The National Diploma (diplôme national du Brevet or DNB) is both an assessment and a certification of the knowledge and skills acquired at the end of middle school. The assessment is mostly continuous throughout middle school, with one oral exam and three written exams at the end of 3ème (Grade 9).

The key subjects are evaluated through end of year exams and class test marks awarded over the previous two years, as well as student behavior and coursework grades.

The end of year examinations consist of three papers; in French, Mathematics and History/Geography/Civics. These exams are obligatory.

In order to obtain the French national brevet diploma, students must have an overall grade average of 10/20 accross all their grades and have validated their common core skills. Based on the overall grade, students may receive a distinction: fairly high, high or very high.