Data study · TCF Canada writing
What comes back on the TCF Canada: 642 writing topics analysed
The short answer
Half of the TCF Canada writing topics reported by candidates since 2023 came back at least twice: 323 of 642, or 50%.
Topics reported from 2023 to September 2026, grouped when the wording changes but the topic does not. Not official data: the method and its limits are below.
How often a topic comes back
323 topics were reported at least twice, 184 at least three times, 76 at least five times, and 11 ten times or more. The rest, about half, were reported once.
Task by task
Tasks 1 and 2 repeat slightly more often than task 3. Task 3 topics come with two short documents, and the archive holds more of them (229, against 208 and 205), so each one has fewer chances to be reported again.
The 15 most reported topics
Each topic opens on the platform, where you can write it and get the report of your mistakes. A free account writes one new topic a week.
| Topic | Task | Reported |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Weigh the pros and cons of low-cost airlines and alternative modes of transport. How to handle it Write this topic | 3 | 17 times |
| 2 Organize a surprise birthday party with friends for your best friend. How to handle it Write this topic | 1 | 15 times |
| 3 Write a blog post introducing your favorite artist and their work. How to handle it Write this topic | 2 | 14 times |
| 4 The benefits (pollution) and challenges (infrastructure, public transit) of banning cars from cities. How to handle it Write this topic | 3 | 14 times |
| 5 Tell a friend the location and transport info for a wedding castle How to handle it Write this topic | 1 | 13 times |
| 6 Recount attending a neighborhood block party on your blog and why you enjoyed it How to handle it Write this topic | 2 | 12 times |
| 7 Invite friends to a restaurant birthday celebration, sharing details and asking them to confirm. How to handle it Write this topic | 1 | 11 times |
| 8 Share your experience and views on a "car-free week" eco-friendly initiative. How to handle it Write this topic | 2 | 11 times |
| 9 Discuss the pros and cons of surveillance cameras in schools: student safety versus privacy. How to handle it Write this topic | 3 | 11 times |
| 10 Discuss the pros and cons of print versus e-books and reader preferences. How to handle it Write this topic | 3 | 11 times |
| 11 Share your experience and feelings about learning a foreign language How to handle it Write this topic | 2 | 10 times |
| 12 Recommend local tourist attractions to a visiting friend. How to handle it Write this topic | 1 | 9 times |
| 13 Plan and share a detailed itinerary for a weekend getaway with friends How to handle it Write this topic | 1 | 9 times |
| 14 Share why you enjoyed taking part in a flea market. Write this topic | 2 | 9 times |
| 15 Share your experience and opinion of a country visited on vacation online. How to handle it Write this topic | 2 | 9 times |
The themes that come back most, by task
Share of reports for each theme, within each task. The classification is automatic and rough: see the method.
Task 1
- Parties and invitations20%
- Travel and tourism19%
- Housing and neighbourhood17%
- Studies and languages10%
Task 2
- Travel and tourism25%
- Culture and leisure18%
- Parties and invitations10%
- Studies and languages10%
Task 3
- Screens and technology20%
- Environment and transport18%
- Work and career14%
- Family and consumption13%
The pattern follows the format. Task 1 is a message to someone you know, so invitations, outings and moving house dominate. Task 2 tells an experience to readers: trips, events, things you saw. Task 3 weighs two sides of a social question: screens, the environment, work.
The latest month says the same
Of the 26 topics reported for September 2026, 18 (69%) were topics that come back, reported at least twice in the archive. They are listed on the latest topics page.
What to do with this
- Practise on the topics that come back. They are the closest thing to the real paper. Writing the 15 above once each is a solid month of practice.
- Do not memorise answers. No topic is guaranteed to come back, the wording changes, and the examiner grades your writing, not your memory. A learned text that misses one point of the prompt loses marks.
- Train the structure, not the topic. Each task has its method: the writing topics page gives it before the list.
Write the most reported topic
Low-cost flights, task 3, reported 17 times. Write it on the platform and get the report of your mistakes and what the examiner checks. Free account, no card.
Write this topicMethod and limits
- Where the topics come from. After their exam, candidates report the topics they got. Public archives compile these reports: 642 topics here, all taken from these public archives. France Éducation international does not publish its topics.
- What one “topic” is. The same topic is often reported with different wording. Reports of the same task that share at least half of their meaningful words are grouped as one topic, and the latest wording is kept.
- What the counts measure. A count is the number of times a topic was reported, not the number of exam sessions where it appeared. Popular months and active reporters weigh more. Read the numbers as a trend.
- No month-by-month series. The archive keeps only the latest month each topic was reported, so it cannot show how often a topic appeared in each month.
- Themes are assigned by keywords in each topic’s summary, without any AI. On a random sample, about 8 in 10 land in the right theme.
- Not exclusive. These topics circulate publicly. What French Path Canada adds is the count, the grouping, and the method for answering them.
Regenerated by scripts/generer_etude.py from the platform’s topic file, last on October 25, 2026, with topics reported up to September 2026.
Common questions
Do TCF Canada writing topics repeat?
Yes, often. In the archive of topics reported by candidates since 2023, 323 of 642 writing topics (50%) were reported at least twice, and the most frequent one 17 times. No official list exists, so these are reports, not a guarantee.
Which TCF Canada writing topic comes back most?
A task 3 topic on low-cost flights, comparing their price with their comfort and services, reported 17 times. Next come a surprise birthday party for a friend (task 1), a blog post about your favourite artist (task 2) and banning cars from the city (task 3).
Should I memorise answers to frequent topics?
No. Use them to practise, because they are close to the real paper. But wording changes, nothing guarantees a topic comes back, and a learned text that misses a point of the prompt loses marks.