Education in France

The French Education System.

The education system in France is renowned as one of the best available, is very organised and regimented. The development of the french education system is traced back to Charlemagne, King of The Franks (A.D.742-814), the development of the modern system commenced at the end of the 19th century and is widely credited to the french lawyer Jules Ferry who whilst holding the office of Minister of Public Instruction issued legislation that required all children under the age of 15 years to attand l'école républicaine, (the Republican school), public instruction was free of charge and secular.The French education System generally, primary and secondary education are predominantly public, funded by the state - although there are private establishments run by the Catholic church and now International schools and nowadays is divided into three different stages:

Primary education (enseignement primaire)
Secondary education (enseignement secondaire)
Higher education (enseignement supérieur)

The first two sectors of the french education system are aimed at preparing the student to be competent in seven stated areas of educational and personal skills - these seven compétences were set down in 2005, by Mr. Gilles Robien, Minister of National Education and are:

Mastery of the French language
Practical Knowledge of a living, modern language
The basic elements of maths, science and technology
Familiarity with the common techniques of communication and obtaining information
The humanities
Social and civic responsibility
Autonomy and initiative

If pupils acquire these skills, then as well as being successful at school, once they leave school, they should cope well in professional life, and fulfill their potential.

Primary Education (École primaire):

Education in France nowadays is compulsory from the age of 6 years to 16 years, although there is nursery eduaction available for children from aged 2 years (pré- maternelle), at primary schools the children have one or at most two professeur(s) for the whole year who teaches the

*Maternelle* (Nursery)
Age	Grade	Abbreviation
3 -> 4	Petite section	PS
4 -> 5	Moyenne section	MS
5 -> 6	Grande section	GS
*École élémentaire* / primaire (Primary school)
Age	Grade	Abbreviation
6 -> 7	Cours préparatoire	CP / 11ème
7 -> 8	Cours élémentaire première année	CE1 / 10ème
8 -> 9	Cours élémentaire deuxième année	CE2 / 9ème
9 -> 10	Cours moyen première année	CM1 / 8ème
10 -> 11	Cours moyen deuxième année	CM2 / 7ème

subjects across the spectrum as defined by the government - French, Mathematics, Science, English (generally),although ancient french languages - Catalan, Occitaine are now being introduced in some areas, Humanities (history, geography).

There is generally homework each night and the school week for this stage of the childs education is Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 9.00 - 12.00 and 13.30 - 16.30.

All professeurs at state schools are employed directly by the government and are therefore civil servants.

Secondary education:

Secondary education in France is divided into two institutions:

Age	Grade	Abbreviation
Collège (Junior High)
11 -> 12	Sixième	6^e
12 -> 13	Cinquième	5^e
13 -> 14	Quatrième	4^e
14 -> 15	Troisième	3^e
Lycée (High school)
Age	Grade	Abbreviation
15 -> 16	Seconde	2^de
16 -> 17	Première	1^e
17 -> 18	Terminale	Term or Tle

Collège - the four years after Primaire
Lycée - the three years after Collège

At Collège the four years are divided into 2 cycles. The first 2 years - the 6ème and 5ème are organised for students to follow a standard curriculum spread over a working college week of approximately 23 hours of standard teaching and approx 3 hours of tutoring per week. In 6ème the introduction of a secondary language on a more consolidated level - usually English)

The final 2 years 4ème and 3ème years signal the start of students choosing their future educational and carre path with a choice of subjects being allowed -options obligatoires-, in 4ème a second foreign language is introduced. At the end of the Collège years the student has to sit a final written examination - Brevet des Collèges- in French, mathematics, history and geography - the result of this is viewed for entrance to the third and final level of education - prior to university- although failure of the exam does not in itself exclude a student from entrance to a Lycée, but the student is expected to be competent in the seven compétences as introduced in 2005.

The Lycée is akin to High School or Sixth Form College and completion of the three year course leads to the prestigious Baccalauréat qualification. There are:

General and technology lycée (Lycée d’Enseignement General et Technologique) prepares students for the general or technology baccalaureat or the technical certificate (Brevet de Technicien)
Professional lycées and Centres de Formation d’Apprentis (CFA) offering courses leading to vocational certificates.

The years at the lycée are divided into the following cycles;

The first year, the classe seconde -2^de- the student decides which "Baccalauréat" to choose. At the end of the third trimestre (the third or summer term of this school year) they decide which subjects to take for the Première - 1^eclass which follows the first year and ultimately which baccalaureat they are aiming for.
The Cycle de détermination - Première and “Terminale years consists of seven main subjects, three hours of modules obligatoires, two options obligatoires with 17 options to choose from, options facultatives and ateliers de pratique for a total of 29½ hours to 32½ hours per week.