Civic exam
Civic exam day: how it works, what to bring, results
What happens on the day of the test, from arriving at the centre to getting your certificate, based on the candidate handbook published by France Éducation international. Each point gives the handbook page.
Civique Pratique is a private website, not affiliated with the French administration or with France Éducation international. If anything differs, your notice to attend and your centre's instructions prevail.
Before you leave
- Arrive on time, at the place shown on your notice to attend. Anyone who is late cannot enter the exam room and the registration fee is not refunded; no candidate is admitted once the exam has started (handbook, p. 14).
- Have your login details for your candidate account (username and password): without them, you cannot take the exam (p. 12 and 14).
- Bring a valid identity document on exam day: a passport or identity card for EU nationals, or a valid residence permit. If in doubt, a second document may be requested. Without it, you cannot enter the room (p. 14).
- An adult candidate without an identity document may show, according to the handbook: a receipt for a residence permit application, a receipt for an asylum application (with photograph), a receipt for the recognition of international protection, or an asylum application certificate (p. 14).
- Special arrangements (for example extra time) are only granted with a medical certificate: keep it, as it is then added to your application (p. 13).
In the exam room
- Phone switched off, belongings left in the space provided: on the table, only your identity document and the computer logged in to your account. No object, tool or document during the test (p. 14 and 16).
- The invigilator reminds everyone of the exam format, the rules, the duration, the penalties for cheating and the date of the results (p. 16).
- You log in with the email address you registered with and your password. The invigilator takes your photo: this is compulsory, no photo means no exam (p. 16 and 17).
- You may not leave during the test, except in an emergency or for a health problem reported before the start and backed by a medical certificate (p. 17).
During the test
- 40 questions in French, on knowledge and on real-life situations, each with only one right answer; 45 minutes at most. 1 point per right answer, 0 for a wrong answer or no answer (p. 13).
- The exam opens in full screen: do not leave it (p. 18).
- You select an answer, then confirm it. Until it is confirmed you can change it; a confirmed answer cannot be changed (p. 18 and 19).
- “Next question” skips a question without confirming it: it comes back once all the others are confirmed. There is no going back (p. 18 and 19).
- Confirming without choosing an answer: it is too late, the question counts as a wrong answer (p. 19).
- The screen shows the time left and the number of confirmed questions (p. 18).
- Internet cut: a message says the exam is interrupted; once the connection is back, you log in again and continue where you stopped (p. 19).
- Finished early? Raise your hand: the invigilator checks that the exam is finished before letting you leave (p. 20).
In our mock exam: select then confirm, next question, no going back, no corrections until the end. Free: 1 per day, no account needed.
After the test
- Your certificate is available as a PDF in your candidate account 12 hours after the test, in the “Attestations” tab. It has a QR code for checking the results (p. 20).
- Once obtained, the certificate of success has no expiry date (p. 20).
- After a fail, or for another application, you can register again from your candidate account as soon as you receive your results; there must be at least 24 hours between two sittings (p. 21). Each sitting is paid to the centre, which sets its own fee (p. 12).
- Cheating or attempted cheating: the exam is cancelled and you may not sit it for 2 years (p. 22).
Source
Candidate handbook for the civic exam (in French), France Éducation international, version A, March 2026, read on 31 October 2026. Page numbers refer to this handbook.