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French Level Test: Find Your Level in Six Minutes

This free French level test is 30 multiple-choice questions, about six minutes, covering noun gender, verb forms, pronouns, past tenses, the subjonctif and register. It gives an estimate from A1 to B2, level by level, and shows which questions you missed with the rule behind each one. No account, and it is an estimate rather than a certificate.

By Camille, native French teacher About 6 minutes 30 questions

Free level test

Thirty questions, about six minutes

They run from the article in front of a noun to the subjonctif after bien que. No account, no timer, and nothing to install. You will see where you stand, and more usefully, what is standing between you and the next level.

How the test decides

The questions are ordered by level, six at A1 and eight at each of A2, B1 and B2, and they are always the same ones. A test that shuffles its questions on every visit gives you a different result for the same French, which makes it useless for measuring progress and invisible to a search engine.

A level counts as held when two thirds of its questions are right and every level below it is held too. Reading the bands from the bottom up rather than from a single percentage stops a few lucky guesses at B2 from outweighing a shaky A2, which is the failure mode of most quizzes of this kind.

Every wrong option is a mistake learners genuinely make, taken from the grammar articles on this site rather than invented to be obviously wrong. That is why the report is worth reading even when the score is good: it tells you which instinct sent you the wrong way.

What it examines

  • Noun gender
  • Verbs and forms
  • Vocabulary and faux amis
  • Register, tu and vous
  • Past and future
  • Pronouns
  • Linking ideas
  • Subjonctif and conditionnel

What each level actually means

The hours count focused study time rather than calendar time, and they are the same figures used in how long it takes to learn French.

LevelStudy hoursWhat you can do
A160 to 100 hoursIntroduce yourself, order food, ask for directions
A2150 to 200 hoursHandle everyday situations, talk about yesterday and tomorrow
B1350 to 400 hoursHold a real conversation, travel on your own
B2500 to 600 hoursWork in French, follow the news, defend a point of view

Free flashcards exist for every one of these levels, sixty cards each with audio: A1, A2, B1, B2.

Which French exam matches your level

Almost nobody wants their level for its own sake. They want it because a university, an immigration file or a préfecture asked for a number. Here is what each band opens.

If you scoredThe exam that fits
A1DELF A1, the first diploma, and the one that never expires.
A2DELF A2. Also the level most residence-card renewals ask for, though requirements differ by country and by préfecture.
B1DELF B1, or a TCF taken for a specific purpose. Enough to live and work in French, not usually enough to study in it.
B2DELF B2 for university admission, and the level French nationality has required since 1 January 2026, in speaking and writing, whether by DELF B2 or a TCF ANF result.

Which of the three exams to sit is a separate question, and an expensive one to get wrong: TCF, DELF and TEF compared, how to prepare for the DELF, and what B2 means for French citizenship.

How accurate is an online French level test?

Accurate about grammar and vocabulary, and blind to half of what a level is. Thirty written questions can show which structures you control, which is genuinely useful for choosing a book, a class or a deck of flashcards. They cannot hear your accent, cannot see whether you freeze when someone answers back, and cannot tell whether you understood a recording played once at full speed.

That gap is not small. Most adult learners read a level above where they speak, which is why a result here that feels too generous usually is, and why the fastest way to close the distance is to produce French rather than recognise it.

Two things make this test more honest than a score out of thirty. Every wrong option is a mistake learners genuinely make, taken from the grammar articles on this site, so picking one tells you which instinct misfired rather than simply costing a point. And a level only counts as held when two thirds of its questions are right and every level below it is held too, so the estimate degrades gracefully instead of rewarding lucky guesses at the top.

Why this test stops at B2

Plenty of tests advertise A1 to C2. Very few can tell C1 from C2 with multiple choice, because what separates them is not knowledge of rules but range, register and the ability to say something delicate without saying it clumsily. Judging that needs a person reading or listening to what you produce.

B2 is also the level that decides things: university admission, French nationality since January 2026, and most jobs that ask for French at all. So the test is built to be trustworthy up to the level that matters, and to say plainly that it has run out of room rather than to guess above it. If you answer nearly every B2 question correctly, that is exactly what the result tells you.

After the test

The report, if you want to keep it

The result appears on screen straight away, with no email asked for. If you want it to survive the tab, leave your address at the end and the report arrives as a PDF: your score level by level, every question you missed with the rule behind it, and what to work on next. It is also the most useful thing you can send me before a first lesson.

Common questions

How accurate is a 30-question French level test?

Accurate enough to tell you where your French gives way, which is what you actually need. It reads the bands from the bottom up: a level counts as held when two thirds of its questions are right and every level below it is held too, so a few lucky guesses at B2 cannot outweigh a shaky A2. What it cannot do is hear you speak, and speaking is where most learners are one level below their reading.

Is this a certificate or an official level?

Neither. Official levels come from exams such as the DELF, the TCF or the TEF, sat in an approved centre. This is an estimate you can use to choose a course, a book or a deck of flashcards, and to see what to work on next.

How long does the test take?

About six minutes. There is no timer, no account and nothing to install, and you can take it again as often as you like.

What does the test cover?

Noun gender, verb forms and negation, direct and indirect pronouns, en and y, relative pronouns, the passé composé against the imparfait, the subjonctif, the conditionnel, connectors, faux amis and register. The questions run from A1 to B2 in that order.

What if I score between two levels?

That is the normal result, and the report says so: you are told the level you hold and the one you are working into, plus which skills lost the points. Most learners sit between two bands rather than squarely on one.

Is this the same as a DELF, TCF or TEF test?

No, and the difference matters. The DELF is a diploma you keep for life, while the TCF and the TEF are tests whose score expires after two years, and all three are sat in an approved centre with a marked speaking and writing paper. This page estimates where you stand so you can choose which of them to prepare for, and at which level.

What level do I need for French citizenship?

Since 1 January 2026, French nationality requires B2 in both speaking and writing, following décret n° 2025-648 of 15 July 2025, where B1 oral was enough until the end of 2025. A DELF B2 diploma or a TCF ANF result at B2 both satisfy it, and a civic knowledge exam became compulsory on the same date. This test will tell you whether B2 is within reach or still some way off.

Does it test C1 or C2?

No. The test stops at B2, which is the level that matters for university admission, French nationality and most jobs. If you answer nearly all the B2 questions correctly, the report says the test has run out of room rather than pretending to measure further.

A test can read you. It cannot hear you.

Speaking is where most learners sit a level below their reading, and it is the one skill that cannot be self-corrected: the mistakes you can hear are the ones you have already fixed. A trial lesson is 25 minutes, and I will have read your report first.

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