Exam Writing: Filling Out a Form

NOM vs prénom — surname first, often in capitals

French official forms list nom (surname/family name) before prénom (first/given name), and nom is conventionally written in capital letters to avoid confusion with the given name. English speakers are used to saying a full name first-name-first in everyday speech ('Sarah Smith'), even though English official forms often also ask for surname first in a separate field — the capital-letters convention for NOM specifically is the detail that has no regular English equivalent, so don't assume the first blank on a French form is for the given name.