Exam fees on EDOF: the new mandatory declaration in every CPF file

A CPF file filled in perfectly, a trainee enrolled, a session starting on time — and yet the file stays stuck on EDOF. Increasingly often since spring 2026, the cause is the same: an “exam fees” field left blank. A new checkbox, seemingly minor, that now conditions the entire payment chain of a certification file. Here’s what a training organisation needs to know to stop being caught out.

A new mandatory field since 28 April 2026

Since 28 April 2026, every training file opened on Mon Compte Formation must include new information: the amount of exam fees, stated in each CPF file you submit, whether included in your pedagogical fees or left to the account holder. This obligation didn’t come out of nowhere: it already appeared, as pre-contractual information, in version 14 of EDOF’s terms of use published in December 2025. 28 April 2026 simply marks its switch to a mandatory, structuring field in the filing process, on a par with the other mentions that condition invoicing a CPF file.

For an organisation preparing trainees for a professional certification, this isn’t just one more administrative detail: it’s a figure to anticipate as early as designing your offer and to include in every quote, alongside the CPF flat-rate contribution the holder must also pay.

Which CPF files are affected

The obligation doesn’t apply to every CPF-funded training, only to those that end with a certifying assessment:

• trainings leading to a certification registered with the RNCP;
• trainings leading to a certification or authorisation registered with the Répertoire spécifique;
• VAE pathways;
• driving licence training.

A short, non-certifying course funded through CPF (a skills assessment, for instance) falls outside this specific field’s scope. What the affected files have in common is that they involve, at the end of the training path, sitting an assessment before a third-party certifying body — exactly the moment covered by indicator 16 of the Qualiopi framework, dedicated to enrolling and presenting the trainee for certification assessments.

What “exam fees” actually cover

The term “exam fees” refers to the administrative costs of the assessment itself, distinct from the pedagogical fees that pay for the training action: certification registration fees, the cost of sitting the assessment, jury fees in the case of a VAE. These costs are often billed by the certifying body — France compétences, a professional branch, an authorised body — rather than by the training organisation itself, which is why they were long handled informally, sometimes mentioned in a confirmation email rather than in the quote. It’s precisely this grey area the new EDOF field aims to close: the trainee must know, before validating enrolment, whether these fees are included in the price shown or will be added at assessment time.

Two ways to declare: included or charged to the trainee

In practice, two scenarios arise when filing the case.

Exam fees are included in the pedagogical fees. This requires your organisation to meet three cumulative conditions: being authorised to administer the certification in question, covering the assessment registration fees itself, and being able to pay the certifying body directly. In that case, the total price of the file, covered by CPF, includes these fees and the trainee has nothing extra to pay at assessment time.

Exam fees remain the account holder’s responsibility. This is the most common case when the training organisation isn’t itself the certifying body, or when sitting the assessment involves a direct payment between the trainee and a third party (a VAE jury, a driving test centre). The amount must then be stated in the file so the trainee can budget for it.

Either way, the information must appear in the quote or the training agreement: a file advertising an “all-inclusive” price without clarifying these fees upfront exposes the organisation to a complaint, or even a report, once the trainee faces a surprise bill.

What happens if the field isn’t filled in

The blocking mechanism is immediate and without exception: a file whose exam fees aren’t declared cannot be processed. It can trigger neither a service-completed declaration, nor invoicing, nor the Caisse des dépôts transfer within the usual 30 calendar days — a file stuck on this single field alone can delay an otherwise legitimate payment by several weeks.

Beyond the operational block, the omission is a breach of EDOF’s terms of use. The Caisse des dépôts hasn’t published a specific sanction scale for this single failure, but a repeated or audit-detected breach falls on the same graduated scale as other documentation irregularities: a warning, then suspension or de-listing from EDOF for repeat offences.

Visibility timeline: professional space first, trainee later

Roll-out follows a two-stage timeline. Since 28 April 2026, the information entered is only visible in the training organisation’s professional space and to Caisse des dépôts case managers, first serving to make the payment chain’s data more reliable. Display on the trainee’s side, directly in their Mon Compte Formation space, must be activated by September 2026 at the latest.

In other words, even though the trainee doesn’t yet see this amount today, it’s already worth communicating it ahead of enrolment: once display is rolled out to trainees, any inconsistency between what was announced and what appears on EDOF will become immediately visible — and a source of disputes.

What the research says about cost transparency

This transparency requirement isn’t unique to training funding. A study by Mohan, Buell and John, published in 2020 in the journal Marketing Science, shows that clearly displaying the structure of a cost — rather than folding it into a global price — strengthens customer trust in the provider and their willingness to buy, even when it reveals ancillary fees (see the study). Detailing exam fees from the quote onward isn’t just a compliance burden, then: it’s a clarity argument that can defuse some post-enrolment complaints.

This declaration adds to an already long list of recent EDOF obligations — declaring the three referents, the flat-rate contribution, tighter follow-up of presenting for the certifying assessment. A study by Petersen, Hansen and Houlberg, published in 2024 in the journal Public Administration, notes that the learning and compliance costs of this kind of obligation weigh proportionally heavier on small structures, which lack a dedicated administrative department (see the study) — a useful reminder for one-person organisations managing their own EDOF back office.

How to bring your files into compliance

A few habits are enough to secure this new field:

• List, certification by certification, the exact amount of exam fees charged by each certifying body you work with, and keep the list updated with every pricing change.
• Determine, for each certification, whether you meet the three conditions allowing you to include these fees in your pedagogical price, or whether the holder will have to pay them separately.
• Carry this information over into your standard quotes and catalogue before even filing the EDOF case, so the trainee sees the same amount at every step of their journey.
• Systematically check the field before validating a new file, while the habit isn’t yet second nature across your team.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Leaving the field blank “to save time”, planning to fix it later: the file stays blocked and cannot trigger any payment until the information is completed.
• Advertising an “all-inclusive” price to the trainee without detailing exam fees, when they in fact remain the trainee’s responsibility: an almost certain source of complaints once trainee-side display rolls out in September 2026.
• Confusing exam fees with the CPF flat-rate contribution: these are two distinct amounts, one tied to sitting the certifying assessment, the other to the general out-of-pocket cost of mobilising CPF — they add up rather than replace each other.

Take action

The administrative checklist in the Complete Kit Certif (€297, 14-day guarantee, documents in French) includes quote templates kept up to date with this new mandatory mention, so a CPF file never stays blocked on a regulatory detail. If you’re launching your certification-preparation activity, the ebook Créer son organisme de formation en 30 jours (€67) walks through building your offer and pricing from the creation stage — both bundled in the complete pack at €347.