L'examen civique, réponses vérifiées / English / Questions
French civic exam 2026, History, geography and culture
Who made school free, secular and compulsory?
An official question of the French civic exam, with its answer and the official text that proves it, in French and English.
Multi-year residence permit no. 120
Qui a rendu l’école gratuite, laïque et obligatoire ?
Who made school free, secular and compulsory?
Answer. Jules Ferry, with his laws of 1881 and 1882.
Jules Ferry, avec ses lois de 1881 et 1882.
Under the Third Republic, the Jules Ferry laws make public school free in 1881, then secular and compulsory in 1882.
The official text that proves it
« Elle généralise l’ école publique gratuite en 1881 et l’ école laïque et obligatoire en 1882, grâce aux lois de Jules Ferry. »
It generalizes free public school in 1881 and secular, compulsory school in 1882, through the laws of Jules Ferry.
In French, with its English meaning. read the official sheet
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All 521 official questions, in French and English
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The three ministry lists, every question answered with its official proof in both languages, readable offline. Forty scenario questions with answers, the kind the ministry never publishes.
Free mock exam, 40 questions in 45 minutes, in French like the real one
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Questions from the official lists of the French Ministry of the Interior, quotations from the civic training sheets, the Constitution and the 1789 Declaration, Licence Ouverte Etalab 2.0. This is not a government site. The official sheets are free, in French, on formation-civique.interieur.gouv.fr.
