A political test in moral and civic education lessons

Where it fits in the EMC curriculum

• Terminale (all tracks): the annual theme “La vie démocratique : débat, délibération et prise de décision”. Its first part, “Les principes et les espaces du débat démocratique”, asks students to discuss the role of political parties, how political life is structured (right, centre, left), the historical importance of the right to vote and the problem of abstention.
• The same part suggests studying opinion polls: who commissions them, how they are carried out and how they are interpreted. It is a good moment to explain why the test, which measures the distance between answers and positions, is not an opinion poll.
• Troisième: the theme “Faire vivre la démocratie”, whose part on collective engagement suggests studying an election or referendum campaign. At that age, students can work with the candidate pages and the comparison table.
• Source: the EMC programme set by the arrêté of 29 May 2024 (Bulletin officiel no. 24 of 13 June 2024), which applies in troisième and terminale from the 2026–2027 school year.

Lesson plan (55 minutes)

1. 5 min

   Introduction

   What a political test is and what it is not: it does not predict the election result, it is not an opinion poll and it does not tell anyone how to vote. In the presidential election, French citizens aged 18 or over who are on the electoral roll vote; anyone aged 16 or over can take the test.

2. 10 min

   The test

   Students take the quick test on their phone or computer. Each statement has a short explanation, and any question can be skipped.

3. 15 min

   Checking sources

   In pairs, students choose one statement and open the table comparing the candidates. For two candidates, they read the justification and open the source: does the source say what the test claims?

4. 20 min

   Discussion

   In groups, students choose the statement on which the candidates disagree most and prepare three arguments for each side. Then the class discusses what the test does not measure.

5. 5 min

   Wrap-up

   Each student notes one thing they learnt about a candidate’s programme and one question they would like to ask the candidates.

Discussion questions

1. Did your result surprise you? Because of which statements?
2. Which statement separates the two candidates closest to you?
3. Why are some candidates so close to each other in the test, even though they compete in the same election?
4. What does the test not measure? For example, personality, experience, trust or whether a candidate keeps their promises.
5. In an election with two rounds, would you vote the same way in the first and in the second round? Why?
6. How can you check whether a party’s group in the National Assembly votes the way its candidate promises?

Why the test is impartial

• All 11 candidates are assessed on the same 46 statements and by the same rules.
• Each candidate’s position comes with a justification and a link to its source: their programme, a public statement, a vote by their party’s group or their party’s 2022 programme. Positions for which no clear document was found are marked as estimates.
• The methodology and the revision log are public: every change is recorded with its date.
• The project accepts no money from parties, candidates or election campaigns.
• The result shows how close the answers are to the candidates’ positions. It is not a voting recommendation.

Privacy in the classroom

Political views are personal. We recommend not asking students to show their result to the class: the statements and sources are enough for the discussion. The test does not ask for a name or email, and age and sex are optional. Details are in the privacy policy.

Useful pages for the lesson

• The test · The quick or the full test.
• Candidates compared · Every candidate’s position on every statement in one table, each cell linking to the justification and source.
• Topics · What each candidate proposes on one topic, such as taxes, pensions or Europe.
• Presidential election 2027 · The official timetable, who can vote, proxy voting and how the two rounds work.
• Methodology · How the match is calculated and how candidate positions are determined.

Have you used the test in a lesson? Write to us at contact@affinitepolitique.fr: we would like to know what worked and what did not.