French primary and secondary education

How does the French education system ?

Between two months and three years, parents can leave their child in a crèche or a day-care center. For a child, schooling begins with nursery school for a period of three years. The young pupils then do a lot of manual work there, and are made aware of the language. This period also allows them to develop their creativity and imagination through numerous artistic exercises (songs, drawings, nursery rhymes, dances, etc.). It’s a way as well to introduce them to life in society.

After nursery school, children begin elementary school run by the municipalities for a period of five years. Thus, it firstly includes CP (Preparatory course), then CE1 and CE2 (Elementary course) followed by CM1 and CM2 (Middle course). Thus, kindergarten and elementary school together represent primary education. Then, the young students begin secondary education consisting of middle school and then high school. Comprising 6th grade first, then 5th grade, 4th grade and finally 3rd grade, middle school lasts 4 years. It is also called the “Single College” because its goal is to provide everyone with access to the same knowledge, the same education, in a single place, with students of the same age group. At the end of these four years, the pupils take their first examination, called the national diploma of the Brevet. Note that it is in 6th grade that students start learning their first modern language (English or Spanish for example).

The middle school and particularly the third class represent an important step for the students. Knowing that it is at the end of this class that they choose between a vocational stream (vocational high school), a general stream (general high school) or a stream technological (technological high school). A majority of students choose to continue in the general stream. So as not to be closed doors when it comes to the direction of post-baccalaureate studies. This sector still offers three different specialties: bac S (or science), bac L (or literary), and bac ES (economic and social). The Lycée consists of three years before passing the French supreme test, the baccalaureate (which is also called “bac” for short). The programs as well as the subjects of the baccalaureate, within these three years, are national by sector (professional, technological or general).