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How well do you know your French history and culture? 

For some, the answer is more than just a matter of personal interest as it may soon be necessary to demonstrate sufficient knowledge to obtain a residency card.

New plans included in the 2024 immigration law mean that from January 1, 2026, those applying for multi-year residency cards or 10-year cartes de résident will need to sit a test on French culture and history. 

Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau wants to see this expanded to include those applying for French citizenship (presumably if they have not already passed such a test before to acquire an earlier residency card). 

It is unclear exactly how long this new examination will be for applicants, or how many questions they will need to get right. 

However, it is likely it will be based on the current system. 

Currently questions on French culture and history are posed as part of the interview process for acquiring citizenship, conducted by the local police prefecture. 

It comes at the same time as the prefecture goes over your documentation, you give a presentation on your life and your status in France (job, where you live, etc) and sign the charte des droits et devoirs du citoyen français.

There are also a series of personal questions you may be asked, such as why you want to acquire citizenship, what you admire or enjoy about France, and questions on how well you have integrated into French society, for example, if you have joined any local clubs or organisations. 

Example questions on culture and history 

When it comes to the questions on culture and history, these cover thousands of years of France, however the questions are in general not complex and do not require you to answer in a lot of detail. 

Below are 10 questions – five on historical matters, five on cultural ones – and we give the answers at the bottom of the article.. 

Some examples of the historical questions you may be asked are: 

1: What is France’s national hymn/anthem called? 

2: Who was Jeanne d’Arc (Joan of Arc)? 

3: When did the Algerian war take place?

4: What is significant about May 1968 in France?

5: When did France change its national currency to the euro? 

Some of the cultural questions may include: 

6: What is laîcité, and why is it important in France? 

7: What flower symbolises the French monarchy? 

8: May 1 is a public holiday in France. What does it represent? 

9: What is France’s national animal? 

10: Which mountain range separates France from Spain? 

Note that these are not asked in distinct and separate phases, but are usually asked together.

The police will ask around 10 questions, including a mix of historical, cultural, and personal. 

If any Britons want to see and try the UK version (the Life in the UK test), a series of (unofficial) versions can be found online . 

You need to score 18 out of 24 to pass the UK version. 

Answers to the French questions:

1: La Marseillaise, 2: A military leader in the Hundred Years’ War between England and France, and later a patron saint of France, 3: Between 1954 and 1962, 4: It was a time of widespread social and political unrest that almost culminated in a social revolution in France, 5: 2002, 6: the complete separation of church and state, introduced in France in 1905. Some see it as the fourth tenet of the country after liberté, égalité and fraternité, 7: La fleur de lys (or fleur de lis), 8: Worker’s day (La Fête du Travail), celebrating the working people of France, with several marches organised across the country, 9: The Gallic rooster, 10: The Pyrénées mountains.