My application
Three permits, one exam.
Multi-year residence permit, resident card, naturalisation: the format of the civic exam is the same in all three cases. What changes is the French level expected and how fine the answers have to be.
In short
The civic exam is identical for all three applications: 40 questions, 45 minutes, 32 correct answers required. Only the expected French level differs: A2 for the multi-year residence permit, B1 for the resident card, B2 for naturalisation.
What never changes
This is the first thing to know, and it is reassuring: you are not preparing for three different exams. The foundation is identical whatever the application, and revision done for one permit remains valid if your path later takes you towards another.
- 40 multiple-choice questions, 45 minutes, 32 correct answers to pass.
- The same syllabus in five topics: principles and values, institutions, rights and duties, history and geography, everyday life.
- An assessment separate from the language test: passing one never exempts you from the other.
- No paying provider is imposed by the administration: nothing obliges you to go through a training course.
In other words, the syllabus does not grow from one application to the next. It is the wordings that tighten: where the residence permit asks you to recognise a correct answer, naturalisation asks you to decide between two equally plausible ones.
The three applications
A2 French level expected
Multi-year residence permit
- What the permit opens
- A stay of several years, usually up to four.
- What changes in the exam
- Short, direct wordings focused on the basic markers: symbols, motto, emergency numbers, main offices.
B1 French level expected
Resident card
- What the permit opens
- A ten-year right of residence, renewable.
- What changes in the exam
- Answers that sit close to one another: you have to decide on an exact detail, a term of office, the right administrative contact.
B2 French level expected
Naturalisation
- What the permit opens
- French nationality.
- What changes in the exam
- The fullest syllabus, and scenario questions that ask you to arbitrate between two principles rather than merely restate a rule.
How to know which one concerns you
The exam follows the permit, never the other way round
You do not choose your exam level: it follows from the permit you apply for. It is the préfecture, when your file is submitted, that determines which application is under way and therefore which level is expected. If you do not yet know which permit you will apply for, start with that question: everything else follows from it. An appointment at the préfecture, a France Services centre or the service-public.fr website will settle it.
First application or renewal of a multi-year permit
This is the most common case early in an integration path. The multi-year residence permit usually follows a first one-year permit and is prepared at level A2. At this stage the aim is not nuance: it is to fix the markers that come up most often, the ones you find in every set of questions. It is also the application where progress shows fastest, because the common core of questions covers a large share of the assessment.
You have been settled for several years
The resident card opens ten years of residence and assumes a period of lawful residence behind you. The expected level rises to B1, and the exam changes in nature: the questions stop being recognition questions and become discrimination questions. Several answers look plausible, only one is right. The difference is played out on the figures — terms of office, the size of the assemblies, legal ages — and on telling roles apart precisely: town hall and préfecture, National Assembly and Senate.
You are applying for French nationality
Naturalisation is the most demanding of the three applications, at level B2. The question bank is the widest, with more nuance in history and culture, and the scenario questions become the differentiating factor. Erudition is not what is expected, understanding is: why laïcité was built the way it was, what the Fifth Republic changed, where one freedom stops when it meets someone else's. It is also the application where the assimilation interview extends the exam.
Frequently asked questions
Can I prepare for all three applications with the same practice?
Yes. The syllabus is common to all three: revising for the residence permit already builds most of what will be asked for the resident card or for naturalisation. What remains is to work on nuance and on the scenario questions, which rise with the level.
Does the French level change the number of questions?
No. The format stays at 40 questions in 45 minutes, with 32 correct answers required, whatever the application. Level A2, B1 or B2 describes the language of the wordings and the fineness expected, not the length of the assessment.
Do you have to sit the exam again every time the permit changes?
That depends on your situation and on the date of your previous exam. The rule is set by the administration, not by the preparation: check it with the préfecture or on service-public.fr before putting your file together.
Does the civic exam replace the language test?
No, they are two separate assessments. The civic exam covers knowledge of France and its principles; the language test assesses your French. Passing one never exempts you from sitting the other.
Put it into practice
Start with no card.
CIVIC brings together the official wordings, timed mock exams and the syllabus study sheets, in your browser. A full topic and a complete mock exam are yours when you create your account.
No card required · Nothing to install · The diagnostic is never counted
In French CIVIC itself runs in French, like the exam.