One of the first things you need to do before you start to study for your french exam or just to learn french in general, is to find the level that you should start. One way of doing this is on your own, if you are a studying french on your own, is by using a recognized self-assessment checklist.
This checklist can also be used just to check your progress and help you to find where are your weaknesses. Check out and download the following checklist in english.
Once you have downloaded your checklist, to put you on the right track you can do a free online test to help you check your level at CNED (National Centre for Distance Education). This online test is based on the exam format of the DELF.