DELF B2: the exam, the scoring, and what it opens

What sitting the DELF B2 actually involves

Three of the four papers are sat together, in one room, in a fixed order: listening, then reading, then writing. There is no break you get to choose. Nobody waits for you between papers. Listening opens the day because it is the one paper you cannot slow down. Writing comes last, on whatever attention you have left.

Speaking is individual and gets its own slot, often on a different day. It comes in two parts, both built on one document drawn at the start. The table below gives the official length of each paper, and the preparation time the oral carries with it.

Listening and reading are built the same way: three exercises each, most of them multiple choice with three options. Reading ends on a different job: matching each viewpoint to the person who holds it. The reading page shows how those items are weighted. Writing is a single argued text of 250 words minimum, framed either as a formal letter or as a contribution to a public debate.

One detail changes how you spend the last minutes of a comprehension paper. The questions are not worth the same. The value of each one is printed beside it. The spread is wide enough that the cheapest item and the dearest one do not deserve the same fight. Read that value before you decide where to spend time.

The four papers, side by side

How 100 points turn into a pass or a fail

Two thresholds decide the result, and they do not work the same way. The first is a total: add the four papers together and you need half the marks in the exam. The second is a floor, and it applies inside each paper on its own.

The floor is the one that catches people. A strong reader with a fragile oral can clear the total and still leave with nothing. The case below is worked from those two numbers. A candidate two points past the pass mark still goes home without the diploma.

That is why a first timed mock is worth more than a month of revision. It does not tell you your level. It tells you which of the four papers sits closest to the floor, and that is the paper to work on. Start a full B2 mock, or try the free demo if you would rather see how the grading works first.

There is no resit of a single paper. If one paper fails you, the whole exam is sat again at a later session, with a new registration and a new fee. There is no limit on attempts. If you are still unsure which level to book, the free level test puts a level on your French before you pay a centre.

Naturalisation, university, work: why people sit B2

Naturalisation is the reason that changed most recently. Since January 1, 2026, French naturalisation requires B2 in both spoken and written French, up from B1, under Decree no. 2025-648 of July 15, 2025. It covers both routes: naturalisation by decree and naturalisation by declaration at marriage. DELF B2 is one of the accepted proofs, and what the B2 requirement means for a citizenship file walks through the detail.

The diploma does not expire. That matters when a file waits months for a decision. A DELF result certifies the level for life. TCF and TEF results lapse after two years, and then the test has to be sat again. If you are weighing the two families of exam, DELF or TCF sets out which goal points to which test.

University is the second reason, and it deserves a hedge. B2 is the widely cited minimum for enrolling on a French-language programme, but the requirement is set institution by institution, and some accept B1 for certain courses. Check the condition on the programme page, not on a forum. For work the honest version is more cautious: employers who ask for a certificate usually want B2. C1 comes up for roles where French is the language of the job itself.

If B2 is not there yet, the useful question is how far away it is, not how many hours the level is said to take. Two posts go further. One is frank about how wide that range is. The other breaks the difficulty down paper by paper. And what B2 actually lets you do puts the descriptor in plain terms.

What changes when you move up from B1

The papers keep their names and their weights. What changes is what each one asks of you, and the official format records it. Reading gets longer, and so does the writing paper, because the task grows rather than because the clock turns generous.

Listening also changes, and not in the direction candidates expect: at B2 the last exercise plays once. The listening page gives it exercise by exercise.

Writing is a single argued text at both levels, but the length floor rises and the genre narrows. At B2 you take a position and defend it, in a formal letter or a public contribution, at 250 words minimum. The marking grid on the writing page shows how few of its criteria are about grammar.

Speaking is where the shape changes most. The guided interview of B1 is gone. B2 opens on a monologue built from a document you draw. It then moves into a debate in which the examiner argues back. The preparation granted beforehand is far longer than at B1. The speaking page carries the official timings and the current harmonised grid.

None of that makes B1 a wasted step, and the free B2 study guide starts from the exam rather than from grammar.

Practise one paper at a time

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

A free B2 paper with its answer key

Questions people ask before booking B2