On this page
- About these Vivre ensemble practice questions
- How to use these questions
- Fundamental rights: 5 practice questions
- State and communal institutions: 10 practice questions
- History and European integration: 5 practice questions
- How did you do?
- What the full course adds
- Where to go next
- Official sources
- Questions people ask
About these Vivre ensemble practice questions
This page gives you 20 Vivre ensemble practice questions in English, with the answer and a short explanation for each. They follow the same proportions as the real exam, so they work as a small mock test: a quarter on fundamental rights, half on institutions, a quarter on history and the European Union.
- 20
- practice questions on this page
- 5 / 10 / 5
- rights / institutions / history
- 40
- questions in the real exam (10 / 20 / 10)
Each question has four options and one correct answer. Click "Show the answer" only after you have chosen. The explanation tells you why the answer is right and, where it matters, which wrong option people usually fall for.
How to use these questions
Treat the page as a short test first and a study tool second. If you open every answer straight away you learn much less than if you commit to a choice and then check it.
Answer all 20 before checking
Write down your choice for each question on paper. Do not look up anything. This tells you what you actually know today.
Mark yourself per area
Count your correct answers in each of the three groups. The exam gives institutions twice the weight of each other area, so a weak score there matters most.
Read the explanations of every question you missed
Then also read the ones you got right by guessing. Most mistakes in this exam come from two facts that sound alike, and the explanation names the one you should not confuse it with.
Go back to the matching chapter
Each question shows its subtopic. Use the study guide to read the chapter behind your weakest subtopic, then try the questions again a few days later.
Fundamental rights: 5 practice questions
Fundamental rights make up 10 of the 40 exam questions. The area covers where rights come from (the main declarations and conventions and their dates), the rights in the Luxembourg Constitution and how they are grouped, the situations in which rights can be limited, and who protects them. Our chapter on fundamental rights covers all of it.
In which city was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed?
- Luxembourg
- Paris
- Strasbourg
- New York
Show the answer
Answer: Paris.
The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Paris in 1948. Strasbourg is the trap: it is the seat of the Council of Europe and of the European Court of Human Rights, a different system.
Rights related to social protection or public assistance are:
- Freedom rights (civil liberties)
- Constitutional objectives
- Entitlement rights (social rights)
- Participation rights
Show the answer
Answer: Entitlement rights (social rights).
Social protection, education and healthcare are entitlement rights: they require the community to provide something. Freedom rights work the other way round, protecting the individual against the State, and participation rights cover political life, such as voting.
Does freedom of religion include the right not to have a religion?
- Yes
- Only with authorization
- Only for citizens
- No
Show the answer
Answer: Yes.
Freedom of religion is a freedom right that protects the individual against the State. It covers holding a belief, changing it, and holding none at all, without any authorisation.
Which personal characteristic can limit the right to vote in Luxembourg?
- Nationality
- Income level
- Place of residence within the country
- Profession
Show the answer
Answer: Nationality.
Nationality is one of the recognised limits on rights. Voting in legislative elections is reserved to Luxembourg citizens, while EU citizens can vote in municipal and European elections after registering on the electoral roll.
What is the position of fundamental rights within the Luxembourg legal order?
- They are optional
- They have only moral value
- They are binding on public authorities
- They are inferior to regulations
Show the answer
Answer: They are binding on public authorities.
Fundamental rights bind the public authorities. The first guarantor is the ordinary national judge, who applies them in everyday disputes; the Constitutional Court and the European courts come on top of that, each in its own frame.
State and communal institutions: 10 practice questions
Institutions are half the exam: 20 of the 40 questions. Expect questions on the State and its symbols, the Grand Duke, the Chamber of Deputies, the Government, the Council of State, the courts, elections, municipalities, political parties and the consultative bodies. The ten below cover one subtopic each where possible.
For the background, read the institutions chapter, courts and justice and communes, elections and consultative bodies.
Which language is designated as the national language of Luxembourg?
- German
- Luxembourgish
- English
- French
Show the answer
Answer: Luxembourgish.
Luxembourgish is the national language. French is the traditional language for drafting laws, and German completes a trilingual public life. Do not confuse "national language" with "language of legislation".
What institutional power does the Grand Duke exercise in government matters?
- He elects the ministers
- He controls political parties
- He appoints the Prime Minister and the members of the government
- He approves electoral programs
Show the answer
Answer: He appoints the Prime Minister and the members of the government.
The Grand Duke appoints the Prime Minister and the members of the government, but within the parliamentary process: the Government must hold the confidence of the Chamber of Deputies. He does not elect ministers or steer party politics.
What is the main role of the Chamber of Deputies?
- To pass laws and oversee the Government
- To administer justice
- To implement laws
- To represent the EU
Show the answer
Answer: To pass laws and oversee the Government.
The Chamber of Deputies passes laws and the budget and oversees the Government, up to bringing it down with a motion of censure. Implementing laws is the Government's job; settling disputes belongs to the courts.
What institutional relationship links the Government and the Grand Duke?
- The Grand Duke directs the Government
- The Government is personally subordinate to the Grand Duke
- The Government controls the Grand Duke
- The Grand Duke’s acts are countersigned by a minister
Show the answer
Answer: The Grand Duke’s acts are countersigned by a minister.
Every act of the Grand Duke must be countersigned by a member of the government. The countersignature moves political responsibility to the minister, which is why the Grand Duke bears none before the Chamber.
On which texts must the Council of State be consulted?
- Only international treaties
- Bills and legislative proposals
- Judicial decisions
- Only municipal regulations
Show the answer
Answer: Bills and legislative proposals.
The Council of State gives reasoned legal opinions on government bills (projets de loi) and on bills tabled by deputies (propositions de loi). Its opinions bind no one and it votes no laws; it is neither a court nor a second chamber.
What is the main role of the district courts?
- To hear administrative disputes
- To rule at first instance on major civil and criminal cases
- To issue legal opinions
- To rule only on appeals
Show the answer
Answer: To rule at first instance on major civil and criminal cases.
The two district courts, in Luxembourg and Diekirch, hear the more important civil and criminal cases at first instance. Smaller cases go to the three justices of the peace, and appeals go to the Superior Court of Justice.
What relationship exists between the Constitutional Court and the ordinary courts?
- The ordinary courts are politically subordinate
- The Constitutional Court directs the ordinary courts
- The Court rules in place of the courts
- Ordinary courts may refer questions of constitutionality to it
Show the answer
Answer: Ordinary courts may refer questions of constitutionality to it.
The Constitutional Court does not supervise the other courts. It rules only when a court refers a question of constitutionality to it, and it checks the law against the Constitution, not the facts of the case.
Which body constitutes the deliberative assembly of the municipality?
- The municipal council
- The Ministry of the Interior
- The board of mayor and aldermen
- The mayor alone
Show the answer
Answer: The municipal council.
The deliberative assembly is the municipal council: directly elected for six years, it deliberates and decides municipal affairs, votes the budget and adopts municipal regulations. The board of mayor and aldermen is the executive body.
What does the “tripartite” nature of the Economic and Social Council mean?
- It rules at three judicial levels
- It brings together representatives of employers, employees, and the State
- It represents three municipalities
- It includes three legislative chambers
Show the answer
Answer: It brings together representatives of employers, employees, and the State.
Tripartite means three parties around the table: employers, employees and the State. The Economic and Social Council advises on economic and social policy; like all consultative bodies, its opinions are not binding.
Because no single party usually wins an absolute majority, Luxembourg governments are normally formed as:
- As a coalition of several parties
- As a single-party government
- As a government of experts without parties
- By the Grand Duke alone
Show the answer
Answer: As a coalition of several parties.
Luxembourg has a multi-party system and proportional representation, so one party rarely wins an absolute majority. Governments are almost always coalitions of two or more parties.
History and European integration: 5 practice questions
History and European integration make up the last 10 questions. They run from the founding act of 963 to the present day, with a strong focus on the treaties that built today's European Union, in which Luxembourg is a founding member. See the history chapter and the European Union chapter.
By what means did Sigefroi obtain Lucilinburhuc in 963?
- Through an exchange act with the Abbey of Trier
- By decision of the Congress of Vienna
- By military conquest
- By royal inheritance
Show the answer
Answer: Through an exchange act with the Abbey of Trier.
In 963 Count Sigefroi acquired the rock of Lucilinburhuc through an act of exchange with the Abbey of Saint-Maximin in Trier. That written act is the first document in Luxembourg's history; there was no conquest and no inheritance.
Which European congress decided the fate of Luxembourg after the fall of Napoleon?
- The Congress of Berlin
- The Treaty of London
- The Congress of Paris
- The Congress of Vienna
Show the answer
Answer: The Congress of Vienna.
After the fall of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna (1815) raised Luxembourg to a Grand Duchy, granted to the King of the Netherlands in a personal union, while the country also joined the German Confederation.
In whose favor did Marie-Adélaïde abdicate in 1919?
- In favor of her sister Charlotte
- In favor of France
- In favor of her son
- In favor of her cousin
Show the answer
Answer: In favor of her sister Charlotte.
The crisis of 1918–1919 ended with Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde abdicating in favour of her sister Charlotte. The same period brought the vote for women in 1919.
What major act of resistance took place in Luxembourg during the Second World War?
- An armed uprising in Luxembourg City in 1940
- The general strike of 1942 against forced conscription into the German army
- The declaration of independence in 1943
- The expulsion of the occupier by the Luxembourg army
Show the answer
Answer: The general strike of 1942 against forced conscription into the German army.
Germany annexed Luxembourg de facto in 1940 and imposed forced conscription into its army. The general strike of 1942 was the population's answer, and it is the act of resistance the syllabus expects you to know.
Which treaty created the position of a permanent President of the European Council?
- The Treaty of Rome
- The Treaty of Amsterdam
- The Treaty of Lisbon
- The Treaty of Maastricht
Show the answer
Answer: The Treaty of Lisbon.
The permanent President of the European Council was created by the Treaty of Lisbon, signed in 2007 and in force from 2009. Lisbon is the treaty of institutional reform: the permanent presidency, voting rules in the Council, a larger role for the European Parliament.
How did you do?
Count your correct answers in each group and compare them with the weight of that area in the exam. Twenty questions is a small sample, so read the result as a direction, not a verdict.
| Area | On this page | In the exam | What to do if you scored low |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fundamental rights | 5 | 10 | Learn the four rights texts with their dates and authors, and the four families of rights in the Constitution. |
| Institutions | 10 | 20 | Start here. Learn who does what: Chamber, Government, Grand Duke, Council of State, the two court orders, the two municipal bodies. |
| History and EU | 5 | 10 | Build a timeline of about 15 dates and the order of the five European treaties. |
The official pages do not publish a pass mark; the Service de la formation des adultes (SFA) confirms results. A sensible target before you register is to answer most questions right in every area, not just in your favourite one.
If you got several institutions questions wrong, you are in good company. In CivicLearn practice data (391 learners, about 700,000 answers, October 2026), questions on the two court orders and on the European treaties top the list of most-missed questions. The 15 most-missed questions page shows them one by one.
What the full course adds
Twenty questions are enough to find your weak areas, but not enough to prepare for 40 questions on the day. The CivicLearn Vivre ensemble course is built for that second step.
- 700+ practice questions organised by the three official areas and 21 subtopics, so you can drill one subtopic at a time.
- Timed 40-question simulations with the official 10/20/10 split between rights, institutions and history.
- English, French and German: switch the language of any question at any time, which helps if you plan to sit the exam in French or German, or want to check an official term.
- A "common traps" mode built from the questions learners miss most, plus a personal review list of the questions you got wrong.
- A "Good to know" explanation after each answer, in the same style as the explanations on this page.
- Six printable revision sheets and the official reference texts in English.
It is a one-time payment with lifetime access and no subscription.
Where to go next
If you have not decided yet whether to take the exam or attend the 24-hour course, read course or exam. If you want the full picture of naturalisation, including the Luxembourgish language test, see Luxembourg citizenship requirements.
For reading, the official study materials page explains which brochures matter most and in what order to read them. The rights questions also draw on the 2023 Constitution, which is worth a separate look.
Official sources
- guichet.lu – Luxembourg nationality and the Vivre ensemble requirement
- men.public.lu – Ministry of Education, Children and Youth
- lifelong-learning.lu – adult education and Vivre ensemble sessions
- legilux.public.lu – the law of 8 March 2017 and the Constitution
Questions people ask
Are these the real Vivre ensemble exam questions?
No. They are practice questions written from the official study material, in the exam's multiple-choice format. The questions on the day are set by the Service de la formation des adultes (SFA) and are not published.
How many questions are in the Vivre ensemble exam?
The exam has 40 multiple-choice questions: 10 on fundamental rights, 20 on state and communal institutions and 10 on the history of the Grand Duchy and European integration.
Can I take the Vivre ensemble exam in English?
Yes. The course and the exam are organised in Luxembourgish, French and German and also in English. Check the official registration portal to see which sessions are offered in which language.
What score do I need to pass the Vivre ensemble exam?
The official pages do not publish a pass mark; the Service de la formation des adultes (SFA) confirms results. Aim to answer well above half of your practice questions correctly in every area before you register.
Is there a free Vivre ensemble mock test?
You can use the 20 questions on this page as a short mock test. Answer all of them before opening any answer, then count your score per area to see where you need to study.
Are the exam questions only multiple choice?
The exam is computer-based and multiple-choice. The questionnaires may also contain binary questions, such as yes/no or true/false, so practise reading each statement carefully.