CRPE Cheat Sheets
Studying for the CRPE: 150 tricks to make it stick
It’s late, you’re closing a 500-page textbook, and the same question keeps coming back: what did I actually retain? The CRPE (French primary school teacher recruitment exam) does not forgive approximation. Grammar rules get muddled, math formulas evaporate on the big day, and didactic terminology remains fuzzy.
The problem is almost never the amount of work put in. It’s how the memory holds onto it.
What the book contains
150 mnemonic tricks divided into 10 sections over 164 pages, with content verified against official guidelines for the 2026 edition. One concept, one trick: every page provides a concrete way to remember, rather than just another summary to reread on a loop.
Paperback book, print-on-demand in Europe.
The exam, test by test
The CRPE, the primary school teacher recruitment competition, takes place in two stages. First, the written eligibility tests: the French test and the mathematics test, where disciplinary mastery is expected just as much as didactic reflection. Then, for eligible candidates, the admission tests—oral exams this time—which include an interview with the jury and a professional situational assessment.
Whether it’s the external competition after a MEEF master’s degree, the internal competition, or the third competition based on professional experience, the difficulty is the same everywhere: the volume. From history-geography benchmarks to agreement rules, not to mention physical education and foreign languages, you have to remember a huge number of specific details for the day of the exams.
What this book is not
Let’s be clear: it is not a prep course, nor a collection of past papers with answer keys, nor a complete curriculum. It won’t tell you how to register or when the results will be released—that information changes every year, varies by academy, and belongs exclusively to official websites.
This is a memorization tool to be used as a supplement to your exam preparation: while commuting, between study sessions, or the day before a mock oral exam.
What the juries expect
The competition exams measure more than just knowledge: they measure an aptitude—the ability to reproduce it under pressure, on paper or in front of jury members. Each written test leaves little room for hesitation, and the papers quickly start to look the same; written expression counts as much as content. In the oral tests, examiners expect you to mobilize your reference points without hesitation, including on the education system, physical education, or a foreign language.
You don’t become eligible because you read more, but because what you read comes back at the right moment. This is true for all exams and competitions; it is particularly true for the recruitment of primary school teachers, where the curriculum covers very broad disciplinary fields.
Which competition are you taking?
The primary competition, or external competition, is aimed at candidates who hold a master’s degree or are currently enrolled in a MEEF master’s program. The internal competitions are for personnel already in service, and the third competition recognizes professional experience gained elsewhere. There is also a second competition in certain academies, and specific recruitment for regional languages.
The written and oral tests remain similar from one competition to another, and the tricks in this book serve in all cases: it is the same disciplinary knowledge and the same didactics that you must have in mind on the big day.
After the competition
Passing opens the door to the internship year, followed by tenure and assignment to a school. Winners become civil servants of the National Education system, primary school teachers—or "instituteurs," as they were called before 1990. You will also need to provide the required certifications, including those for first aid and swimming.
But all of that comes later. Until then, there is a curriculum to memorize, and that is precisely what this book is for.
Why rereading is not enough
Rereading a lesson makes you feel like you know it: that is the best-documented trap of studying. The text becomes familiar, and this familiarity is mistaken for mastery—until the moment you have to reproduce it without the material in front of you, on an exam paper or in front of a jury.
A mnemonic device does the opposite. It creates a deliberate anchor point, often absurd, sometimes funny, that the brain retrieves on its own. That is why you still remember "Mais où est donc Ornicar ?" twenty years after primary school.
For whom
Candidates for the CRPE, studying alone, at an INSPÉ (National Higher Institute for Teaching and Education), or via distance learning. Those who are aiming for a career as a primary school teacher, in either nursery or elementary school. Becoming a primary school teacher remains a demanding civil service competition: the winners are those who knew how to transform an overwhelming volume into solid reference points.
Are you studying health sciences instead? The same approach exists for the IFSI (Nursing School) in The Health Student’s Cheat Sheets. And for children and teenagers, the entire range is in the Cheat Sheets collection.
Print-on-demand in Europe, delivered for free
The book is printed on demand at a partner workshop in Europe. Expect 5 to 10 business days between ordering and delivery. Shipping is free, with no minimum purchase, anywhere in metropolitan France.
Before choosing, read our guide: the method for studying for the CRPE — the memorization techniques that work, the concepts that cause the most problems, and the costliest study mistakes.