The DELF B1 exam, mapped

Knowing the shape of the B1 paper is worth real points, and it costs you one lesson. Candidates still arrive ready to justify their reading answers in writing. That task no longer exists. Others plan a two hundred word text and run out of clock, or spend the speaking preparation on the wrong part.

This lesson maps the exam from end to end. You get what the diploma proves, then the four papers with their timings and their marks. After that come the points inside each paper and the run of show on the day itself.

What a B1 diploma proves

The DELF is an official diploma from the French Ministry of Education. It carries no expiry date. You earn it once and you keep it, with nothing to renew and no score to refresh.

Each level is a separate diploma with its own exam. You don't need the A2 to sit the B1. The ladder runs A1, A2, B1, then B2, and it continues with the DALF at C1 and C2.

You sit the exam in a centre accredited by France Éducation international, the public body that runs the DELF worldwide. Those centres operate in a great many countries, and each one publishes its own session dates and fees. Register with the centre itself, not with a site that resells the exam.

B1 sits in the middle of the ladder, and its official label is utilisateur indépendant, an independent user. That label sets the bar for every task in the exam. You're expected to follow the main points of clear standard speech on a familiar topic. You're expected to find information in a long text and connect pieces that sit in different places. In production, you tell what happened, you describe a plan, and you give short reasons for an opinion.

Notice what the label leaves out. Nothing here pays for rare vocabulary or for a brilliant argument. B1 pays for an ordinary opinion with its reasons attached, which is good news for your revision hours.

Point d'étape 1/4

0 / 3

Q1How long does a DELF diploma stay valid once you have passed?

• ACinq ans, puis il faut repasser l'examen
• BDeux ans, comme la plupart des tests de langue
• CToute la vie, sans renouvellement ni nouveau test
• DJusqu'à ce que vous obteniez le niveau suivant

Q2Which body accredits the centres where you sit the DELF?

• AL'Académie française
• BFrance Éducation international
• CLe Conseil de l'Europe
• DL'université de la Sorbonne

Q3Which line describes what the B1 level, the independent user, is expected to do?

• AComprendre un débat spécialisé et rédiger un rapport technique
• BRépéter des mots isolés et remplir un formulaire d'identité
• CTraduire un texte littéraire et corriger la copie d'un autre candidat
• DSuivre l'essentiel d'une conversation claire sur un sujet familier et justifier brièvement une opinion

ResetComplete

The four papers and the clock

B1 is four separate papers, one per skill, each marked out of 25.

The paper	What it measures	How long	Points
Compréhension de l'oral	Listening	about 25 minutes	25
Compréhension des écrits	Reading	45 minutes	25
Production écrite	Writing	45 minutes	25
Production orale	Speaking	about 15 minutes, after 10 minutes of preparation	25
Total			100

Three of the four are taken together, in one room, with the other candidates. They run in a fixed order and the whole block lasts 1 h 55. Speaking is individual, and it often falls on another day or another half day.

Your listening time isn't really yours, because the recording sets the pace. Every document is played twice. A pause before each one lets you read the questions, and a shorter pause after the second play lets you finalise your answers. So a detail you miss on the first play isn't lost yet.

Reading and writing hand the clock back to you, 45 minutes each. Reading is the paper where candidates most often run out of time. The first exercise alone gives you four documents to compare, and that takes longer than it looks.

One format fact matters more than any other here. Both comprehension papers are closed questions from beginning to end. You tick boxes, and you never write a sentence or copy a line of the text to justify an answer. If a practice book asks you to justify, it's showing you the old paper.

Point d'étape 2/4

0 / 3

Q1How long does the collective block last, listening plus reading plus writing?

• A1 h 40
• B1 h 25
• C1 h 55
• D2 h 30

Q2Which paper is taken alone, away from the other candidates?

• ALa production écrite
• BLa production orale
• CLa compréhension des écrits
• DLa compréhension de l'oral

Q3In the current format, do listening and reading ever ask you to write out a justification?

• AOui, il faut justifier chaque réponse par une phrase du texte
• BOui, mais seulement au troisième exercice de lecture
• CNon, sauf au premier exercice d'écoute
• DNon, tout est en questions fermées : on coche des cases et on n'écrit rien

ResetComplete

Where the points sit, and the two ways to fail

Two numbers decide your result. You need 50 out of 100 across the four papers, and you need at least 5 out of 25 on every one of them.

Look at what that second number does. A candidate scores 22 in listening, 20 in reading, 19 in writing and 4 in speaking. That's 65 out of 100, fifteen points above the pass mark, and it's still a fail. The 4 sits under the floor, and no total rescues it. Your goal is therefore four papers that all clear 5, not one brilliant paper.

Inside the two comprehension papers, the points split across three exercises.

The paper	Exercise 1	Exercise 2	Exercise 3
Listening, about 25 minutes	A conversation, 6 questions, 7 points	One spoken document, 7 questions, 9 points	A longer interview or report, 7 questions, 9 points
Reading, 45 minutes	Four short documents checked against four criteria, 16 boxes, 8 points	One long text, 7 questions, 8 points	One article, 7 questions, 9 points

Two habits come out of that table. Item values are printed next to each question and run from 1 to 1.5 points, so read them before you answer. The heavier items usually ask what a speaker thinks or suggests, not what they said. And nothing is deducted for a wrong answer, so an empty box is the only answer that can never earn anything.

Reading exercise 1 deserves its own line. Four short documents are checked against four criteria each, which makes 16 Oui or Non boxes at half a point apiece. Every box is scored on its own, so a document you half understand still pays.

Writing is one task and one mark. You produce an essai, which can take the shape of an opinion piece, a formal letter or an article. You take a position on a familiar topic and you defend it with examples. The sheet prints 160 mots minimum, and 170 to 190 words is the comfortable landing zone. Under 80 words, the whole task scores zero, whatever the quality of your French.

Five criteria share those 25 points, five points each: réalisation de la tâche, cohérence et cohésion, adéquation sociolinguistique, lexique and morphosyntaxe. Each one is marked at 0, 1, 3 or 5, with no fine tuning in between. That's why a text which answers the wrong question is so expensive, because it caps two of the five criteria at once.

Speaking shares its 25 points differently again.

Part of the speaking test	How long	Points
Entretien dirigé	2 to 3 minutes	4
Exercice en interaction	3 to 4 minutes	4
Expression d'un point de vue	5 to 7 minutes	4
Your French, across all three parts		13
Total		25

The three parts are marked on how well you carried the task out, at 0, 1, 2.5 or 4 points each. The remaining 13 points pay for your French across the whole test: 5 for vocabulary, 4 for grammar and 4 for pronunciation. More than half the speaking mark therefore has nothing to do with your ideas.

Point d'étape 3/4

0 / 4

Q1A candidate scores 22, 20 and 19 out of 25 on three papers, then 4 on the fourth. Do they pass?

• AOui, puisque le total de 65 dépasse largement 50 sur 100
• BNon, le 4 passe sous le minimum de 5 sur 25 exigé dans chaque épreuve
• COui, à condition de repasser seulement l'épreuve ratée
• DNon, parce qu'un total de 65 sur 100 reste insuffisant

Q2Which paper splits its 25 points as 8, 8 and 9?

• ALa compréhension des écrits
• BLa compréhension de l'oral
• CLa production écrite
• DLa production orale

Q3The writing paper holds a single essai. Which shapes can that essai take?

• AUn texte d'opinion, une lettre formelle ou un article
• BUn résumé, une dictée ou une lettre
• CDeux textes courts, au choix du candidat
• DUn rapport technique de 300 mots

Q4Speaking runs about fifteen minutes and reading forty-five. How many points does each one carry?

• A25 points chacune, car les quatre épreuves pèsent le même poids
• BL'épreuve la plus longue rapporte le plus de points
• CL'oral vaut 15 points et la lecture 45
• D20 points chacune, plus 20 points de présentation

ResetComplete

How exam day runs

Pack the evening before, because three items decide whether you sit at all. Your convocation is the letter giving your date, your time and your room. Your photo ID has to carry the same name as that letter. A black pen is the third item, and the centre isn't obliged to lend you one.

The collective block runs in one fixed order: listening, then reading, then writing. You stay at the same desk for all three, and the clock only becomes yours once the recording stops.

Speaking is a short appointment with one examiner, and it has four moments. The first is preparation. You get 10 minutes in a separate room, and those minutes cover part 3 alone. You draw two short documents, keep one, and use the time to name its theme and build your opinion.

Then you go in. Part 1 is the entretien dirigé, a guided conversation that starts with no preparation. It's about you: your studies or your job, what you did recently, what you plan next. Part 2 is the exercice en interaction. You draw two sujets, keep one, and play the situation out with the examiner, who takes the other role. Part 3 is the one you prepared. You present the theme of your document, you give your opinion with reasons, and the examiner follows up with questions.

Both draws work the same way, so rehearse the choice itself. You always see two options and keep one, which means reading both quickly and picking the one you have examples for. Choosing the more interesting topic over the one you can actually support is a common and costly mistake.

Here's the cheapest revision this lesson allows. In the week before your exam, read the point tables once more and find the paper you're weakest on. Ten minutes there protect the 5 out of 25 that every single paper needs.

Point d'étape 4/4

0 / 4

Q1In what order do the three collective papers run?

• AProduction écrite, compréhension de l'oral, compréhension des écrits
• BCompréhension des écrits, compréhension de l'oral, production écrite
• CCompréhension de l'oral, compréhension des écrits, production écrite
• DL'ordre change selon les centres d'examen

Q2In speaking parts 2 and 3, how many topics do you draw and how many do you keep?

• AVous en tirez un seul, sans possibilité de choisir
• BVous en tirez deux et vous en gardez un
• CVous en tirez trois et vous en gardez deux
• DL'examinateur choisit le sujet à votre place

Q3What do the 10 minutes of preparation before the speaking test cover?

• AAux trois parties de l'oral
• BAux parties 2 et 3
• CÀ la partie 3 seulement, l'expression d'un point de vue
• DÀ l'entretien dirigé, puisqu'il ouvre l'épreuve

Q4What do you have to bring to the exam centre on the day?

• AUn dictionnaire bilingue et votre manuel de préparation
• BVotre téléphone, pour montrer la convocation reçue par courriel
• CRien du tout, le centre fournit le nécessaire
• DVotre convocation, une pièce d'identité avec photo et un stylo noir

ResetComplete