Secondary education in France

File:P1030651 Paris V Lycée Henri IV rue Clotilde rwk.JPG

in Paris

In France, secondary education is in two stages:

• () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14.
• () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between the ages of 15 and 19 (although some host higher education courses like CPGE or BTS). Pupils are prepared for the (; baccalaureate, colloquially known as , previously ), which can lead to higher education studies or directly to professional life. There are three main types of : the , and .

School year

The school year starts in early September and ends in early July. Metropolitan French school holidays are scheduled by the Ministry of Education by dividing the country into three zones (A, B, and C) to prevent overcrowding by family holidaymakers of tourist destinations, such as the Mediterranean coast and ski resorts. Lyon, for example, is in zone A, Marseille is in zone B and Paris and Bordeaux are in zone C.

In contrast to the practice in most other education systems, the school years in France are numbered on a decreasing scale. Thus, pupils begin their secondary education in the (6th class) and transfer to a in the (2nd class). The final year is the .

In French, the word is usually reserved for university-level students, and and students are referred to as ('pupils' or 'students' in English).

The curriculum () is standardized for all French public institutions. Changes to the programme are made every year by the French Ministry of Education and are published in the Ministry's (BO), the official reference bulletin for educators.

Collège

Collège

Age	Name	Abbreviation
11–12		6e
12–13		5e
13–14		4e
14–15		3e

The collège is the first level of secondary education in the French educational system. A pupil attending is called (boy) or (girl). Men and women teachers at the - and -level are called (no official feminine professional form exists in France although the feminine form has appeared and seems to be gaining some ground in usage). The City of Paris refers to a in English as a "high school".

Entry in occurs directly after the last year of primary school, called (CM2). There is no entrance examination into , but administrators have established a comprehensive academic examination of students starting in . The purpose of the examination is evaluating pupils' level on being graduated from primary school.

Curriculum

Subject	Remarks	Starting in
Humanities and languages
French Language and Literature	Features French and translated foreign works; concentrates on grammar and spelling	6e
History and Geography	French-based, but includes foreign history and geography	6e
A first foreign language1	Known as (LV1)	6e
A second foreign language1 or a French regional language	(LV2)	6e or 5e
Arts and crafts		6e
Musical education		6e
Civics		6e
1Available foreign languages include: English, German, Arabic, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Russian; other languages available per locale. Most pupils study English as first foreign language, and Spanish, Italian or German as second foreign language.
Natural and applied sciences
Mathematics		6e
Biology and Geology	(SVT)	6e
Technology		6e
Physics and Chemistry		6e
Compulsory courses
Physical Education		6e
Optional courses
Latin		5e
Ancient Greek		3e

The table at the right details the French curriculum. Along with 3-4 weekly hours of physical education, a typical school week consists of some 26 hours of schooling. French language and literature occupy the most time, 4–5 hours per week, followed by 4 hours per week of mathematics; other subjects occupy 1-3.5 hours per week.

The curriculum is devised by the French Ministry of National Education and applies to all in France and also for AEFE-dependent institutions. and individual schools have little margin for curriculum customisation. Teachers compose syllabi per precise government educational regulations and choose textbooks accordingly, and every major French publishing house has a textbook branch.

Process and purpose

Usually a different or teacher teaches each subject; most teachers teach several different age groups. pupils stay in the same class throughout the school year and in every subject (except for optional courses such as foreign languages, where students from several classes mix), so each year-group is divided into as many classes as necessary. The strong belief in teaching in mixed-ability classes means that streaming occurs only rarely.

Class sizes vary from school to school, but usually range from 20 to 35 pupils. Each class has a ('main teacher' or 'class tutor') who acts as the link between the teaching staff, administration and pupils.

Ultimately, the has the task of preparing students for the advanced subjects of the . At the end of the class, students sit for , an end-of- examination. The is not required for entrance to the , and passing it does not guarantee that a pupil will progress to the higher-level school.

During the last of the year, held in June, teachers and administrators decide whether or not a pupil can progress to the next grade. In deciding, they evaluate the student's skills, participation, and behaviour. One of three outcomes is possible:

1. The student progresses to the next grade.
2. Their (repeating the year) can be required.
3. He or she can, in specific cases, be offered to skip a grade and be promoted two grades.

A student asked to repeat a grade can appeal said decision. The decision of the appeals council is final.

Lycée

The () is the second and last stage of secondary education in the French educational system. The City of Paris refers to a in English as a "sixth form college". A pupil attending a is a (masculine) or a (feminine).

Until 1959, the term designated a secondary school with a full curriculum (seven years, the present + ) directly under the supervision of the state, then from 1959 to 1963 any secondary school with a full curriculum. Older still include a section, so a pupil attending a may actually be a .

At the end of the final year of schooling, most students take the diploma. There are three main types of , which are completely different from each other: the (general baccalaureate), the (technological baccalaureate), and the (professional baccalaureate).

Lycée

Age	Name	Abbreviation
15–16		2de
16–17		1re
17–18		Tle

are divided into (i) the , leading to two or more years of post– studies, (ii) the , leading to short-term studies, and (iii) the , a vocational qualification leading directly to a particular career. General and technological education courses are provided in "standard" , while vocational courses are provided in separate professional .

In practice, competent pupils at a vocational can also apply to take short-term, post– studies leading to the (BTS), a vocational qualification. That option is available also to pupils at a .

and

General streams ()

In France, the is the usual stepping stone to university degrees.

Before 2021, the students of the general baccalaureate chose one of three streams (termed ) in the penultimate year (S for Sciences; ES for Economics and Social sciences; and L for Literature). During the , students mostly take the same courses, despite having different academic skills and interests, so it is usually thought to be an easier year than either the or the .

The examination is different for all three , and subjects are weighted according to the course taken.

Stream	Description
S (sciences)	The science stream () requires a high level in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, geology and, if available, engineering sciences and computer science.
ES (economics and social sciences)	The (') requires a high level in economics and social courses of studies; also in mathematics, history and geography.
L (literature)	The () weighs French literature, philosophy, foreign languages and the arts heavily. Students in ( or ) have no maths and only a small amount of sciences unless they choose the 'maths' option. Students in ( or ) have no maths, physics and chemistry or biology unless they chose the 'maths' option in 1L.

According to the official statistics, for the 2003–2004 school yearTemplate:Dated maintenance category (articles), 33 percent of all students chose ; 19 percent chose ; and 11 percent chose .

All students take philosophy courses in , while French language classes end in the , excepting the , where they become French literature classes, where pupils are to study two books during the year, from French writers, or foreign books translated into French (e.g., Romeo and Juliet during the school year 2007–2008, or The Leopard from Italian author Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa).

There also is a required option for further specialisation in all , although it is restricted to the chosen course. For example, a student in can choose to specialise in mathematics, physics, "Template:-" (biology and geology) or "engineering sciences" but not in philosophy.

A student in can choose to specialise in one of their foreign languages (English being the most popular), a third foreign language or an extinct language such as Latin, or one of the following arts: music, theatre, circus, . Specialisation adds a separate, weekly two-hour class in the chosen discipline; also, it increases the weight of the chosen subject at the . The syllabus in the specialisation class is unrelated to the material learned in the common class. Specialisation plays no role in the choice of a post–secondary career or subject at university, except for a few courses aimed for students from a given that can also accept students from other if they have taken a given specialisation.

Starting from the 2020–21 academic year, the S, ES and L streams of the general were retired. Students of the general baccalaureate now choose three specialty courses, then keep two in the final year. There are 12 specialties, which vary in their availability depending on the school: arts, ecology, history & geography, humanities, languages, literature, mathematics, computer science, physics & chemistry, economic and social sciences, engineering sciences, biology & geology. These specialties are added to a part common to all: French, philosophy, history & geography, languages, sciences, sport. A large part of the examinations are now done over the school year but the students also have final exams in their 2 specialties as well as in philosophy, added to a general oral examination.

Technical streams ()

After the , students can also go on the to obtain the . It includes eight other streams, called :

• (Management Sciences and Technologies, STG — replaced (Service Sciences and Technologies, STT) for the June 2007 exam
• (Industrial Science and Technologies and sustainable development, STI2D)
• (Laboratory Science and Technologies, STL)
• (Health and Social Sciences, SMS): The name was changed in 2007 and became: (Sciences and Technologies in Health and Social, ST2S)
• (Food Science and Technologies, STPA)
• (Agronomy and Environment Science and Technologies, STAE)
• (Music and Dance Techniques, TMD)
• (Hospitality management)

The STPA and STAE stream are available only in , speciality schools for agricultural sciences.

The teaching of the lessons is based on inductive reasoning and experimentation. It allows you to work or to pursue short and technical studies (laboratory, design and applied arts, hotel and restaurant, management etc.).

The leads to the . The courses are designed for students who do not plan to continue into higher education. The vocational training is for craftspeople and involves internships in commercial enterprises. The courses are suitable for students who are more interested in a hands-on educational approach than in academic schooling. There are nearly 100 specialties, including: Leather crafts; Building technician; Maintenance of industrial equipment; Cooking; Road freight transport driver; Butcher, etc and others.

File:Lycee Rennes DSC08932.JPG

A in Rennes, from the 19th century.

French parents are not free to choose the state school that their children will attend; unless the children have special learning needs, they will attend the school allocated to them by the (school map). Reasons for attending a state school that is not their nearest include studying an option unavailable in the school to which they were originally assigned, such as a rare foreign language.

For many reasons, many parents consider the allocated school standards inadequate, the teaching poor, and particularly if they do not like the idea of their children mixing with some of the other pupils at the school. In any city, there are "better" and , which parents would prefer their children attend. The two main methods used in such circumstances to get children into a school other than their assigned school are :

• paying for private schooling;
• having the child choose an unusual option (e.g. Ancient Greek or Latin) available only in the preferred school.

A similar trick is used if some classes in a school are seen as "better" than others. For organisational reasons, students taking certain options are grouped into special classes, which may be academically attractive. They typically include classes taking German as a first foreign language, or Latin or Ancient Greek as options.

See also

• Education in France
• Agency for French Education Abroad
• French language education in Egypt
• Literary Commentary in the French Baccalaureate

External links

• French Ministry of Education Template:In lang
• Template:In lang
• Template:In lang
• The school system and education in France Template:In lang