The education system of France

Some Numbers
¼ of the population is in the education system (15 million)
2 million in higher education
100,000 go to schools specializing in various disabilities
200,000 go to agricultural or vocational schools
300,000 that are 16+ have work contracts

French Education
Primary education
Ages 3-11
Secondary education
Ages 11-18
Higher education
18+

Major Holidays and Breaks
All Saints
1 ½ weeks at the end of October/beginning of November
Christmas
2 weeks around Christmas Day and New Years Day
Winter
2 weeks in mid-February
Spring/Easter
2 weeks starting in mid-April
Summer
2 months starting in early-July

Pre-School
Not mandatory
Very popular
Ages 3 to 5
Also known as nursery classe

Primary Education
Mandatory at age 6
2 yrs old-preschool
3 yrs old-kindergarden
Learn to write and read the first year after kindergarden

Primary Education cont.
Set up similar to our elementary school
1 or 2 teachers for numerous subjects
Don’t teach religion
Teach about the Republic instead
March 2004-government banned all conspicuous religious symbols from school and other public institutions

Secondary Education
Collège (high school) for the first 4 years right after primary school
Ages 11-15
Lycée (high school-preparing for college) for the next 3 years
15-18

Brevet
Brevet-first official diploma
Not required to enter high school
Consists of the grades from the final year and a final exam
Only French, mathematics, history, and geography

Baccalauréat
High school diploma
Needed in order to get into a university or any professional work
Refers to the diploma and the exams that go along with it
Similar to SATs or ACTs

Secondary Education cont.
During the final year of collège, students are allowed to pick some of their subjects
Also get to pick what direction they want their curriculum to take
For lycée students can either choose to go to a general, technical, or vocational schools
Prepares students for baccalauréat exams taken when 18

Higher education
Grandes écoles
More prestigious
Highly competitive selection system
Ex. 12,000 candidates for 400 spots
Universities

Higher Education Cont.
In Paris and suburbs
13 universities that don’t specialize in any specific area
Large number of institutions that do specialize in specific areas
Universities are named after the big cities they are located near followed by numbers
Paris I to XIII

More Higher Education
Also named after famous French people
Influenced by the European standards
Difficult to change majors without falling behind a semester or a whole year
Complex and rigid system