TEF IRN exam day: what happens, from reception to the last paper
An hour and a half of papers, four exercises, and an examiner facing you to finish. Here is how a session really unfolds, in order, as published by our certifying body, and the official tutorial that reproduces the screen you will have in front of you.
Before you leave: the two documents, the time and the address
On exam day, two documents are enough, and there is no third one: your exam notice and an identity document with a photo. Our certifying body, Le français des affaires (CCI Paris Île-de-France), states it unambiguously: “the invigilator checks your identity document and your exam notice”.
An identity document, not a supporting document
It must be a document with a photo. A receipt for an application, a photocopy, a photo on a phone: none of these is an identity document, and what happens then is not negotiable on the spot. Also check that the name on the document is the one you registered with: that is the name that will be printed on your results certificate.
Arrive at the time shown on your exam notice, not at the time the papers start: welcome, checks and seating take time, and they happen before the clock starts. At our centre, sessions are held at 46 bis Rue d'Estienne d'Orves, 93110 Rosny-sous-Bois, in our approved exam centre; our Gagny (93) and Sarcelles (95) branches welcome and register candidates, but do not host the exams.
Welcome: checks, verification of your details, signature
This is the step nobody anticipates, and it is the only one where a mistake can still be put right. After your identity document and exam notice have been checked, you are asked to confirm your personal details (surname, first name, date of birth, email address), then to sign on a tablet.
Read this screen. The certifying body states that this information will appear on your results certificate : a first name misspelt at 9 am becomes a document your prefecture may query weeks later. If anything is wrong, now is the time to say so, not afterwards.
What you accept by turning up
The registration and exam-sitting conditions of the certifying body are explicit on three points, and it is better to know them before discovering them in the exam room:
- You are photographed. The photo is used for identification and is kept in the exam file.
- You sign to confirm your attendance at the papers. This signature certifies that it really was you who took the test.
- The spoken expression paper is recorded. Not to monitor you, but to allow a second assessment of your performance by another examiner.
The order of the papers and the real length of the day
Four papers, and they are all taken on the same day. This is not an organisational convenience: theorder of 22 December 2025 makes it a condition for the certificate to be accepted in a nationality application, and the certifying body points this out on its presentation page. A certificate obtained over two sessions is worthless.
| Exam | Questions | Duration | Medium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading comprehension | 20 | 30 minutes | Computer |
| Listening comprehension | 20 | 20 minutes | Computer, with headset |
| Written expression | 2 sections | 30 minutes | Computer |
| Spoken expression | 2 sections | 10 minutes | Face to face with an examiner |
Remember the total: 1 hour 20 minutes on a computer, then 10 minutes of speaking. With the welcome, checks and seating, allow half a day, not an hour and a half. This is the most common planning mistake, and it costs a session to those who took two hours off work.
The three computer papers: what the screen lets you do
The first three papers are taken on a computer, one after the other, and you may not leave the room at any time during them: the certifying body states this in black and white. Make your arrangements before you sit down.
A test that adapts to your answers
The two comprehension papers work in two parts. The first gives questions of varying difficulty, used to place your level; the second follows with questions calibrated to the level detected. In reading comprehension, each part lasts 15 minutes; in listening comprehension, 10 minutes.
Why this changes the way you answer
Because the first part determines how the second is calibrated, rushing the beginning to “save time” is a very bad calculation: you end up calibrated too low, and the easy questions that follow no longer let you show the level you really have. Give your best from the very first question.
Navigation: what is allowed, paper by paper
| Exam | Going back? | Practical consequence |
|---|---|---|
| Reading comprehension | Yes, freely within each part | Make a mental note of doubtful questions and return to them if there is time left, but you cannot go back from one part to the other. |
| Listening comprehension | No | Each recording is played only once and you must answer as you go. A question left aside is a lost question. |
| Written expression | Yes, within the time allowed for each section | The 10 minutes of section A and the 20 minutes of section B are sealed off from each other: time saved on one does not carry over to the other. |
The format of the comprehension questions is stable: a multiple-choice question with four options, of which only one is correct. A right answer is worth one point; a wrong answer and no answer are worth zero, which means there is never any point in leaving a question blank:.
Spoken expression: ten minutes face to face, recorded
This is the only paper that is not taken in front of a screen. It takes place face to face with an examiner, lasts 10 minutes and has two five-minute sections: in the first, you make a phone call to obtain information; in the second, you help someone make a decision.
No materials, and that is deliberate
During the speaking paper, no scrap paper, no notes and no documents are allowed. What you have prepared must therefore fit in your head, which is why you work on structures and not on texts learnt by heart.
The paper is always recorded. The certifying body gives the reason: to allow a double assessment. It is a protection for you, not surveillance; two examiners are better than one for a five-minute performance. The two-role method is explained in detail in the method booklet given to every registered candidate.
What is forbidden, and what happens if you are late
The list is short and allows no exceptions. According to the certifying body’s exam-sitting page:
- Phone and electronic devices switched off. Not on silent: switched off.
- No dictionary, no reference document. Neither paper nor electronic.
- No personal belongings at your desk, except your identity document.
- No communication between candidates for the whole duration of the papers.
- No leaving the room during the computer papers.
Absence, lateness, postponement
Lateness first, because it is what costs you a whole session without you seeing it coming. In accordance with the certifying body’s instructions, no candidate is admitted once the exam has started. Unjustified lateness is treated as an absence: the registration fee is not refunded, but we can offer you a new registration at a reduced price, subject to availability. Justified lateness gives the right, after approval by the CCI, to a postponement without penalty to a session within the following six months. That is what the fifteen-minute margin requested in the exam notice is for.
The certifying body’s registration and exam-sitting conditions are clear on what follows: an absence without justification gives no right to any refund. A postponement is only granted on a valid supporting document accepted by the CCI the decision is theirs, not MYSTORY’s, which forwards the request and the document, and with supporting evidence validated within one month, only one postponement is accepted per candidate. It is a concession, not a renewable right: you cannot postpone twice. A refund, on the other hand, remains possible up to seven working days before the session date.
As for price, the exam alone costs 185 € when you register far enough in advance; the amounts and the deadline rule are set out on the prices page and repeated for each date in the session calendar.
See the screen before exam day: the official tutorial
It is the most reassuring tool there is, and it is openly available. The certifying body publishes a TEF IRN practice tutorial that reproduces the real exam interface : how the questions are presented, the buttons, the timer, the way you confirm an answer. The fear of the unknown disappears in twenty minutes.
Our exam notices already mention it. If you do only one thing before your session, do this one: open it once on a computer not on a phone, since the exam is taken on a computer.
The certifying body’s other official resources
Its “Se préparer” (Get prepared) page brings together documents that many candidates only discover after the exam:
- The sample written expression papers (PDF) the real instructions, in their real wording.
- The sample spoken expression papers (PDF) including the situation cards for sections A and B.
- Video workshops, one per paper, available from the same page.
Our own preparation tools and the booklets in the shop come after these, not instead of them: we work on the official format, never on an imitation.
After the last paper
Nothing else is required of you on site. The results certificate gives a score for each paper, on a scale of 0 to 499 points, and the corresponding CEFR level; it is valid for two years from the exam date. The details of the thresholds, and the tolerance on the weakest paper is explained on our “TEF IRN results” page.
If you do not reach the target level, nothing is lost: there is no limit on the number of attempts, but there is a waiting period before you can book a new date. We explain it in the article on retaking the exam.
What to do now
The candidates who cope best on exam day are those who did three things: opened the official tutorial once, read the two sample PDFs, and chose their date early enough not to pay an urgent rate. All three are within your reach today.
Official sources
We are a training organisation, not a government body: each rule quoted above refers to the text that sets it. If you are in doubt about your situation, the official text and your prefecture are what count.
- TEF IRN, “Passer le test”, Le français des affaires (CCI Paris Île-de-France)
How exam day works: checking of the identity document and the exam notice, confirmation of personal details and signature on a tablet, the two-part format of the comprehension papers, multiple-choice questions with four options, spoken expression face to face and recorded for double marking, prohibited items and no leaving the room during the computer-based papers.
- TEF IRN, official presentation, Le français des affaires (CCI Paris Île-de-France)
Papers and durations: reading comprehension 20 questions / 30 min, listening comprehension 20 questions / 20 min, written expression 2 sections / 30 min, spoken expression 2 sections / 10 min. Levels A1 to B2, certificate valid for 2 years, all papers on the same day, one point per correct answer.
- Registration and exam conditions: Le français des affaires
Identity document with photo, photograph of the candidate, attendance signature, recording of the spoken expression paper, ban on any unauthorised personal items, unjustified absence with no refund and only one postponement accepted per candidate with supporting evidence validated within one month.
- TEF IRN practice tutorial: Le français des affaires
Reproduces the real exam interface: presentation of the questions, timer, confirmation of answers. This is the document our exam notices refer to.
- TEF IRN, “Se préparer”, Le français des affaires
Official preparation page: sample written and spoken expression papers in PDF, video workshops for each paper, practice tutorial.
Order of 22 December 2025 on proof of the level of French required of applicants for French nationality
Requires the four skills to be assessed in separate papers, in person, in a single session on the same day, with anti-fraud supervision, and sets the validity of the certificate at two years.
You know what to expect. Now choose the date
TEF IRN sessions are held in Rosny-sous-Bois, Monday to Saturday. The calendar shows the places actually available and the rate that applies to each date, the earlier you book, the less you pay.
Any questions? Message us on WhatsApp we answer candidates from Monday to Saturday.
Frequently asked questions
Your questions
How does the TEF IRN work, in practice?
You arrive at the time shown on your exam notice with an identity document with a photo. The invigilator checks both documents, you confirm your personal details and you sign on a tablet. Then come three papers on a computer (reading comprehension 30 minutes, listening comprehension 20 minutes, written expression 30 minutes) followed by spoken expression, 10 minutes face to face with an examiner.
How long does a TEF IRN session last in total?
1 hour 20 minutes of papers on a computer and 10 minutes of spoken expression, making 1 hour 30 minutes of papers. With the welcome, the identity check and getting settled, allow half a day on site.
What should I bring on the day of the TEF IRN exam?
Your exam notice and an identity document with a photo. Nothing else is allowed at your seat: no phone switched on, no dictionary, no reference document, no personal belongings.
Can you go back to your answers during the TEF IRN?
In reading comprehension, yes, freely within each of the two parts. In listening comprehension, no: each recording is played only once and you must answer as you go, with no going back.
Is the TEF IRN spoken expression paper recorded?
Yes, always. The certifying body says so in its exam conditions: the recording allows the performance to be marked a second time by another examiner. No paper materials are allowed during this paper.
Can you see the exam interface before taking it?
Yes. Le français des affaires publishes a practice tutorial that reproduces the real TEF IRN interface, questions, timer, confirmation of answers. It is openly accessible and our exam notices mention it. Open it on a computer, since the exam is taken on a computer.
What happens if I cannot attend my session?
According to the certifying body’s conditions, an absence without justification gives no right to any refund. With supporting evidence validated within one month, only one postponement is accepted per candidate.