French Citizenship Test Topics: The 5 Official Subjects for 2026

The french citizenship test topics are fixed by the Ministry of the Interior and cover five official subjects: principles and values of the Republic, the institutional and political system, rights and duties, living in French society, and history, geography, and culture. This guide walks through each topic, its weighting in the 40-question exam, and what you need to master to hit the 80% pass threshold.

Since January 1, 2026, the civic knowledge exam is mandatory for anyone applying for French naturalization by decree or by marriage. The format is locked: 40 multiple-choice questions, 45 minutes, a minimum score of 80% (32 correct answers). The content is distributed across 5 official topics. Knowing how that distribution works is your first strategic advantage. The same exam now gates three different residence routes — see the differences between CSP, CR and naturalization to place your own application, and one exam, three difficulty levels to calibrate your study plan.

For the full logistics of the exam itself (registration, scoring, test day), read our complete guide to the French citizenship civic test 2026. This article focuses on the syllabus: what the ministry expects you to know, topic by topic.

Overview: how the 40 questions break down by topic

The Ministry of the Interior does not publish an official weighting grid. However, analysis of the source PDF dated December 12, 2025 (245 knowledge questions plus 40 scenario questions in our aligned corpus) lets us estimate a realistic distribution for a 40-question exam.

#	Official topic	Average questions / 40	Weighting
1	Principles and values of the Republic	6 to 8	~17%
2	Institutional and political system	8 to 10	~22%
3	Rights and duties	6 to 8	~17%
4	Living in French society	7 to 9	~20%
5	History, geography, and culture	10 to 12	~24%

The 40 questions split into 28 knowledge questions (facts, dates, institutions) and 12 scenario questions (real-life situations). The scenarios cluster mostly in topics 3 and 4, because they test your ability to react as a citizen to practical situations.

Key takeaways:

• Topic 5 (history, geography, culture) is the largest and the biggest source of score variance between candidates.
• Topic 2 (institutions) is dense but predictable. The facts are stable, memorization pays off.
• Topics 1, 3, and 4 overlap partially (laïcité [French principle of state secularism], rights, civic life). Revising one helps the others.

You cannot choose which topic a question comes from. The draw is random, with a guaranteed minimum of 2 questions per topic to ensure full coverage.

Topic 1 — Principles and values of the Republic

This topic tests your understanding of the foundations of the French Republic. The vocabulary is precise: motto, symbols, laïcité, and separation of powers appear word for word in the question bank.

Main sub-areas:

• The motto: "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité" (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity), emerged under the Third Republic, inscribed on the pediments of public buildings.
• Symbols: the tricolor flag (blue-white-red), Marianne [allegorical female figure of the Republic], the Gallic rooster, and the Marseillaise [national anthem written by Rouget de Lisle in 1792].
• Laïcité: the 1905 law separating Church and State (December 9, 1905). State neutrality, freedom of conscience, equality before the law.
• Philosophical foundations: the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (August 26, 1789). The Enlightenment. Republican universalism.
• Daily values: gender equality, anti-discrimination, freedom of speech, freedom of worship.

Classic trap: confusing the motto (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity) with Revolutionary slogans. Another common mistake is treating laïcité as "the absence of religion" when in fact it guarantees freedom of religion.

For a deeper look at this topic, including the 40 most-tested concepts and their exact wording, read our focused article on French Republic values on the citizenship test.

Topic 2 — Institutional and political system

The most technical topic, and also the most predictable. The Constitution of the Fifth Republic has been in force since October 4, 1958. The institutions do not change: learn them once, they stay with you.

Main sub-areas:

• The President of the Republic: elected for 5 years by direct universal suffrage since 2000, renewable only once consecutively. Residence at the Élysée. Commander-in-chief of the armed forces, guarantor of the Constitution.
• The Prime Minister: appointed by the President, leads government action. Residence at Matignon.
• Parliament: bicameral. National Assembly (577 deputies, elected for 5 years by direct universal suffrage, Palais Bourbon). Senate (348 senators, elected for 6 years by indirect universal suffrage, Palais du Luxembourg).
• Elections: presidential (2 rounds), legislative, municipal (6 years), departmental, regional, European.
• Constitutional Council: 9 members, 9-year non-renewable mandate, reviews the conformity of laws with the Constitution.
• Separation of powers: executive, legislative, judicial. A founding principle since Montesquieu.
• Territorial authorities: communes (around 35,000), departments (101), regions (18, including 5 overseas).

Three numbers to lock in: 577 deputies, 348 senators, 5 years for the presidential mandate. They appear in almost every session.

Useful official references: vie-publique.fr maintains institutional fact sheets in French and service-public.fr details the election process. Both sites are operated by the French government.

Topic 3 — Rights and duties

This topic balances legal knowledge with scenario questions. The questions check whether you know how to act as a citizen: vote, respect the law, pay taxes, use the justice system.

Main sub-areas:

• Fundamental rights: freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of worship, right to vote (from age 18 for every French citizen), right to education, right to healthcare, right to work.
• Citizen duties: respect the law, pay taxes, contribute to public expenses, respect the symbols of the Republic, defense obligation (Journée Défense et Citoyenneté [defense and citizenship day] at age 16-17).
• Public services: national education, healthcare (Assurance maladie [health insurance]), security (police and gendarmerie), justice, La Poste, France Travail (renamed from Pôle emploi in 2024).
• Taxation: income tax (annual declaration), VAT (standard rate 20%, reduced rates 5.5% and 10%), property tax, housing tax (abolished on primary residences since 2023).
• Justice: judicial order (tribunal judiciaire, court of appeal, Cour de cassation) and administrative order (administrative tribunal, Conseil d'État). Presumption of innocence. Right to a lawyer.

Classic trap: thinking voting is mandatory in France. It is a right, not a duty. Another confusion: placing laïcité under topic 3 when it belongs to topic 1. Topic 3 questions are more about non-discrimination and equality before the law.

Scenario questions here are concrete: "You witness hiring discrimination. What do you do?", "You receive a summons to the Journée Défense et Citoyenneté. Is it mandatory?" The 50 French citizenship test questions and answers include about twenty examples in this format.

Topic 4 — Living in French society

The most practical topic. It evaluates your knowledge of how France actually works: school, healthcare, work, housing, and administrative procedures. Scenario questions are abundant here.

Main sub-areas:

• School: compulsory instruction from age 3 to 16. École maternelle (ages 3-6), elementary school (6-11), collège (11-15), lycée (15-18). Free, secular public education since the Ferry laws (1881-1882).
• Healthcare: Sécurité sociale [social security] created in 1945. Carte Vitale [health insurance card]. You must declare a primary care doctor. Public hospitals. Complémentaire santé solidaire [subsidized supplementary health coverage] for low-income households.
• Work: SMIC [minimum wage], 35-hour legal work week, minimum 5 weeks of paid leave, employment contracts (CDI permanent, CDD fixed-term), right to strike, trade unions, Conseil de prud'hommes [labor tribunal] for disputes.
• Housing: rental lease (3 years unfurnished, 1 year furnished), security deposit, housing benefits (APL via the CAF), enforceable right to housing.
• Administrative procedures: town hall for civil status, prefecture for residence permits, service-public.fr as the one-stop portal, FranceConnect for online identification.
• Family: civil marriage always before religious ceremony, PACS [civil union], divorce, shared parental authority, gender equality.

Numbers to lock in: ages 3-16 for compulsory education, 35 hours per week, 5 weeks of paid leave. These are reflex questions, not reflection questions.

Typical scenarios: "Your employer refuses your paid leave. What do you do?", "Your 7-year-old child is not enrolled in school. What is your legal obligation?" The correct answer is almost always in the law, not in private arrangements.

Topic 5 — History, geography, and culture

The largest and most cultural topic. It demands memorization of dates, names, and places. Candidates who are not native French speakers often lose the most points here.

Main sub-areas:

• Key dates: 843 (Treaty of Verdun), 1066 (Norman Conquest), 1492 (Age of Discovery), 1789 (French Revolution, storming of the Bastille on July 14), 1804 (Civil Code), 1848 (male universal suffrage, abolition of slavery), 1870 (Third Republic), 1905 (laïcité), 1914-1918 (World War I), 1939-1945 (World War II), 1944 (women's right to vote), 1958 (Fifth Republic), 1981 (abolition of the death penalty), 2002 (euro).
• Historical figures: Vercingétorix, Clovis, Charlemagne, Joan of Arc, Louis XIV, Napoleon Bonaparte, Charles de Gaulle, Simone Veil, Victor Hugo, Marie Curie.
• Geography: 18 regions (13 metropolitan plus 5 overseas: Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyane, La Réunion, Mayotte). Main rivers: Seine, Loire, Rhône, Garonne, Rhin. Mountain ranges: Alps, Pyrenees, Massif Central, Jura, Vosges.
• Heritage: Eiffel Tower (1889), Louvre, Versailles, Notre-Dame de Paris, Mont-Saint-Michel. UNESCO sites.
• Gastronomy and art de vivre: the "gastronomic meal of the French" was added to UNESCO's intangible heritage list in 2010. Cheeses, wines, bread.
• Culture: Molière, Hugo, Proust, Camus. French cinema. Cannes Film Festival. Tour de France (cycling, since 1903).

Classic trap: confusing 1789 (Revolution, storming of the Bastille) with 1792 (proclamation of the First Republic). Another trap: attributing the abolition of slavery to 1789 (it dates from 1848, Schœlcher decree) or women's right to vote to the Revolution (it dates from 1944).

Overseas geography is underestimated: 5 DROM (overseas departments and regions) plus several collectivities (New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Wallis-and-Futuna, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint-Martin). Overseas questions appear in almost every exam.

How to study the 5 topics efficiently

Revising a 1,000+ question corpus in a month looks heavy. Method matters more than volume. Three principles:

1. Start with topic 5. It is the largest and the most memory-intensive. The earlier you begin, the more repetitions it gets.
2. Alternate topics each day. The brain consolidates better by interleaving than by blocking. Day 1: topics 1 and 5. Day 2: topics 2 and 4. Day 3: topic 3 plus review. And so on.
3. Test yourself before you learn. A quiz taken before a lesson reveals what you already know. You only need to revise the gaps.

For a full breakdown of the most effective study techniques, see our guide to the best way to study for the French citizenship test.

The spaced repetition method (Leitner algorithm or equivalent) multiplies memory efficiency by 2 to 3 times at constant study volume. Each question resurfaces 1 day, 2 days, 4 days, 7 days, 14 days, and 30 days after your last correct answer. Cocorico applies this principle automatically to all 1,000+ questions in the corpus. To understand why this works, read How to memorize the French citizenship test with spaced repetition.

If you have exactly one month before your appointment, follow the day-by-day plan in Prepare for the French citizenship test in 1 month. It covers all 5 topics with calibrated progression.

FAQ

Is one topic more important than the others on the test?

Officially, no topic carries more weight than another. In practice, topic 5 (history, geography, culture) contains the most questions (10 to 12 out of 40), followed by topic 2 (institutions, 8 to 10). But you cannot neglect the others. The random draw guarantees a minimum of 2 questions per topic, and scenarios cluster in topics 3 and 4. Aim for balanced mastery.

Can I choose the order in which topics appear?

No. The 40 questions are drawn randomly and presented in a non-thematic order. You will jump from a history question to one on the Prime Minister, then to a workplace scenario. The exam tests your ability to switch between domains, not specialization.

What are the most common traps in each topic?

Topic 1: confusing laïcité with state atheism. Topic 2: getting mandate durations wrong (5 years President, 5 years deputies, 6 years senators, 6 years mayors). Topic 3: thinking voting is mandatory. Topic 4: missing the fact that instruction (not school attendance) is compulsory from age 3 to 16. Topic 5: mixing up 1789 and 1792, or attributing the abolition of slavery to the Revolution. For a full catalogue, see our article on common French citizenship test mistakes to avoid.

Are there free official resources to revise the 5 topics?

Yes. The Ministry of the Interior publishes the knowledge questions PDF (December 12, 2025 version) on interieur.gouv.fr. vie-publique.fr provides institutional and historical fact sheets. service-public.fr covers citizen rights and administrative procedures. These resources are reliable but static: they do not test you and do not adapt to your mistakes.

Do I need to know everything to pass?

No. The pass bar is 80%, which means 32 correct answers out of 40. You can miss 8 questions. The goal is not exhaustiveness but solid command of the 200 to 250 most frequent concepts. A candidate who masters 90% of a broad, well-built corpus passes the test in roughly 98% of cases.

Run a mock exam to diagnose your 5 topics

The fastest way to see where you stand across the 5 french citizenship test topics is a timed mock exam. 40 questions, 45 minutes, detailed score per topic. You identify your two weakest topics and focus your revision there.

Take the free Cocorico practice test — no signup, instant results with commented corrections and per-topic breakdown.

Or create your free Cocorico account to unlock the full 1,000+ question corpus (the official ministry list + Cocorico's training set) with native FR audio, EN and ZH subtitles, and spaced repetition that schedules every session for you. Free trial: 5 lessons per topic (25 lessons total), no credit card required. Unlimited access starts at €14.90 for a 1-month pass, €24.90 for 3 months, or €39.90 for 6 months.