I did learn French for about 3 years during my university years... But that was 12 years ago!
I had to take a weekly class at the Alliançe Française and sat the exam after a couple of months going to this class (I had no time to loose and work allowed me 2 hours free each week).
I sat the exam in May 2019, I had to ask for a review of the EE, since I got a 9 instead of the needed 10 points to get B2. It took about a month to have a response from France and voilà I got the extra point
All and all it's a more flexible examination in comparison to the IELTS, which is pretty strict and less flexible (I sat the ielts 5 times...)