L’Examen Civique

My Background: Feeling Prepared… or So I Thought

I’ve lived in France for 15 years. I have had a child who now goes to collège here. I have a business in France and I have the required French language level and a certificate to prove it.  It was dread of the administrative system (and laziness) that kept me kicking the citizenship can down the road, but with European political shifts, Brexit and the realisation I had no say in any of it – anywhere – I started to feel I should make my life here official. 

Prospective French citizens are expected to have a good understanding of the political system and how it works, the checks-and-balances, as well as a good grasp of French history, key dates and places, Europe etc.   To kickstart my preparation, I took the Citizenship Course at PDS Formation and I found it fascinating and thought-provoking. This gave me a huge amount information and opened my eyes to many aspects of French history, politics, and values that I hadn’t previously explored in depth. Before that training, I had assumed I was already pretty well informed thanks to the ins-and-outs of daily life:  family, school, jobs, etc.  The Citizenship Course showed me I wasn’t quite as knowledgeable as I had thought.   

I made sure to familiarise myself with the Livret du Citoyen, and ensured I could answer every question on the website outlining the Formation Civique :  https://formation-civique.interieur.gouv.fr/examen-civique/.  I used ChatGPT to ask me questions, and it told me I was fabulous and of course I would pass.  It also swelled my confidence by  pointing out that a multiple choice exam meant the answer would always be in front of me : I just needed to read the question carefully.  

Having been told exactly what I wanted to hear, by the time test-day arrived I felt confident. I expected to pass comfortably.

The Reality of the Exam

The exam is divided into two parts:

• 28 questions on knowledge from the five themes outlined in the Livret du citoyen
• 12 situational questions about everyday life in France

On the day, everything was very structured.  All candidates sat in a hall and when our name was called we went into the testing room, had our photo taken and were given our login details.  We then sat down at a desk with a laptop computer on it, open and on.  We all started at the same time, and followed the instructions on the screen.  The entire exam, all instructions, questions and answers, are in French.

Candidates have 45 minutes to complete the test. A few practical points worth knowing:

• You can skip questions and return to them later using the “précédent” button
• Your answers are saved as you go—you won’t lose them
• Nothing is final until you submit at the end, so you can change answers freely
• People leave early, and others enter the room while you’re working—it could be distracting if you’re not expecting it

Personally, I didn’t find the time limit an issue, and I finished in about 30 minutes, having had enough time to go back and review my answers.  I took my time, and plenty of people finished before me.  

However I found the questions far harder than I thought I would : I had gone in with a false sense of security, and quickly realised that despite the answer being in front of you in a multiple choice test, there are many ways to throw someone’s confidence off.

What Kind of Questions Come Up?

Questions are drawn from the five key themes of the Livret du citoyen:

Principes et valeurs de la République

Système institutionnel et politique

Droits et devoirs

Histoire géographie et culture

Vivre dans la société française 

Despite AI telling me I was doing fabulously, it later admitted that the test is so new that it has no data to scrape, so it has no idea what is likely to come up.  There is no official list of questions and answers (yet), so here are some I remember, sadly I cannot remember all of the answer options.

Quel était le principal port de la traite négrière en France au XVIIIe siècle ? 

Quelle est la préfecture de la Bretagne ?

Qu’a fait M. Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle ?

Quel est le port le plus actif de France ?

Qui peut se présenter à l’élection présidentielle ?

Quelles sont les conditions requises pour se présenter aux élections municipales ?

Comment peut-on modifier la Constitution ?

Où peut-on se marier officiellement en France ?

The situational questions focus on everyday life and values in France. These might include:

• Rules around wearing religious symbols in official settings like the mairie
• Laws about marriage and divorce
• Parenting laws and discipline
• Rights around personal protection and firearms
• Rules around equality in the workplace 

These questions test not just knowledge, but your understanding of French values and legal frameworks and how they are applied in everyday situations.

In the situational questions it was easy to second-guess yourself as for some, each of the possibilities seemed feasible :

Vous souhaitez acheter une arme à feu pour vous protéger. Quelle est la procédure à suivre ?

• C’est toujours illégal.
• Vous devez vous rendre à la mairie pour obtenir un permis.
• Vous devez vous rendre à la préfecture pour un entretien afin de vérifier si vous remplissez les conditions requises.
• Vous devez obtenir un certificat médical attestant que vous êtes éligible.

My Result—and What I Learned

You are required to achieve 80% to pass, 32 out of 40.  I scored 33 out of 40.  

Of course, I was relieved—but also surprised. I had gone in expecting to pass with flying colours. In reality, I had only just made it over the line.

Initially, I thought a multiple choice exam format was ideal. I was relieved not to be drilled on this content during a face-to-face interview, where being put on the spot in the moment can feel intimidating. Upon reflection however, an interview has its advantages. You can demonstrate your language skills by admitting to being less informed on a question and directing the conversation toward more comfortable subjects. You can pivot and demonstrate your own experience more easily.  

With multiple-choice questions, you don’t have that flexibility. If you don’t know the answer—like the principal prefecture of Bretagne—every option can seem equally plausible. Sometimes you can make an educated guess, but often, you either know it or you don’t.  For the situational questions sometimes I hesitated between municipal, regional or departmental rules, or options that all seemed possible, without a clear winner.  You cannot ask for clarification if you hesitate, and you can feel in two-minds when you are required to elect only one answer.

Final Thoughts

I went into this exam thinking it was another administrative box to tick. I came out of it feeling genuinely humbled.  I had forgotten that being granted citizenship in another country is a privilege.  

Despite living in France for 15 years, building a life here, and speaking the language fluently, I lacked the depth of knowledge required in certain areas. If I could do it again, I would use the content and tools provided during the Citizenship Course to prepare more thoroughly, and take nothing for granted.  I would have dedicated more time to reading around the themes of the exam : it is genuinely interesting and the least you can do if you’re going to be granted the right to vote.  

If you’re planning to take the exam, my advice would be not to underestimate it.  You are not ‘owed’ citizenship just because you have been here for a few years.  

I took my test at a CCI centre in Annemasse. Registration had to be done about a month in advance, and there aren’t many centres in this region, so planning ahead is essential.  It cost 80 euros.