How To Assess Your Level In French Online for Free

Are you interested in measuring your French proficiency?

Many tests that are offered online only assess your level in grammar and your knowledge of vocabulary. Nearly all of them consist of a series of multiple choice questions, but the full range of language skills in French is not assessed and their results only very partially reflect your level.

To help you to evaluate your level in French, I have made a selection of four free tests online that assess different language skills in French.



Online test Radio France International - the most comprehensive

If you would like to grade your French language skills more precisely you should choose the RFI test online. This test is produced by the CIEP (an organisation which manages a range of French as a foreign language certification programmes for the Ministry of Education).

Adapted to the levels of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, this test assesses different language skills: your oral and written comprehension, your vocabulary, and your grammar.

It consists of 15 multiple-choice questions for each level ranging from grammar to vocabulary. During the test, you will answer questions involving oral and written comprehension and language structure.

You will be asked to choose the correct answer and sometimes write your answer. For the oral comprehension questions, you can listen to the audio extract as many times as you want. You must answer every question to get to the fifteenth and final question. The test is not limited in time.

You will see your result on the last page of the test. At the very bottom of that page, depending on your results, a short text will either indicate the content corresponding to your level or suggest that you take a test at a different level.

 Campus Langues - a well-balanced test

The French test by Campus Langues offers a assessment of your written skills. It consists of two steps: first is a self-assessment where you will answer 10 questions. Depending on your answers, you will be offered a test adapted to your skills in French.

The second part of the assessment will focus on your written skills and will include grammar, vocabulary, written comprehension and writing skills.

It is a multiple-choice questionnaire and the test time goes from 10 to 20 minutes according to your level. At the end of the test, you will get to the overall result of your test and your level according to the European Framework, together with a correction of your errors.

This test is very well structured and each skill is separately assessed. The results provide a reliable and accurate estimate of your current level in French.

ILA France - assess your level in French in 8 minutes 

This test offered by ILA includes 32 questions in order of increasing difficulty. The assessment is very short and lasts 8 minutes maximum. If combines audio and written comprehension, it also assesses your knowledge of grammar and vovabulary.

If you have a limited time to do a test online, I rather suggest this one. It is less comphensive than the two others mentionned above but it can help you to gain an overall insight of your level.

Study Travel -to assess your knowledge of grammar

Study Travel offers one of the most prominent French language tests on the internet.  If your goal is only to assess your master of grammatical structures you can select this one. It consists of 40 questions with an increasing difficulty.

Levels of French using the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages

Since 2001, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, has been developed by the Council of Europe to help language learners self–assess their level of proficiency

These six levels of language proficiency will help you check your French level from beginner (A1) to proficient (C2).

A1 - You are a beginner in French

You understand and can use familiar, everyday expressions in very basic phrases to meet concrete needs.

A2 - You understand simple messages

You understand isolated sentences and expressions about your immediate environment, e.g. family, work, school. You can talk about familiar subjects.

B1 - You can communicate in a French-speaking environment

You understand the main points of a message using clear, standard language. You can deal with most situations encountered while travelling. You can describe events and experiences.

B2 - You communicate fluently

You understand the main content of complex messages on concrete and abstract topics. You communicate fluently with native speakers and express yourself clearly and in detail on a wide range of subjects.   

C1 Advanced French Student

You can understand a wide range of long and complex texts, including any subtextual or stylistic nuances. You can express yourself freely and fluidly. You can use the language effectively and fluently in a social, professional or academic context.

C2 Master or Proficient

You can effortlessly understand almost everything you read or hear. You can express myself precisely in a spontaneous, fluent way, conveying finer shades of meaning precisely.