Free Practice Questions for Concours SESAME
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Key Facts: Concours SESAME Exam
Concours SESAME provides entry to 17 international business programmes at 14 French schools via Parcoursup.
The written examination consists of approximately 220 QCM questions divided into three distinct sequences (Comprendre, Communiquer, Analyser).
Total written test duration is 5 hours, administered fully online under remote proctoring.
Scoring operates strictly on a positive point basis with zero negative marking for incorrect choices.
A single 315 € fee covers all candidate school selections, discounted by 50% (157.50 €) for state scholarship recipients (boursiers).
Admissibility relies on school-specific weighting coefficients, leading to individual on-campus oral admission interviews.
A 5-hour online proctored entrance competition featuring ~220 multiple-choice questions without negative marking across 3 sequences (Comprendre, Communiquer, Analyser) opening admission to 17 international business programmes at 14 schools (including ESSEC Global BBA, NEOMA, KEDGE, emlyon and EM Normandie). The official papers are in French; this bank is an English-language MCQ study adaptation.
Sample Concours SESAME Practice Questions
Try these sample questions to review concepts for the Concours SESAME exam. Each question includes a detailed explanation. Start the interactive quiz above for the full 100+ question experience with AI tutoring.
1A luxury leather goods retailer purchases handcrafted briefcases for €80 pre-tax (prix d'achat HT) and sets the pre-tax selling price (prix de vente HT) at €100. What are the retailer's markup rate (taux de marque) and margin rate (taux de marge)?
2An office furniture supplier offers a business client a 20% trade discount (remise commerciale) on catalog price, followed by a 5% early payment cash discount (escompte de règlement) on the discounted amount. What single overall discount rate is equivalent to these two successive discounts?
3A strategy consulting firm issues an invoice with a total amount of €18,000 including VAT (TTC) under the French standard VAT rate of 20%. What are the pre-tax amount (montant HT) and the VAT amount (montant de la TVA)?
4A manufacturing startup produces reusable smart water bottles. It incurs annual fixed costs of €240,000. Each bottle sells for €80, with unit variable costs amounting to €50. What is the firm's break-even volume (seuil de rentabilité en volume)?
5During the first quarter of the year, a listed stock's price rises by 25%. In the second quarter, it experiences a 20% correction. What is the overall percentage change in the stock price over the two quarters combined?
6An enterprise places €20,000 into a fixed-term corporate savings account earning 4.0% annual compound interest. How much capital will have accumulated at the end of 3 years, rounded to the nearest euro?
7Three co-founders launch a joint venture with differing equity capital contributions: Camille contributes €60,000, David contributes €90,000, and Éléonore contributes €150,000. If the first year's distributed net profit of €75,000 is allocated strictly pro rata according to their initial investments, how much does David receive?
8A merchant begins the month with 200 units of component X in inventory valued at €15 per unit. Mid-month, a fresh batch of 300 units is purchased at €20 per unit. What is the weighted average unit cost (coût unitaire moyen pondéré - CUMP) of the inventory?
9A French exporter converts €50,000 into US dollars at an exchange rate of 1 EUR = 1.10 USD. The commercial bank charges a 1.5% processing fee deducted directly from the euro principal before exchange. How many US dollars does the exporter receive?
10An artisan atelier manufactures two models of artisanal leather bags: Model A and Model B. Producing one Model A requires 2 hours of cutting and 3 hours of stitching. Producing one Model B requires 4 hours of cutting and 2 hours of stitching. The atelier has exactly 200 cutting hours and 180 stitching hours available. If all hours are fully utilized, how many units of Model A and Model B are produced?
About the Concours SESAME Exam
Concours SESAME is the premier common entrance examination in France for secondary school graduates (lycéens) and holders of a baccalaureate seeking admission to 17 international management programmes across 14 French business schools (EBS Paris, EDC Paris Business School, EM Normandie, EM Strasbourg, emlyon business school, EMLV, ESCE International Business School, ESSEC Business School, GEM Alpine Business School, IPAG Business School, KEDGE Business School, NEOMA Business School, Paris School of Business and SKEMA Business School) via the national Parcoursup platform. The written competition is conducted 100% online through secure remote proctoring without negative marking, comprising three distinct sequences: Séquence Comprendre (80 QCM: Enjeux contemporains, Compétences digitales, Raisonnement et compétences mathématiques), Séquence Communiquer (120 QCM: Français, Anglais, and LV2), and Séquence Analyser (20 QCM on a complex multi-document corporate/societal dossier). Admissible candidates proceed to school-specific oral admissions interviews. This practice question bank provides a comprehensive English-language training tool with authentic calculations and bilingual nuances.
Exam sponsor: GIE Concours SESAME. The requirements and fees below concern the certification or admission exam, separate from our free practice resources.
Questions
220 questions
Time Limit
5 hours total written examination (Séquence Comprendre 1h30, Séquence Communiquer 1h30, Séquence Analyser 2h00)
Passing Score
Competitive composite ranking across three written test sequences (no negative points), followed by school-specific oral interviews.
Exam / Certification Fees
315 € flat fee covering all participating tracks (50% reduction for boursiers du gouvernement français, i.e. 157.50 €)
Exam sponsor websiteFees, eligibility, and exam policies can change. Confirm them with the exam sponsor before applying or paying.
Official sources
Our practice resources: topics covered
We aim to reflect publicly available exam outlines and topic information in our study resources. Coverage, format, and difficulty may differ from the actual exam, and we cannot guarantee that every detail is accurate or current. Confirm exam requirements, fees, and policies with the official exam sponsor.
Quantitative Reasoning and Business Math
Commercial arithmetic (discounts, margins, markups), successive percentages, linear equations, basic probabilities, proportions, and graph interpretation.
Contemporary World Issues and Geopolitics
International treaties, global economic developments, European Union governance, green transition, multilateral institutions, and geopolitical shifts.
Digital Skills and Algorithmic Thinking
Cybersecurity hygiene, RGPD/GDPR compliance, basic algorithms and logic sequencing, cloud computing, and fundamental AI concepts.
French Language and Verbal Accuracy
French syntactic norms, accords du participe passé, homophones, lexical precision, logical connectors, and stylistics tested in bilingual context.
International Business English
Commercial collocations, business idioms, advanced grammar structures, phrasal verbs, and economic reading comprehension.
Preparing for the Concours SESAME Exam
What You Need to Know
- Passing score: Competitive composite ranking across three written test sequences (no negative points), followed by school-specific oral interviews.
- Exam length: 220 questions
- Time limit: 5 hours total written examination (Séquence Comprendre 1h30, Séquence Communiquer 1h30, Séquence Analyser 2h00)
- Exam / certification fees: 315 € flat fee covering all participating tracks (50% reduction for boursiers du gouvernement français, i.e. 157.50 €) Official sources
Using Our Practice Resources
- Work through all 100 available questions
- Review every answer and explanation
- Track weak areas and revisit them
- Use our AI tutor for tough concepts
Concours SESAME: Suggested Study Strategy
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Concours SESAME and which business schools does it grant access to?
Concours SESAME is a unified post-baccalaureate entrance examination for admission to 17 undergraduate and integrated Master programmes across 14 French business schools, including ESSEC Business School (Global BBA), NEOMA Business School (CESEM, Global BBA), KEDGE Business School (International BBA, EBP International), EM Normandie (PGE), Excelia Business School, IPAG, PSB, and EDC Paris. Candidates apply via the French national Parcoursup portal.
How is the Concours SESAME written exam structured?
The written exam takes place over 5 hours in three sequences: Séquence Comprendre (1h30, 80 questions: Enjeux contemporains 40 Q, Compétences digitales 20 Q, Raisonnement et compétences mathématiques 20 Q), Séquence Communiquer (1h30, 120 questions: Français 40 Q, Anglais 40 Q, and LV2 40 Q), and Séquence Analyser (2h00, 20 questions based on a documentary dossier). All questions are single-best-answer MCQs.
Are there negative points for wrong answers on Concours SESAME?
No. Concours SESAME uses a positive scoring scale with no negative marking (pas de points négatifs). Candidates are strongly advised to answer every single question before the timer expires.
What is the registration fee for Concours SESAME?
For the 2026 session the examination fee is 315 € as a single flat fee covering application to all participating tracks and schools selected on Parcoursup. Boursiers du gouvernement français receive a 50% fee waiver, reducing the cost to 157.50 €, and the fee is refunded to boursiers who enrol in a SESAME school.
Where and how is the Concours SESAME written exam taken?
The written competition is conducted 100% online from home (or another quiet location) using a dedicated, secure remote proctoring application (TestWe) with automated and human proctoring via candidate webcam, microphone, and secure browser lock.
What happens after the written exam results are published?
Each participating business school calculates its own admissibility score using its specific coefficients for each test sequence. Candidates who pass the school's threshold are declared 'admissible' and invited to book oral exams (épreuves orales), which include a personal motivation interview (entretien de personnalité) and oral modern language tests.