Price, validity, rules

CACES with France Travail: funding for jobseekers

The simulator starts from jobseeker status: no flat contribution. Enter the offer price and your rights to see what remains to be funded.

Independent site, not linked to the French Health Insurance (Assurance Maladie), the INRS, testing bodies or training centres.

Left for you to pay

€0

Paid by the CPF€784
Flat contribution€0
Median price€784
Middle half of offers€623 – €984
Median length21 h

1742 offers in France, CPF catalogue of 23 October 2026.

A jobseeker registered with France Travail, the French public employment service, who wants to take a CACES has two advantages. They are exempt from the €150 flat contribution other personal training account holders pay: the CPF can therefore cover the whole course price, within their rights and the €1,500 cap set for Répertoire spécifique certifications. And if their rights fall short, France Travail can top up with the individual training grant, the AIF, which covers course fees no other funder pays, when the course serves a return-to-work plan agreed with their adviser. For a top-up requested through Mon Compte Formation, France Travail says it replies within 10 days. As of 23 October 2026, an R489 category 3 CACES costs a median of €784 in the catalogue: two years of rights earned as an employee working at least half-time are enough to cover it.

How much is on my CPF?

Estimated balance

€1,500

Usable for a CACES€1,500
Yearly credit€500
Account ceiling€5,000

Estimate with no course already paid: the exact balance is on moncompteformation.gouv.fr.

Work out what is left to pay →

Questions, explanations and calculations by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method

Employee or jobseeker: the difference in figures

CPF rules in force on 26 October 2026 (service-public.gouv.fr).
EmployeeJobseeker
Course price€900€900
CPF rights€1,500€1,500
Flat contribution€150€0
Paid by the CPF€750€900
Left to pay€150€0

With insufficient rights, the amount left to fund is the same for both, minus the contribution for the jobseeker: that remainder is what the France Travail AIF can cover.

What does a CACES cost me with my CPF?

Left to pay

€150

Paid by the CPF€650
Of which flat contribution€150
CPF cap for a CACES€1,500
Compare prices by category and region →

Before asking for funding

  • Choose the right category with which CACES for which machine: forklift job ads most often ask for R489 category 3.
  • Check medical fitness: without a certificate, the employer cannot issue the operating authorisation.
  • Practise the theory test before the course, to arrive with the basics.

After the course

The CACES belongs to the candidate: they show it to each employer or agency, which then issues its own operating authorisation. Keep a copy of the certificate and note its end date, since the tests must be taken again when it expires. A CACES obtained while out of work is worth exactly as much as one paid for by an employer: nothing on it shows who funded it.

The CPF rules in detail are on the funding page.

Questions operators and candidates ask

Does France Travail pay for the whole CACES?

Not automatically. France Travail steps in as a top-up, when the CPF and other funders do not cover the whole price, and when the course fits the career plan agreed with the adviser, for example a forklift job in demand locally. No fixed amount is published: each case is decided on its own file.

Do I have to go through my France Travail adviser?

For the individual training grant, yes: the adviser approves the plan. To use only your CPF, no: the request is made directly on the Mon Compte Formation website, where jobseeker status is recognised and the flat contribution is not charged.

Can a temp worker get a CACES funded?

A temp worker on assignment is employed by the agency: they use their CPF like any employee and then pay the flat contribution unless it is topped up. Agencies also sometimes pay for CACES for the workers they place, from their own training budgets. Between assignments, if registered as a jobseeker, the exemption applies.

How long does it take to get funding?

The provider has a deadline to accept the request on Mon Compte Formation, then France Travail says it replies to a top-up request within 10 days. Allow a few weeks between choosing the offer and starting the course, more if the session is full.

Keep going

Funding a CACES: CPF, OPCO

CPF, the €1,500 cap, the €150 contribution, employer, OPCO, France Travail: who pays what.

CACES price

Median price and range for each category, initial and refresher, by region, from the CPF catalogue.

Which CACES for which machine?

From the actual machine to the right recommendation and category, with any extra training required.

Forklift CACES: which one?

Which CACES to become a forklift driver: the machine, the category, the validity and the median price.

CACES training: length, steps

Training, then tests counted in test units: how long a CACES takes, from day one to the certificate.

Official texts behind this page

Written by

Independent publisher of free CACES theory practice tests, with no account, written from the French Health Insurance recommendations

Rules and prices checked on · Editorial policy · Contact

CACES rules 2026, read in the French Health Insurance recommendations and the Labour Code, last checked on