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DELF B1 exam: the threshold level, certified for life

By Augusto Grone · Updated 8 October 2026 · 9 min read

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The DELF B1 certifies the threshold level: the point at which you become independent in French. Four sections in 2 h 10, each scored out of 25, with a pass at 50/100. Since 1 January 2026, it is also the level required for a first French resident card — and a diploma, unlike a test result, never expires. Here is the format, the scoring, the resident card, how to prepare, and the dates and fees in France, the UK and the US.

Contents

1. What is the DELF B1?
2. Your path in 5 steps
3. The exam format: four sections
4. Scoring and the minimum score
5. The DELF B1 and the French resident card
6. Diploma or test: which to choose
7. The writing test in 160 words
8. The speaking test in three parts
9. How to prepare
10. Dates and fees: France, the UK, the US
11. Frequently asked questions

What is the DELF B1?

The DELF B1 is an official diploma of France’s Ministry of National Education, awarded by France Éducation international, that certifies level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) — the “threshold level”, that of an independent user who can get by in most everyday situations. You take it at an approved test centre — in France, at one of the ten national sessions of the year — in four sections scored out of 25: listening, reading, writing (160 words) and speaking, in three parts.

You pass from 50/100, with a minimum of 5/25 in each section — and the diploma is valid for life. Since 1 January 2026, B1 is the level required for a first resident card in France: the DELF B1 proves it permanently, whereas a TCF or TEF test result expires after two years.

Who it’s for

• Applicants for a first French resident card, who must prove B1 in speaking and in writing.
• Anyone who wants permanent proof of their level, for an application, a CV or a training course.
• Not applicants for French citizenship: since 2026, they need B2.

Your path in 5 steps

1. Check that B1 is your levelResident card: B1 since 2026; citizenship: B2. The B1 and the resident card — B2 for citizenship.
2. Diploma or test?The DELF never expires but is held ten times a year in France, with registration that closes early; the TCF IRN is held every week but is valid for two years. Which to choose.
3. Prepare for the four sections160 words in writing, a speaking test in three parts, and two thresholds to clear. The scoring, the writing, the speaking.
4. Register in timeIn France, 143 centres, 10 sessions a year, a registration window of a few days to a few weeks. The dates and the centres.
5. Exam day, then the diplomaTest-day notice and ID; results within 4 to 6 weeks, a diploma valid for life — and a mock exam beforehand, so you don’t pay twice.

The DELF B1 exam format: four sections

The first three sections are group tests, taken one after another in the same half-day. The speaking test is individual and can take place on another day. It is a short exam — about 40 minutes shorter than the DELF B2 — but the three group sections in a row are still demanding.

Scoring and the minimum score

The DELF is an exam, not a placement test: you can fail it. Two rules decide the result.

The consequence is the same as at B2, and it shapes your whole preparation: a very weak skill costs more than a strong one earns. A candidate who excels in writing but is stuck at 4/25 in speaking fails, whatever their total. Your first priority is therefore to get your weakest section out of the danger zone — not to polish the one you are already good at.

That said, points do offset each other: above the floor of 5, they balance out from one section to another. That is what sets the DELF apart from the TCF and the TEF, where the authority that receives your application reads each test separately, with no offsetting possible.

The DELF B1 and the French resident card

This is the change that made demand for B1 soar this year. Since 1 January 2026, a first resident card (carte de résident) in France requires level B1, up from A2 before — under the order of 22 December 2025 (arrêté du 22 décembre 2025).

One point catches many applicants out: moving from a multi-year residence permit to a resident card is not a renewal — it is a first issue of a resident card. So B1 and the civics exam are required. For residence permits, applicants over 65 are exempt from the language requirement. Our article on the resident card, in French, covers the whole procedure — exemptions, the civics exam, the real cost.

Don’t mix up the three levels, which correspond to three separate procedures:

Diploma or test: which to choose

To prove B1 to the French authorities, there are two routes, and they don’t follow the same logic.

• Tests — the TCF IRN and the TEF IRN — are designed specifically for these procedures. They take a single morning, are shorter, and give you a results certificate valid for two years.
• Diplomas — DELF, DALF — involve a longer exam and less frequent sessions, but they are yours for good.

The rule of thumb: if your application is going in soon, a test is enough and takes less time. If your administrative journey is going to stretch over several years — which is common — the diploma saves you from having to retake, and pay again for, a test that expires at the wrong moment.

The writing test in 160 words

One task, 45 minutes, 160 words minimum. The topic asks you to express a personal position on a general theme: an essay, a letter, an article. It isn’t yet the structured argument of B2, but it is no longer the factual description of A2.

What makes the difference at this level:

• Respecting the genre asked for. A letter with no greeting and no sign-off loses points before the language is even assessed.
• Connectors. At B1, ideas are expected to be explicitly linked: « d'abord », « ensuite », « cependant », « c'est pourquoi ». It is the most rewarding marker to work on.
• Past tenses. Switching between the passé composé and the imparfait is the most discriminating grammar point at this level, and the one most often penalised.
• Length. 160 words is a floor. Below it, the instructions aren’t followed, regardless of the quality of the language.

The speaking test in three parts

Fifteen minutes, three exercises in a row — and only one preparation time, for the last one.

1. The guided interview. You introduce yourself and are asked questions about yourself, your activities, your plans. No preparation. It is the easiest part to secure: it is predictable and can be rehearsed in advance.
2. The interaction exercise. You act out an everyday situation with the examiner: solving a problem, getting something, negotiating. No preparation either.
3. Expressing a point of view based on a short prompt document, with 10 minutes of preparation. You identify the theme and give your opinion.

Unlike the DELF B2, where the guided interview was removed, it is still part of B1. Good news for nervous candidates: the test starts with the most approachable exercise, which gives you time to settle in.

How to prepare

1. A full mock exam right at the start, scored on the official scales, to identify the section that could make you fail.
2. Get that section out of the danger zone first, before anything else.
3. Rehearse the first two parts of the speaking test, which are predictable and can be prepared word for word — the best return in your whole B1 preparation.
4. Work on past tenses and connectors, the two most rewarding grammar points at this level.
5. Regular timed mock exams until the three group sections in a row are no longer an endurance test.

For both the writing and the speaking test, you can’t assess yourself against criteria you don’t know — and that is exactly where the minimum score comes into play. That is what AI feedback against the official criteria solves.

Official sample papers. France Éducation international publishes two free DELF B1 sample papers, with the answer keys, the listening recordings and transcripts, a speaking-test sample and the marking grids: DELF B1 sample papers (in French, like the exam; checked on 26 October 2026).

DELF B1 dates and fees: France, the UK and the US

In France, you take the DELF B1 at one of the 143 approved centres — universities, Alliances Françaises, GRETA adult-education centres, language schools — during one of the year’s ten national sessions, always on a Wednesday at 10 am. You register with the centre, never with France Éducation international. Registration windows last from a few days — sometimes just two — to a few weeks, and close four to ten weeks before the written papers. The autumn 2026 sessions fall on 7 October, 4 November and 2 December; in 2027, there are ten sessions from January to December, never in April or September.

Each centre sets its own fee. At the centres we checked on 17 September 2026: €125 at Nantes Université, €160 at the Alliance Française de Lille, €194 at the Sorbonne Nouvelle, €214 at the Cours de civilisation française de la Sorbonne and €230 at the Alliance Française de Paris. Results arrive within 4 to 6 weeks. Our directory of the 143 centres in France and our guide to where to take the DELF in France, with the 2026-2027 calendar, are in French.

In the UK and the US, the next DELF session is in December 2026 — from 7 to 11 December in the US. The dates, centres and fees for each level are on our DELF in the UK and DELF in the USA pages, checked on 8 October 2026.

DELF and DALF outside France, country by country

Frequently asked questions

Related pages

• DELF B2 exam: format, scoring, dates

  The level above, required for French citizenship since January 2026.

• TCF IRN

  The “test” alternative to the diploma, designed for French administrative procedures.

• French citizenship: the B2 level

  Your B1 is enough for the resident card — not for citizenship since 2026.