Complete Guide to the French Bac 2026 — Épreuve Anticipée de Français (EAF)

The EAF is taken at the end of Première and carries a total coefficient of 10 (5 written + 5 oral). It is the first formal Baccalauréat exam and tests literary culture, analytical skills and mastery of written and spoken expression.

Written Exam (4 hours, coefficient 5)

General pathway: Commentary or Essay

Literary commentary (commentaire composé):

• Analyse an unseen literary text in 2-3 interpretive axes, showing how stylistic devices build meaning.
• Structure: introduction (context, text presentation, problematic, plan) → 2-3 axes with quotations and device analysis → conclusion.

Essay (dissertation):

• Choose from 3 topics, each linked to a set work and its associated study path.
• Build a dialectical argument (thesis / antithesis / synthesis) drawing on precise knowledge of the text and pathway.

Technological pathway: Contraction + Essay

• Contraction: Reduce a 1,000-word argumentative text to one quarter of its length while preserving its logic and ideas.
• Essay: Develop a personal, argued reflection on the theme of the contracted text.

Oral Exam (20 minutes + 30 min preparation, coefficient 5)

Part 1 — Linear Explanation + Grammar (12 minutes)

The examiner selects a 20-line extract from the candidate's study list. The candidate must:

1. Situate the passage within the work.
2. Read the text aloud expressively (graded).
3. Deliver a linear explanation identifying 2-4 movements, analysing literary devices and interpreting their effects.
4. Answer a grammar question on a segment of the text.

Part 2 — Interview on a Chosen Work (8 minutes)

The candidate presents a set work they have chosen and answers the examiner's questions on its themes, characters, context and personal significance.

Set Works 2025-2026

The EAF programme covers four study areas, each with a set text and associated path renewed annually by the official bulletin:

• Poetry (19th-21st c.): Selected from major modern collections (regularly featured authors include Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Apollinaire, Ponge, Jaccottet).
• Literature of Ideas (16th-18th c.): Key texts from Humanism and the Enlightenment (Montaigne, Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu, Olympe de Gouges).
• Novel and Narrative (Middle Ages-21st c.): Works tracing the evolution of the novel (Madame de Lafayette, Stendhal, Balzac, Flaubert, Proust, Sarraute).
• Theatre (17th-21st c.): Major dramatic forms (Molière, Racine, Marivaux, Hugo, Beckett, Lagarce).

Specific works for 2025-2026 are published in the Bulletin officiel. Check the official Éducation nationale website or ask your teacher.

Revision Strategy

September-December: Read all four set works. Start creating revision cards (summary, characters, themes, key quotations).

January-March: Deepen analysis of associated study paths. Practise one essay or commentary every two weeks under timed conditions. Prepare oral revision cards for each text. Work on grammar.

April-June: Intensive revision of all cards. Full mock exams. Timed oral practice with a partner. Review literary devices, movements and methodology.

Grammar at the Oral

The grammar question covers: direct/indirect interrogation, negation (total, partial, restrictive, expletive ne), subordinate clauses (relative, completive, circumstantial) and logical sentence analysis. You must identify the nature and function of each clause in a complex sentence.

Scoring Summary