in the SLE formats, not PSC test content.