What is CLB?

 

Canadian language benchmark or CLB is a way of measuring English language proficiency for English as a second language, for immigration, education or job related purposes. CLB has 12 levels which range from basic to advanced, and it measures level of proficiency on four aspects of English language, namely Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking.

CLB Benchmark Levels
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
BASIC				Intermediate				Advanced

 

CLB is a standard which is used to match English language exam scores to corresponding CLB level. CLB scores are used in Canada only, so Canadian immigration authorities mention different CLB levels required for different types of immigration or job related applications.

For example, a caregiver application will require different CLB level and a Federal skilled worker will require different level.

So, sometimes it becomes difficult for people to know that how much they have to score in the language exam to attain the mentioned CLB level. Most of the aspirants appear either in IELTS or CELPIP, but they might not know what their corresponding CLB score. Therefore, all that information is presented in tables below which show the corresponding CLB and exam scores in both IELTS and CELPIP.

What is my CLB level?

IELTS scores are convertible to CLB levels as per the following table. So, it can be helpful in answering the question, “What is my CLB level?”

	IELTS BANDS
CLB Level	Reading	Writing	Listening	Speaking
10	8	7.5	8.5	7.5
9	7	7	8	7
8	6.5	6.5	7.5	6.5
7	6	6	6	6
6	5	5.5	5.5	5.5
5	4	5	5	5
4	3.5	4	4.5	4

 

CELPIP scores are convertible to CLB levels as per the following table.

	CELPIP BANDS
CLB Level	Reading	Writing	Listening	Speaking
10	10	10	10	10
9	9	9	9	9
8	8	8	8	8
7	7	7	7	7
6	6	6	6	6
5	5	5	5	5
4	4	4	4	4

 

So, people getting their English proficiency levels checked for immigration or work related purposes for Canada appear for different English or French language exams and then their scores are converted to CLB levels for further processing. The higher the CLB score one gets, higher are the points they score for their underlying immigration or job applications. A good understanding of CLB scores and equivalent exam score can be extremely useful for aspirants, because then, they can be more focussed on their preparation to reach their CLB target in time.

Read about CLB in relation to IELTS 8777