Public sector exams · competitive exam

Adjoint, rédacteur, attaché: your diploma opens the grade

Level 3 for the adjoint, 4 for the rédacteur, 6 for the attaché: these are minimums. The note's sector and the optional paper are fixed at registration.

Next registration: Rédacteur, 2 Feb. → 10 March 2027
Minimum diploma: Level 3 adjoint, 4 rédacteur, 6 attaché
File note (attaché): 4 h, coefficient 4

Study for free See the method

What you need to understand.

The real format of the exam, and what actually decides it.

A civil service competition is not a single exam. Level 3 opens the adjoint, 4 the rédacteur, 6 the attaché, and these are minimums: with a bac, the attaché remains out of reach. Each grade has its own papers and organiser: management centre, CNFPT or State administration. In the territorial service, the 2027 session is announced only for the rédacteur and the administrateur.

What separates candidates is the long written paper. For the attaché, the file note lasts 4 hours and weighs coefficient 4, as much as the 25-minute interview; the composition weighs 3. A mark under 5/20 in a compulsory paper eliminates, and a weighted average of 10/20 is required. For the rédacteur, the two 3-hour written papers and the interview each count 1: nothing makes up for a failed written paper.

Four grades, from CAP to senior manager

The format and weight of each paper, without the noise around it.

Composition, territorial attaché

4 h, general subject on the place of local authorities in local issues · Coefficient 3

An argued line, knowledge and an ability to project yourself into a post in a local authority.

File note, territorial attaché

4 h, file on one of five sectors of your choice · Coefficient 4

Sort the documents, identify the essentials and propose solutions the local authority can apply.

Interview, territorial attaché

25 min, from the information sheet submitted at registration · Coefficient 4

General administrative knowledge, motivation, aptitude to exercise the job framework.

Written papers and interview, territorial rédacteur

Two 3-hour written papers (answers to questions, then a file note), 20-min interview · Equal weight: coefficient 1 per paper

Correct answers, a readable note, a held professional project.

Written papers and interview, administrative adjoint

French 1 h 30, numerical table 1 h, interview 15 min, office software 15 min · Coefficient 3 for French, the table and the interview; 1 for office software

Understanding a text, spelling and grammar, accuracy of a numerical table, ease with office software.

Territorial administrateur (CNFPT)

Five written papers of 3 to 5 h (economics, public law, contemporary society, finance, synthesis note) and four orals · Varies according to the access route

Senior-manager level: file analysis, argued proposals, collective simulation.

The calendar.

The dates that matter, with their status.

1 Oct. → 25 Nov. 2026
State attachés, internal competition registration
Window still open on 28 October 2026: submission closes on 25 November 2026. Internal competition of the Ministry of Education, reserved for serving staff: it is not an external access route. Written papers on 12 February 2027; places set by decree.
19 Nov. 2026
Territorial attaché, 2026 session closed
Registrations closed since April 2026; the 2026 session papers are set for 19 November 2026. The 2027 session is not announced: the next window is still to be published.
2 Feb. → 10 March 2027
Territorial rédacteur, 2027 registration
Dates published by the management centres portal, with a list of organisers that is not yet final. This is the next registration window published for an external candidate.
15 Feb. → 19 March 2027
Territorial administrateur, 2027 registration
Competition organised by the CNFPT. First papers announced for 21 June 2027, subject to confirmation.
14 Oct. 2027
Territorial rédacteur, 2027 papers
Indicative date for the first papers. Same caveat: the list of organisers is not final.

Dates checked on October 28, 2026. Any date that hasn’t been published is flagged as such.

What actually blocks you.

The obstacles that cost you points, not the clichés.

Treating the note as an essay

For the attaché, the file note lasts 4 hours and weighs coefficient 4. What is expected is a sorting of the documents and applicable proposals, not a recited course.

Choosing your sector at the last moment

Five sectors for the attaché's note, an optional paper for the adjoint, modern language or law: everything is fixed at registration, with no change afterwards.

Registering with two management centres

Since the decree of 31 March 2021, it is impossible to register for several competitions of the same grade organised at the same time by different management centres. Yet dates and places vary from one organiser to another.

Sacrificing a paper judged easy

A mark under 5 out of 20 in a compulsory paper puts you out of the competition, even if the rest is good. Written papers are marked twice, anonymously: the mark is not negotiable.

The method, in 3 steps.

A course goes in. Ready-made materials come out. You study.

01
Read the file before writing
Over 4 hours, reading is not wasted time. Locate each document, note its page, then build a plan that refers to the documents.
02
Choose your sector with past papers
Before registering, read two or three subjects among the five sectors. Take the one whose vocabulary speaks to you, not the one that looks serious.
03
Write full scripts, timed
Four hours for the attaché, three for the rédacteur: write full scripts, not plans. The exercise is what gets marked.

What Summry does for this exam.

Study materials, not a promise you’ll pass.

The file note, document by document

Upload a past-paper file as PDF, photos or Word: Summry draws sheets and a mind map of the file from it. Sorting and proposals still have to be written, but you see the structure before starting.

The rédacteur's short questions

The rédacteur's first written paper is a series of answers to questions, coefficient 1 like the others. Generate quizzes from the courses that prepare these questions: they do not replace the written answer, they check that the concepts are there before the paper.

The chat on the competition texts

For the 25-minute interview, administrative knowledge is revised from texts. Import the competition page and the job-framework texts: the chat answers only from these documents, and you can be questioned on them before the oral. The account is free.

Summry does not write your note and does not mark your script: it helps you make sheets from a file and revise the texts, but the hours of timed writing and the choice of sector remain to be done alone.

Frequently asked questions.

The questions we get asked most often about Civil service competitions.

Do you need a diploma to register?

Yes, a minimum diploma depending on the grade. The external competition for administrative adjoint requires level 3 (CAP, BEP), that for rédacteur level 4 (baccalauréat), that for attaché level 6 (degree or equivalent). These levels appear in the access conditions published by the management centres. There has been no age limit since 2005, except in specific cases.

When do the 2027 registrations take place?

For the territorial rédacteur, from 2 February to 10 March 2027, for papers announced on 14 October 2027. For the administrateur, from 15 February to 19 March 2027. For the territorial attaché, registrations are closed and the 2026 session papers are set for 19 November 2026; the 2027 session is not announced. For the adjoint, the 2027 session does not appear in the calendar: the last known papers, on 12 March 2026, have passed.

Can you register with several management centres?

No. Since the decree of 31 March 2021, a candidate cannot register for several competitions for access to the same grade organised simultaneously by different management centres. You choose a single organiser for that grade, but you remain free to apply for other competitions or exams organised on other dates.

How many places are open?

No 2027 number of places is published for the attaché, the rédacteur and the adjoint: it is set by the opening decree of each management centre, and varies from one organiser to another. One public benchmark: 54 places in the territorial administrateur competition in 2025 (24 external, 4 external special, 22 internal, 4 third competition), a senior-manager competition that says nothing about the other grades.

How are scripts marked?

Each paper is marked out of 20, then multiplied by its coefficient. A mark below 5 out of 20 in a compulsory paper eliminates, and the weighted average must reach 10 out of 20 to appear among those admitted. The jury is not obliged to fill every open place, and written papers are marked twice, anonymously.

Sources.

Information gathered from official websites, checked on October 28, 2026. The links open the original source.

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