Citizenship Exam Prep
Side-by-side comparison of 8 citizenship knowledge tests - question counts, pass marks, duration, cost, language, and what each country actually tests.
Citizenship exams differ more than people expect. Some countries ask 24 questions and give you 45 minutes; others ask 60 and give you 90. Some publish every possible question in advance; others give you only a study booklet and keep the questions confidential. Pass marks range from 52% to 80%. Some tests are oral; most are written. Some cost under €30; others cost nearly €100.
If you are preparing for one of these exams - or if you are curious about how different democratic societies choose to assess civic knowledge - this comparison lays out what each test actually requires.
| Country | Exam name | Questions | Time | Pass mark | Cost | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇩🇰 Denmark | Indfødsretsprøven | 45 | 45 min | 80% | - | Written, Danish |
| 🇸🇪 Sweden | Medborgarskapsprovet | Not published | Not published | Set after each test | - | Written, Swedish |
| 🇬🇧 UK | Life in the UK Test | 24 | 45 min | 75% | £50 | Written, English |
| 🇫🇷 France | Examen civique | 40 | 45 min | 80% | Free | Written, French |
| 🇪🇸 Spain | CCSE | 25 | 45 min | 60% | €85 | Written, Spanish |
| 🇩🇪 Germany | Einbürgerungstest | 33 | 60 min | 52% | €25 | Written, German |
| 🇨🇦 Canada | Canadian Citizenship Test | 20 | 45 min | 75% | - | Written, EN or FR |
| 🇺🇸 USA | USCIS Civics Test | 20 (oral) | ~20 min | 60% | - | Oral, English |
Denmark and France, both at 80%. Denmark adds a mandatory values sub-section (4 out of 5) that must pass independently, and France requires 32 of 40 on its examen civique. A candidate who scores 79% overall still fails. On the tightest time budget (one minute per question), Denmark combines the highest numerical standard with the least time pressure relief.
The UK (75%) and Canada (75%) are next, with identical pass marks on different question counts. Germany (52%) has the lowest pass mark among these eight - which is by design: the test is short, the time is generous (nearly two minutes per question), and the pass threshold reflects a floor of basic civic knowledge rather than comprehensive mastery.
Three exams give candidates the entire question pool before the test:
The remaining exams - France, UK, Canada, Denmark, and Sweden - do not publish the specific exam questions. They publish official study materials (a handbook, a study guide, or official content areas) from which questions are drawn, but candidates cannot pre-read the exact questions that will appear.
The distinction matters for preparation strategy. If the questions are published, efficient preparation means converting that specific pool into reliable recall. If they are not, preparation means building genuine comprehension of the mock material - a broader and less predictable task.
The USCIS civics test is administered by an immigration officer in an interview setting. The officer asks up to 20 questions from the 128-question official pool; the applicant must answer at least 12 correctly. This oral format introduces a dimension the other exams do not have: you must speak your answers, not write or select them. Anxiety, phrasing variations, and the conversational dynamic of an interview all affect performance in ways that a written test does not.
The USCIS test also requires correct answers in English - although the interview itself can be conducted through an interpreter for applicants over 50 who have been permanent residents for 20+ years (the "50/20 exemption"). For most applicants, English is required.
France is unusual in that there are two separate examination tracks with different formats. Applicants for French nationalité française take a 40-question written civic exam. Applicants who are long-term residents and must fulfil the Contrat d'Intégration Républicaine (CIR) take a different civic formation that covers fewer themes (no "mises en situation" practical component). The question bank differs between the two paths - choosing the wrong study materials for your situation is a common error.
France is also the only country in this list where the exam fee is zero - the civic exam is administered free of charge as part of the naturalization process.
The CCSE at €85 is the most expensive exam on this list - and unlike most others, which are administered by government agencies at no extra charge, the CCSE is administered by a cultural institution (Instituto Cervantes) that charges separately. The €85 fee does include two attempts within the calendar year, which softens the cost if you need a second sitting.
Sweden's Medborgarskapsprovet launched with its first sitting on 15 August 2026, making it the newest citizenship test of these eight. As a brand-new exam, it has the least accumulated practice data - fewer unofficial practice tests, less known about which specific questions are most commonly asked, and no multi-year track record of candidate performance. Early sitters are in some sense in uncharted territory.
The official study material (Sverige i fokus, 48 pages, UHR May 2026) is the definitive preparation resource. The pass mark for the new exam had not yet been officially set at the time of writing - check the UHR website for the current threshold.
Despite their differences in format and difficulty, all eight exams test the same broad categories of civic knowledge:
These five themes are the foundation of every citizenship exam. They reflect a shared assumption across these countries: that meaningful citizenship involves knowing not just where you live, but how the society you are joining came to be, how it governs itself, and what it expects from its members.
This depends on how you define "hard." By pass mark alone, Denmark (80%) is the strictest. By question volume, Denmark (45 questions) and France (40) are the largest; Sweden has not yet published a fixed number of questions or time limit. By unpredictability - not knowing which specific questions will appear - France, UK, Canada, and Denmark are the most demanding, because familiarity with the full study material is required rather than memorisation of a pre-published pool.
By language difficulty, the exams conducted in the country's primary language (all of them) are hardest for candidates whose native language is different - and in that sense, the US oral interview in English and Germany's written German test are most demanding for non-native speakers, who must also meet separate language requirements in parallel with the civics test itself.
The honest answer is that all eight exams are manageable with focused preparation. The pool of testable knowledge is bounded and documented. The formats are known. With enough active practice, recall of the relevant content under time pressure is achievable. The difference between passing and failing is almost always preparation quality - and especially the shift from passive reading to active recall practice.