Bremen Abitur French exam-day guide
Bremen Abitur French · Prepare for the day ahead.
Your checklist
Bring your admission notification (Einladung/Zulassung) and a valid photo ID
Check the name on the invitation matches your ID exactly. If you have not received written confirmation of the date, room and start time, confirm with your school's Oberstufenkoordination before the exam day. Whether a passport alone is accepted or a Schülerausweis is also required should be confirmed with the provider.
Bring the permitted dictionaries and confirm which ones are allowed
In Bremen French courses, a monolingual French dictionary (einsprachiges Wörterbuch) is typically permitted for the written Abitur exam, while bilingual dictionaries are usually not. Confirm the exact rule for your course and year with your teacher or the provider, and check the dictionary for any handwritten notes before the exam.
Bring black or blue pens, spare pens and a pencil
Write the analysis and composition in ink; use a pencil only for annotations on the task sheet. Bring at least two working pens and a highlighter. Do not write in red, as red is conventionally reserved for the examiner.
Bring a watch that is not a smartwatch
You need to manage your own time across reading, planning and writing. Mobile phones are usually collected or switched off; a simple analogue watch avoids depending on the room clock. Confirm the provider's rule on watches and phones.
Bring water and a small snack in a clear container
Written Abitur exams run for several hours. Confirm with the provider whether drinks and food are allowed at the desk and whether containers must be transparent.
Leave your mobile phone and smart devices at home or hand them in
Any device that can store or transmit information is normally prohibited. A phone discovered at the desk, even switched off, can be treated as an attempt to cheat. Confirm the provider's exact device policy.
Know the task structure and the Auswahlzeit rules in advance
Confirm with your teacher how many tasks are offered, how many you must complete, and whether there is a separate selection period before writing time begins. Practise choosing quickly so you do not lose writing time.
Prepare your timing for the three typical parts
Comprehension (compréhension), analysis (analyse) and composition (commentaire/expression écrite) each carry marks. Practise allocating roughly 20–25 minutes for reading and comprehension, 45–55 minutes for analysis and the remainder for the written production, then adjust to the official duration confirmed by the provider.
Rehearse the vocabulary of analysis in French
Prepare connectives and analysis phrases you can deploy automatically: l'auteur dénonce, le narrateur met en évidence, ce passage souligne, en revanche, par conséquent. Accurate, varied language is rewarded in the evaluation grid.
Practise one full past-format task under timed conditions
Use an official Bremen sample or a task set by your teacher. Write by hand to check your handwriting speed and legibility, and count how many words you produce in 30 minutes.
Confirm the room, start time and arrival time with the provider
Arrive early enough to find the room and settle. The exact cut-off after which you may be admitted, and whether lost time is compensated, is set by the provider; confirm it in advance.
Check whether a medical certificate or Nachteilsausgleich is needed
If you have a documented condition, confirm well before the exam whether an application for compensation of disadvantages (Nachteilsausgleich) is required and by which deadline. This cannot normally be arranged on the day.
Plan the day
Do one final timed practice task and review your error patterns rather than learning new material. Re-read your own list of frequent grammar mistakes (verb endings, agreement, tense use) and your bank of analysis phrases. Confirm the exam room, start time and permitted aids in writing with the provider.
Review the literary and non-literary works or topics covered in your course: main themes, characters, narrative perspective and key quotations you can cite accurately. Prepare short French summaries of each work so you can introduce them confidently in the composition.
Pack your bag: invitation, ID, pens, pencil, highlighter, permitted dictionary, watch, water. Check the dictionary contains no notes. Read through your summary sheets once, then stop. Eat a normal meal, avoid late-night cramming and set two alarms.
Eat breakfast, arrive at the building with time to spare, and keep away from last-minute discussions that may unsettle you. Hand in or switch off your phone as instructed. Once seated, check that you have the full task paper and any required sheets before the time starts.
Read all the tasks before choosing. Underline the operative verbs in each task (décrivez, analysez, comparez, commentez) so you answer the question actually asked. Note the mark allocation and the recommended length for each part.
Read the text twice: once for gist, once for detail. Mark key passages and note line numbers. Answer comprehension questions in your own words in French where the task requires reformulation, and keep answers concise and directly tied to the text.
Write a short plan before drafting. Structure your analysis with a clear introduction, developed body paragraphs each built around one observation supported by a quotation, and a brief conclusion. Use line references and analyse effect, not just content.
Plan for three to five minutes, then write. Respect the required word count and text type (letter, article, dialogue, essay). Leave five to ten minutes to reread for agreement, tense consistency and verb forms, which are heavily weighted in the evaluation grid.
Check that every task and sub-question has been answered, that your name and candidate number are on every sheet, and that page numbers are correct. Cross out rough work clearly. Hand in all sheets as instructed.
Rules to check
Bring your admission notification and a valid photo ID and place them on the desk for checking. If you lack the required documents, the provider decides whether you may sit the exam; confirm the accepted forms of ID in advance.
Mobile phones, smartwatches and any other electronic devices must be handed in or left outside the exam room. A device found on you during the exam can be treated as an attempt to cheat, regardless of whether it was used.
Only the aids explicitly permitted by the provider may be used, typically a monolingual French dictionary. Notes, vocabulary lists, bilingual dictionaries and annotated materials are normally prohibited. Confirm the permitted aids for your course with the provider.
You may normally leave the room only with supervision and only for a short time; lost time is generally not compensated. Confirm the provider's rules on toilet breaks and on leaving before the end of the exam.
Communication with other candidates during the exam is not permitted. If you need clarification about the task paper, raise your hand and ask the invigilator; they may be able to clarify instructions but cannot help with content.
Write legibly in ink on the official answer sheets, label every task clearly, and cross out anything you do not want marked. Illegible or ambiguously assigned answers may not receive credit.
The evaluation follows the official Bremen assessment grid, weighting content, structure and linguistic accuracy. Confirm with your teacher how comprehension, analysis and composition are weighted in your course.
If you believe there was a disturbance or an error in the exam materials, report it to the invigilator immediately and note it in the protocol; later appeals are harder to support. Confirm the provider's procedure for lodging a objection.