France Education International (FEI): the operator of the civic exam

France Education International wasn't built to filter residence permits. This public agency under the Ministry of Education, based in Sèvres, has certified the DELF, the DALF and the TCF for decades — meaning it assesses French as a foreign language for hundreds of thousands of candidates a year in 170 countries. Since 1 January 2026, the arrêté of 10 October 2025 has handed it an additional mission that changes the nature of its job: deciding who clears — or doesn't — the 32-out-of-40 bar required for your carte de séjour pluriannuelle, your carte de résident or your naturalisation.

Understanding where FEI starts and stops saves you the most expensive confusion in the system: thinking that an FEI certificate equals a residence permit, when it's only one piece among many in the file the préfecture will process.

The historic operator of the DELF, now entrusted with the civic test

FEI is a public administrative agency under the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. The institution was called the Centre international d'études pédagogiques until 2019, and its core business remains language certification: it designs, validates and runs the DELF and DALF diplomas (French as a foreign language), and the TCF (Test de connaissance du français) used for admission to French universities and for many migration procedures.

The Ministry of the Interior could have created a new operator, launched a private tender, or tried to run the test directly at préfectures. It chose FEI because the infrastructure was already there: a network of more than 1,200 authorized centres around the world, a digital exam platform smoothed by the gradual digitization of the DELF, and expertise in securing standardised question banks. Plugging the civic exam onto those rails cost much less than building new ones, and immediately opened the test to a dense network in France and abroad. The official site is france-education-international.fr.

What FEI does, what FEI doesn't do

The split is precise, and that's what makes it readable once you understand it. FEI runs the exam machinery: random selection of the 40 questions in the official bank, the draw of the 12 scenarios, hosting the platform on tablets, the network of authorized centres, training of invigilators, issuing the certificate, and handling technical incidents. It's the operator, in the industrial sense.

What it doesn't do is content. The bank of 245 knowledge questions is built by the Ministry of the Interior, in consultation with historians and Conseil d'État (Council of State) lawyers; FEI writes no question, arbitrates no answer, defines no theme. That's also why the FEI certificate doesn't decide your permit: it only attests that you answered 32 questions correctly out of 40 on test day. The decision on your CSP, your carte de résident or your naturalization belongs to your préfecture, which processes the full file — regular residence, resources, criminal record, certified French level — of which the FEI certificate is one piece. The page /en/examens-couverts details the three permits concerned.

How you end up at the tablet

Registration for the civic exam isn't done directly with FEI. Everything starts on the ANEF, the Administration numérique des étrangers en France, where you file your permit application via administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr. Once your eligibility is validated by the préfecture services, the system automatically forwards your file to FEI, which emails you to choose your centre and slot from available openings. You then receive an official convocation as a PDF, to print or show on your phone on the day.

If a serious unexpected event hits — illness, accident, professional obligation — FEI accepts a free reschedule provided you give notice at least 48 hours before the slot. Beyond that window, or for a second reschedule, the rules tighten; better not to abuse it.

On cost, the exam itself is free for the candidate. The agreement between the Ministry of the Interior and FEI covers the sitting, any catch-up session if you fail, and the issuing of the certificate. No private body is authorized to charge for an "FEI registration" — if anyone asks for payment to sit the test, it's a scam. The current arrangements are on service-public.fr and interieur.gouv.fr.

Test day, step by step

You arrive 30 minutes before the slot, convocation in hand, with a valid ID — passport, residence permit or national ID card. An invigilator checks your documents and prints your candidate badge. Your personal effects go into a locked locker: phone, bag, smartwatch, notes — everything stays outside. No item enters the room.

Once seated at the tablet assigned to you, you listen to the short briefing — interface, next button, clock at the top right, possibility of going back on an answer as long as it isn't finally validated. The test starts, 45 minutes on the clock. When time's up, or when you manually validate, the tablet locks and your score appears immediately: a mark out of 40, pass or fail (the bar is 32/40). The official certificate, signed by FEI, then arrives by email and on your ANEF account within 48 hours, ready to be attached to the préfecture file. For the exact legal value of this document, see civic-exam certificate validity and price.

If the machine crashes

It's rare, but it happens: frozen tablet, network drop, display bug. The instruction is to raise your hand and not power off the tablet. An invigilator attempts to resume on the spot; auto-save generally holds, and you pick up where you were. If the issue persists, an incident report is drafted and sent to the FEI technical cell, which can offer a new slot in the same session at no cost or extra paperwork.

The detail that saves a slowed procedure: always keep a copy of the report. It protects you in case of dispute over the pass date, and it's that date that conditions the rest of your préfecture procedure. Without the report, your official certificate may arrive several weeks late, which can cost you the expiry of an interim permit.

The distinction not to confuse: FEI vs préfecture

This is the most frequent confusion, and the most expensive in administrative back-and-forth. The two institutions have strictly distinct roles.

Institution	Role
France Education International (FEI)	Technical sitting of the civic exam: convocation, room, tablet, score, certificate.
Préfecture / sub-prefecture	Filing the global file, oral assimilation interview (for naturalization), final decision on your permit.

FEI issues you a certificate. The préfecture decides whether to grant or refuse your CSP, carte de résident or naturalization decree. The FEI certificate is a piece of the file, not the final decision — and it's precisely because it doesn't suffice that the other conditions (residence, resources, criminal record, certified French level) must be met in parallel. For the detail of each path, see the naturalization 2026 guide, the CSP pillar and the carte de résident pillar.

FAQ

Does FEI choose the questions on my exam?

FEI does not write the questions (that's the Ministry of the Interior via its official bank), but it does run the random draw of the 28 knowledge questions and the 12 scenarios at the moment you start. Two candidates sitting side by side never have exactly the same exam.

Can I choose my FEI centre?

Yes, within the limits of available slots. When you receive the FEI convocation, you access an interactive map listing centres near your address (radius adjustable). You select the centre and slot that suit you.

How long does it take to receive the certificate after the test?

The score appears immediately on the tablet at the end of the test. The official PDF certificate signed by FEI is sent by email and uploaded to your ANEF account within 48 hours of the test. Keep it carefully: it's valid for several years.

Does FEI offer official mock exams?

No. France Education International doesn't release mock exams to the public, to preserve the confidentiality of its question bank. To train, specialised platforms like Cocorico offer questions calibrated on the official format: try it for free at /en/register.

What to do if I don't receive my convocation?

First check your email's spam folder and your ANEF account (where the convocation is also uploaded). If you find nothing after 7 working days from préfecture validation, contact FEI support via the online form on france-education-international.fr. Have your ANEF file number ready.

Conclusion

France Education International is your sole point of contact for the technical sitting of the civic exam: convocation, centre, tablet, certificate. But registration goes through ANEF and the final decision belongs to your préfecture. Knowing this division of roles saves you the missteps and delays. Calmly prep the 5 official themes with regular training: create your free account at /en/register and discover all the exams concerned at /en/examens-couverts.