DELF A2 exam practice: four papers, a mock exam, 50 points to pass

The DELF A2 exam, from the first recording to the oral

The day has two parts. The collective block comes first: listening, reading, then writing, in that order, for an hour and forty minutes in all. The oral is taken separately. It lasts six to eight minutes with the examiner, after ten minutes of preparation. The free lesson that maps the A2 exam says what to bring.

Two formats of the listening and reading papers are still used in official sessions. This page describes the all-multiple-choice one, which is the format this site prepares. The other format keeps some short written answers. Listening is fourteen short recordings, each played twice: public announcements, radio extracts, a voicemail message and four everyday dialogues. Reading opens with a matching task: six short documents to pair with people. A letter, three texts that carry instructions and a longer informative text follow.

Writing is two short texts in one sitting, each of 60 words minimum. In the first you recount an event or an experience and give your impressions. In the second you reply to a short message by doing what it calls for: thank, apologise, propose, ask. Speaking has three parts: a guided interview about you, a short monologue on a familiar subject, then a role play with the examiner.

The practice on this site follows that shape. The two comprehension papers are marked automatically. Writing and speaking come back with a score and written feedback, from an AI grader that applies the official grids. Start a full A2 mock to sit the four papers in order, against the clock. In the mock the oral is spoken: an examiner voice asks the questions and plays the other role, and you answer aloud into your microphone. How the mock exam works has the detail. All of it is written for this site, to the official format: none of it is a past exam paper.

Timings and points for the four A2 papers

How the A2 result is worked out

The four papers each give a mark out of 25 points, and the result is their sum. Reach half of the total and the diploma is yours, even with one weak paper.

A second rule sets the limit. Under 5/25 in a single paper, the exam is failed, whatever the total says. Writing shows how that floor comes closer at A2. The paper is two exercises, each marked on its own. A text of twenty-nine words or fewer, under half the expected length, scores zero on every criterion. That zero covers one exercise only: the other is marked normally.

Find your lowest paper before you plan any revision. One timed mock exam is enough for that: it shows how far that paper sits from the floor. To see how the marking works first, try the free demo: there is one per account. A writing or speaking score on this site is an estimate, not an examiner’s mark. Only the writing grader has been checked against scripts marked by examiners. A speaking score is the number to trust least.

Residence permit, first diploma, next step: what A2 is for

In France, A2 now has a precise administrative use. Since 1 January 2026, it is the level of French required for a first multi-year residence permit, the carte de séjour pluriannuelle. The rule applies to a first application. Renewing a multi-year permit you already hold does not call for it. A civic exam is required as well. A DELF A2 diploma attests that level and does not expire. Service-Public, the French administration’s official site, sets out the accepted proofs and the exemptions. Read its page before you book a session. What A2 level means in practice goes through the reform, the civic exam included.

Outside that administrative use, more caution is needed. Children and teenagers have their own versions of the DELF. For an adult with no deadline, A2 makes a sound first diploma. The levels are independent diplomas, so you do not need the A1 before it. What we cannot quote is a school or an employer that requires it: ask the one you are dealing with.

A2 is also the first rung of a ladder. B1 is the level for a first carte de résident, the ten-year permit, and B2 is the level for naturalisation. An A2 diploma meets neither of those. If one of them is your goal, treat A2 as a stage and look early at what the DELF B1 asks.

What A2 asks that A1 does not

Between A1 and A2 the scoring stays put: four papers of 25 points and the same two thresholds. The tasks are what change. Writing shows it best. A1 asks for a form to fill in and one message of forty words minimum, in thirty minutes. A2 drops the form and asks for two texts of 60 words minimum each, in forty-five.

The oral keeps its outline: three parts, and ten minutes of preparation for the second and the third. The second part changes in kind. At A1 you ask the examiner questions from words printed on cards. At A2 you speak alone on a familiar subject, in a short monologue. Both orals end on a role play, and the A2 one runs longer.

Reading lasts thirty minutes at both levels, with four exercises each time. A1 is multiple choice throughout, on eight very short documents. A2 opens with the matching task and ends on a text that includes a true or false statement, with no justification asked. Listening gains five minutes and loses an exercise, but the recordings go from eight to fourteen. In listening the weights also become uneven. In the official sample paper, an answer there is worth from half a point to two and a half. Those weights are indicative and can vary from one paper to the next. Not sure which of the two levels to book? The free level test helps you place yourself.

DELF A2 exam practice, sorted by paper

• CO · Listening
• CE · Reading
• PE · Writing
• PO · Speaking

A corrected A2 sample paper to start on

DELF A2 exam questions, answered briefly