Families and students

What does my child see during the test?

Written by the TestFLE team. Updated 12 November 2026

In short

Your child first reads a welcome screen, then answers one question at a time, with four buttons, a skill and a current level. The questions always stay in French, whatever the language of the screen.

Who this is for, and what you need first

Who this is for: Families who want to know what to expect before the test, and students who are discovering it.
What you need first: An open test: the “My test” card on the Home page shows “Now”.

The steps

Click “Start test” in the menu.
Read the “Hello!” screen and its instructions.
Click “Start the test”.
Read the question, then choose or write your answer.
Click the green “Next” button.
Carry on until the “Test finished” screen.

Welcome screen of the test: Hello, picture of a sample question, instructions in five points, length of the test and Start the test button

First question of the test with the Leave the test and Call my teacher buttons, the time disc, the current level, the skill, the instruction and the Skip and Next buttons

Test question on a phone: Leave the test and Call my teacher wrap onto the next line, the time disc stays in the corner, Skip and Next sit side by side

What to know before answering

An answer, once given, is final. There is no going back: the “Next” button sends the answer and shows the next question.
The menu is locked. As long as the test lasts, the other menu entries are greyed out (“Navigation is locked during the test.”). “Start test” takes you back to the test in progress.
Copy, cut, paste and right-click are blocked on the question. This is deliberate, it is not a fault. Typing an answer on the keyboard is still possible.
The test does not say whether an answer is right. After “Next”, the next question appears, with no correction.

What is on a question screen

From top to bottom, a question screen has the following items.

At the top left, two buttons. The red one, “Leave the test”, stops the test for good. The blue one, “Call my teacher”, alerts the teacher.
At the top right, in lightning mode, a time disc. It empties in one minute. See How long does the test last, in lightning mode or in precise mode?.
A “Current level:” line and a “Skill:” line. They are explained further down.
The instruction, with a small round blue headphones button that reads it aloud.
Depending on the question, a picture, a recording, a video or a text, the text with its headphones button too.
The answer area.
At the bottom right, the orange “Skip” (only if the teacher has planned for it) and the green “Next”.

Each button is described in What are the test buttons for: Next, Skip, Call, Leave?.

Going further

Understanding the test screen

The welcome screen

Before the first question, the “Hello!” screen presents the test. It recalls what the test helps to find out (what your child already knows, what they still need to learn, how they are progressing) and it reassures (“Don’t worry! This is not an exam. Just do your best.”). It also shows a picture of a sample question, with its buttons. This picture is a fixed example: the “Current level” you can read on it is not your child’s.

The “How it works” list has five points: “Click “Start the test””, “Listen carefully”, “Read calmly”, “Choose the best answer you can” and “The buttons”. A headphones button, next to the title, reads these instructions aloud in the language of the screen. A sentence below announces the length of the test, which depends on the mode chosen by the school.

A language selector at the top of this card changes the language of the screen. A “Home” button lets you go back to the Home page before starting. Only one button starts the test: “Start the test”.

“Current level”: the level from the previous test

The “Current level:” line does not measure the test in progress. It recalls your child’s last known level, that is, the level from their previous test. It does not move during the test, whatever answers are given. At the very first test, it shows a dash: your child does not have a level yet. The level is written with a step, for example A1.2.

“Skill”: what the question checks

The “Skill:” line names what the question checks, for example “Listening comprehension” or “Vocabulary”. TestFLE distinguishes seven of them, and their names follow the language of the screen.

The questions are always in French

The test assesses French: the questions and their instructions stay in French, even if the screen is in English, Spanish or Chinese. The buttons and the texts of the screen, however, follow the chosen language. The headphones voice reads the instructions in French for the same reason.

The headphones button sits in front of the instruction and in front of the text of the question. When a question includes a recording, an audio player appears, and the recording usually starts by itself. Your child can listen to it again with the player. When several questions are about the same recording, a box says so (“Listen carefully: several questions are about this recording. You can listen to it again as many times as you like.”). On the following questions of the group, the box says “It is the same recording as in the previous question. You can listen to it again if you need to.”.

The kinds of questions

Depending on the question, your child has to choose one or more answers, fill the gaps in a text, put words back in order, drag a label onto a picture or write a short answer.

A test that adapts

Each question depends on the previous answers. So two children do not see the same questions, and the number of questions varies from one test to another. A child who cannot read yet takes an adapted form of the test: see How does the test work for a child who cannot read yet?.

The end of the test

The test stops by itself, and the “Test finished” screen then shows the results. The message that comes with it says why the test stopped.

The level is established (“Your level has been determined. Here are your results.”).
The time set is over in lightning mode (“The time set for the test is over. Here are your results.”).
The class session is over in precise mode (“The session is over. Here are your results.”).
The test has too few answers to give a level (“Your test stopped too early to give a result. You will be able to take another one.”).

In the other cases, the message is simply “Your test is finished. Here are your results.”. To read these results, see How do I read my child’s results on their Home page?.

If your child leaves the page

When the teacher has opened the test in person, the test is paused as soon as your child leaves the page: it shows “Your test is paused.”, and only the teacher can restart it. When the test is open remotely, leaving the page does not block it, but the exit is recorded and the screen reminds your child to stay on the page (“You left the test page. Please stay on this page until the end.”). See Why is my child’s test paused?.