CPF and English Certificates: The Maths Changed in April

If you are in France and planning to certify your English, the arithmetic changed on 2 April 2026 and it changed in a direction most people have not noticed.

The mandatory flat contribution for using your Compte personnel de formation is now 150 euros.

Both French state English certifications cost less than that to sit directly.

SpeakShark is free whichever route you take, three AI conversation sessions a day with no card, each capped at five minutes and four turns.

In this guide: what changed · who is exempt · the comparison · why the CPF is still worth it · which certifications qualify · what this means for planning · what we could not verify · how we researched this · FAQ

Key takeaways

• The CPF flat contribution is 150 euros for requests from 2 April 2026.
• It was 100 euros from May 2024, indexed to 103.20 euros at 1 January 2026.
• Four exemptions exist, including jobseekers and employer co-funding.
• CLES costs 20 to 30 euros and is often free. DCL costs 100 euros.
• The CPF funds training packages, not bare exam fees, which is the resolution.

What actually changed

The official description is direct. Everyone holds a CPF from entering the labour market until retirement. To use it, active workers must pay a mandatory flat contribution.

The history of that contribution in three steps:

That is a 45 per cent rise on the indexed figure, applied inside the same year, and it lands on any subscription request for a CPF-eligible training action made from 2 April.

The legal chain is worth seeing, because it explains why the number moves. The décret of 29 April 2024 did not itself name a sum. Its Article 1 created a new article R6323 in the Code du travail, and that article carries the figure:

La participation mentionnée au I de l'article L. 6323-4 est fixée à la somme forfaitaire de cent euros. Ce montant est revalorisé, au 1er janvier de chaque année, à due proportion de l'évolution de la moyenne annuelle des prix à la consommation hors tabac.

One hundred euros, revalued each 1 January in proportion to consumer price inflation excluding tobacco, and set each year by joint order of the ministers responsible for vocational training and the budget. Article 2 of the décret fixed its entry into force at 2 May 2024.

Légifrance labels that version of R6323 as in force from 2 May 2024 to 2 April 2026, which confirms the April change at the level of the code article rather than only in a news summary.

One related change from the 2026 finance law is worth knowing if you were considering a different route: funding a bilan de compétences through the CPF in the private sector is now capped at 1,600 euros, and you must not have had one funded by France Travail, the State, a region or a skills operator in the previous five years.

Ancillary costs such as travel, transport and meals are excluded from CPF coverage, so those stay yours in every scenario.

The four exemptions

The contribution does not apply if:

• you are a jobseeker
• your training is co-funded by your employer
• you are mobilising points from your compte professionnel de prévention
• you are entitled to an AT-MP top-up, following permanent incapacity from a workplace accident or occupational illness

The second one is the lever most people can actually pull. If your employer contributes anything to the training, the flat contribution falls away. For anyone whose English is genuinely tied to their role, that is a conversation worth having before you subscribe to anything.

The code article and the government summary describe these slightly differently, and the difference is worth knowing. Article R6323 names only two cases where the contribution is not due: mobilising compte professionnel de prévention points, and using the top-up under article L. 432-12 of the social security code. Separately it provides that the contribution may be borne by a third party listed in article L. 6323-4, which is the mechanism behind employer co-funding. The jobseeker exemption comes from the law itself rather than from R6323. Practically the outcome is the same four situations, but if you are arguing your case with an administration, cite the right instrument.

The comparison nobody runs

Here is where the numbers meet the certifications, and the result is not what the funding conversation assumes.

Read the bottom row against the two above it. The entry fee for using your training account now exceeds the full direct cost of either French state English certification.

That is a genuinely odd position, and it inverts the instinct that public funding is the cheap route. For the certificate alone, paying out of pocket is the cheap route, and it is cheaper by a factor of five or more if your university waives the CLES fee.

Both of those certifications also never expire, which we covered in the CLES guide and the DCL guide. A one-off payment of 20 to 100 euros for something with no renewal date compares very favourably with an international test you re-sit every couple of years.

When the CPF still makes sense

The resolution to the apparent absurdity is that the CPF does not normally pay a bare exam fee.

It funds a training action delivered by an approved organisation, with the certification attached at the end. The ministry's own wording for the DCL is that candidates may use their CPF to fund their training and the DCL through approved training bodies. The CLES is described as CPF-eligible in a continuing education context.

So the honest framing is a fork:

You want the certificate and nothing else. Register and pay directly. The contribution is an entry fee to a door you did not need to open.

You want tuition as well as the certificate. The contribution buys into a package worth considerably more than 150 euros, and the arithmetic flips back in the CPF's favour. This is the case if you are genuinely below the level you need and require structured teaching to get there.

The judgement therefore comes down to an honest assessment of your current level rather than to the funding rules. If you are already close to the level and need practice rather than instruction, tuition is not what is missing.

That distinction matters most for speaking, because speaking is the skill where hours matter more than lessons. Why your English speaking is not improving covers why more study does not move it, a 30 day plan to improve speaking and speaking exercises for adult learners fit around a working week, and a free daily session supplies the volume at no cost at all.

Which English certifications qualify

CPF funding is tied to certifications registered in the Répertoire spécifique of France compétences. Both French state options are in it.

The DCL is described by the Ministry of Education as officially recognised by France compétences and listed in the Répertoire spécifique, with CPF funding available through approved training organisations. It is a national diploma, its validity is unlimited, registration is 100 euros, and the exam is a single two and a half hour case study. Its English sessions are fixed nationally, and the last 2026 sitting closes for registration on 25 September.

The CLES is described by the Ministry of Higher Education as registered in the Répertoire spécifique and CPF-eligible in a continuing education context. It certifies B1, B2 and C1, is hosted by around three quarters of French universities, never expires, and refuses to compensate between papers, so you must reach the level in every skill.

If your target is an engineering diploma rather than a career move, the requirement is different again: French engineering accreditation asks for B2 validated in all skills, verified by an external recognised test, with C1 recommended.

What this means if you are planning

Four practical conclusions, in order of how much money they move.

1. Ask your employer first. Any employer co-funding removes the flat contribution entirely.
2. If you only need the exam, pay for the exam. At 20 to 100 euros direct against a 150 euro contribution, the CPF is the expensive path for a bare certificate.
3. If you need teaching, use the CPF. That is what it is built for and the contribution is proportionally small against a real training package.
4. Do not let the funding question delay the speaking practice. The level is what you are certifying, and it moves with hours rather than with paperwork.

On that last point, the skill that decides a French certification result is usually the one you cannot fund your way out of. CEFR levels explained for speaking sets out what each level actually asks for, twelve daily speaking drills from B1 to C1 is built for the climb, role play scenarios for speaking practice and finding an online speaking partner cover practising against a real response, and how to improve English pronunciation plus online methods to build confidence in English handle clarity and nerves respectively.

What we could not verify

We could not read the 30 March 2026 decree directly. We read the 29 April 2024 decree and the code article it created on Légifrance, but the 2026 decree that sets the 150 euro figure is cited here through the government's public information service rather than from its own text. The 150 euro amount and its 2 April application date therefore rest on that summary, while everything about the 100 euro original rests on the legal text.

We did not verify how the contribution interacts with a bare examination fee. The official material describes the contribution as applying to a CPF-eligible training action. Whether a standalone certification registration counts as such an action is precisely the question that decides the comparison above, and we have framed it as a fork rather than resolving it.

We did not verify the public sector arrangements. Public sector training rules differ from the private sector scheme described here, and staff in the fonction publique should check their own framework.

Prices for the CLES are the ministry's 2022 example figures, and current fees are set by each centre.

We are not giving financial or legal advice. These are published figures and the conclusions are arithmetic, not guidance on your own case.

How we researched this guide

The contribution amounts, both decree dates, the 2 April 2026 application date, the 103.20 euro indexed figure, the four exemptions, the bilan de compétences cap and the exclusion of ancillary costs all come from the French government's public information service, on a page published in January 2026 and updated on 2 April 2026, produced by the Direction de l'information légale et administrative under the Prime Minister.

The certification prices, Répertoire spécifique listings and CPF eligibility statements come from the two responsible ministries' own pages on the DCL and the CLES, read in a browser for earlier guides in this series.

The 100 euro figure, the annual indexation mechanism, the two cases where the contribution is not due, the third-party provision and the 2 May 2024 entry into force come from the legal texts themselves on Légifrance: Décret n° 2024-394 of 29 April 2024, and article R6323 of the Code du travail which its Article 1 created. Légifrance's own version label on that article, in force from 2 May 2024 to 2 April 2026, is what independently confirms the April 2026 change date.

Légifrance sits behind bot protection that blocks automated reading, so those pages were opened in a browser session. The 2026 decree itself we did not reach, and the guide says so rather than implying we read it.

The comparison table is arithmetic on published numbers rather than a claim we found anywhere. It is also the reason this guide exists: the funding conversation in France assumes public money is the cheap route, and for a bare certificate that stopped being true in April.

Practise speaking, from SpeakShark

SpeakShark is an AI English speaking practice app, and it is our pick here because of what the funding question cannot buy. Whichever route you take, the certificate reports a level, and the level moves with hours of speaking rather than with an administrative decision. You talk, the AI answers what you actually said, and you get speaking feedback while the conversation is still going. The free tier gives basic feedback; the detailed pronunciation and grammar breakdown is on Premium.

Being straight about the limits: a free session runs five minutes with four turns, which suits daily practice rather than replacing structured teaching if you are genuinely a level below your target.

Start free with three sessions a day and no card. Paid sessions run ten minutes with unlimited turns. Limits are on the pricing page, and how it works walks through a full session.

We are a speaking improvement tool. We are not an exam preparation provider, and we are not affiliated with Cambridge English, the IELTS partners, Pearson or any exam board. For test format, booking and official practice material, go to the exam body directly. Use SpeakShark to make your spoken English stronger, and use official material to learn the test.

• Site: speakshark.com
• Support: speaksharksupport@gmail.com
• Free tier: 3 AI conversation sessions per day, no card

Sources

• Légifrance, Décret n° 2024-394 du 29 avril 2024: NOR TSSD2408860D, JORF n° 0101 of 30 April 2024, taken on articles L. 6323-4 and L. 6323-7 of the Code du travail, creating the contribution and fixing its entry into force at 2 May 2024
• Légifrance, article R6323 du Code du travail: the hundred euro flat sum, the annual indexation to consumer prices excluding tobacco set by joint ministerial order, the third-party provision, the two cases where the contribution is not due, and the version label showing it in force from 2 May 2024 to 2 April 2026
• Service Public, CPF: la participation forfaitaire obligatoire augmente: the 150 euro amount and its 2 April 2026 application date, the decree of 30 March 2026, the 103.20 euro figure at 1 January 2026, the jobseeker exemption, the bilan de compétences cap and the exclusion of ancillary costs
• Ministère de l'Éducation nationale, Le diplôme de compétence en langue (DCL): the Répertoire spécifique listing, CPF funding through approved training organisations and the unlimited validity
• Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche, Certificat de compétences en langues de l'enseignement supérieur (CLES): the Répertoire spécifique listing, CPF eligibility in continuing education, the 2022 price example and the unlimited validity

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