French Exam Alert checks each test centre’s public booking page every 90 seconds to 15 minutes, depending on how fast its seats move, and far more often just before a known registration window opens. It compares what the page shows now with the last successful check, and emails you within seconds when a session, seat, registration window or waitlist appears. The first check of a centre never sends alerts, failed checks never change what we show, and seat alerts older than 30 minutes are dropped.
On this page
- What does French Exam Alert monitor?
- How often are centres checked?
- How do we stay polite to centres?
- How are changes detected?
- Why doesn’t the first check send alerts?
- How do we avoid duplicate emails?
- When do reminders go out?
- What is the stale-alert guard?
- What happens when a check fails?
- What do the data labels mean?
- What can’t we promise?
- How do we fact-check guides and tools?
What does French Exam Alert monitor?
#We watch the public exam pages of 48 test centres in 22 countries that run TEF Canada, TCF Canada or both. These are the only two French tests IRCC accepts for Express Entry and citizenship.
For each centre we read what any visitor can see: session dates, which exam, whether seats are open or sold out, seat counts where shown, registration opening times and waitlist forms. The dates we find feed each centre page and the exam dates by country listings.
How often are centres checked?
#Pages where seats come and go quickly are checked every 90 seconds to 3 minutes. Slower pages, which only post dates or news, are checked every 5 to 15 minutes. Each centre page on this site shows how often we check it. When a centre has announced a registration opening, we speed up about 20 minutes beforehand (to every 30 seconds for the fastest pages) and make sure a check lands just after it opens.
| Release method | What the centre does | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Live seat count | Publishes each session with a seats-left counter. Returned or unpaid places can reappear. | Checked every 90 seconds to a few minutes. You get an email for any new session, and whenever a sold-out session gets a seat back. |
| Registration window | Announces the date and time registration opens, then fills first-come, first-served. | You get an email when a window is announced, then reminders 24 hours and 30 minutes before it opens. Checks speed up to every 30 seconds around the opening. |
| Email waitlist | Collects names by email and offers seats in order. | You get an email as soon as we see the waitlist form open, so you join near the top. |
| Unannounced drops | Posts new sessions without warning. | Checked every 90 seconds to 15 minutes. The email goes out within seconds of us spotting a new listing. |
Short, plain-English definitions of each term — live seat count, registration window, waitlist, unannounced drop — are in the glossary.
How do we stay polite to centres?
#Test centres are small teams, and their websites aren’t built for heavy traffic. We keep our footprint tiny:
- Public pages only. We never log in, never book, never fill in forms and never get around a CAPTCHA.
- One request at a time per website, with a gap of a few seconds between requests to the same site.
- We only download what changed when the website supports it, using standard caching headers.
- We back off after errors. If a site is down or slow, we wait longer between each try, up to an hour.
- Checks are spread out so we never hit many sites at the same moment.
How are changes detected?
#- 1Read the pageWe fetch the centre’s public page and pull out each session: date, exam, open or full, seats left, and any registration opening time.
- 2Compare with the last good checkWe compare this list with the last successful check. If nothing changed, nothing happens.
- 3Name the changeA new session, seats coming back to a sold-out date, a registration window being announced or a waitlist opening each becomes a clear event.
- 4Email the right peopleOnly people watching that centre and exam, with that alert type switched on, get an email. It links straight to the official booking page.
Why doesn’t the first check send alerts?
#When we start watching a centre, the first successful check is a silent baseline. We store what’s there without emailing anyone.
Without it, every session already on the page would look new and trigger a wave of false alerts. After the baseline, only real changes are reported.
How do we avoid duplicate emails?
#- Every change gets a unique key, so the same event can’t be recorded twice.
- If a page flickers between open and full, you get at most one “seats open” email per session per hour.
- General “this page changed” notices are limited to one every six hours per centre.
- Changes that land at the same time are bundled into a single email.
- There’s an hourly cap per person, so a busy day can’t flood your inbox.
When do reminders go out?
#When a centre announces the date and time registration opens, you get an email straight away. Then you get two reminders: 24 hours before and 30 minutes before it opens.
Times are shown in the centre’s time zone and, if you’ve set one, in yours too. The registration time converter does the same on demand.
What is the stale-alert guard?
#Seats that come back often go again within minutes. If a seat alert couldn’t be sent within 30 minutes of us spotting the change (for example, because of an email delay), we drop it rather than send you after a seat that’s already gone.
What happens when a check fails?
#Websites go down, time out or change their design. A failed check never changes the data we show and never sends an alert. We keep the last good result and try again later.
If a centre hasn’t had a successful check for 6 hours, its label switches from Live to Sample snapshot so you’re never shown old data as if it were current.
What do the data labels mean?
#| Label | What it means |
|---|---|
| Live · checked X ago | Data from a successful check in the last 6 hours. “X ago” is when we last checked. |
| Sample snapshot | No fresh check is available. Dates and statuses are an example from our directory, not live data. |
Centre names, cities, exams, release methods and notes are researched from each centre’s own website either way. Only the live fields (status, seats and dates) depend on the monitor.
What can’t we promise?
#- We can’t guarantee you a seat. Popular seats can go in seconds, and booking is always between you and the centre (see our terms of use).
- Some centres only announce dates by email, in person or on social media. We can only see what’s on their public website.
- A website redesign can break a check until we update it. When that happens, the label falls back to Sample snapshot.
- Email can be delayed by your provider. Add [email protected] to your contacts so alerts don’t land in spam.
How do we fact-check guides and tools?
#Score conversions come from IRCC’s official language test equivalency charts. Exam formats come from France Éducation international and Le français des affaires. Centre details come from each centre’s own website.
We don’t publish pass rates, draw predictions or fees we can’t source. Where something varies, we say so and point you to the official page. Every guide shows the date it was last updated.
Who writes all this? About French Exam Alert explains who we are, how the service stays free and the principles we work by.
Found a mistake? Email [email protected] and we’ll fix it.
Questions about monitoring
Fast-moving pages are checked every 90 seconds to 3 minutes, slower pages every 5 to 15 minutes, and every centre is checked more often around a known opening. The email is sent within seconds of a change being detected. Your email provider may add a short delay.
Only what a centre shows on its public website. If a centre releases seats only by email, in person or on social media, we can’t see them.
Returned seats often go again within minutes. Open the link as soon as the email arrives. We drop seat alerts older than 30 minutes so you aren’t sent after seats that are long gone.
No. We only read public pages. We never log in, never book and never ask for your passport or payment details.