Look at these examples:
Youpi! J'ai eu ma licence!
Yippee! I got my B.A.!
Et toi? - Non, je ne l'ai pas eu.
And you? No, I didn't pass [it].
-> N.B. the bac or Baccalauréat is the compulsory exam that French students take at the end of high school, when they're 18, before going on to university for example. This exam, unlike the British A-Levels, includes all the subjects studied up to then.
In French, to say that you passed an exam (meaning succeeded in it), or that you received/got a degree, you can use the verb avoir and the name of the exam or degree.
See also Passer un exam vs to pass an exam
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Q&A
Richard
Kwiziq community member
21 September 2017
3 replies
"A levels"?
Richard
Kwiziq community member
21/09/17
Ron
Kwiziq community member
23/09/17
I am an American subscriber and have only heard of «A levels». While this is not the proper forum for an explanation, I would appreciate a useful link to learn more detail of what that entails. I do, at times, find myself doing a double-take when I run across the British-specific terms.
Merci en avance.
Michael
Kwiziq community member
30/01/18
In the US there is no equivalent. You finish school and go to college for higher education. France seemingly follows the UK model (or probably vice versa). In my country (South Africa) we follow the US system except for certain schools which for various reasons specifically elect to follow the UK way.
Michael
Kwiziq community member
15 August 2017
1 reply
Si vous échouez, essayez-vous de «passer le buck»?
Gruff
Kwiziq language super star
15/08/17
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
3/01/17
Yes, here we mean the same thing, as often passing an exam is equivalent to receiving the corresponding degree in English.
"In French, to say that you passed an exam (meaning succeeded in it), or that you received/got a degree, you can use the verb 'avoir' and the name of the exam or degree."
I hope that's helpful!
Bonne Année !
Jennifer
Kwiziq community member
3/01/17
Jennifer
Kwiziq community member
3/01/17
Sherilyn
Kwiziq community member
4/07/18
David
Kwiziq community member
18 July 2018
0 replies
J'ai eu mon exam
In the quiz it was expected that you choose this form as well as the expected J'ai reussi mon exam or J'ai obtenu mon exam. In the lesson it states that you can use J'ai eu with the name of the exam (e.g. bac or licence).
So would a French speaker really use the J'ai eu or J'ai obtenu form with "mon exam"?
It seems unlikely. Rather like in English we would not say "I got my exam" or "I obtained my exam" where, of course, we have no problem with "I got my degree" or "I obtained my dregree"