do french schools give homework

The complete guide to the French school system

What is school like in France? It’s a question you might find yourself pondering as you study French and get to know more about French culture.

In some ways, French school is like school in many places in the world, including the US and UK – but there are a number of key differences, including a few that give some interesting insights into French culture as a whole.

Explaining just about any country’s education system is a complex task, since there are so many different aspects to look at. The French education system in particular is known for being complicated when it comes to things like different categories and types of diplomas and tests.

Hopefully, this article will give you a good overview and some important takeaways about school in France and the French school system.

French school vocabulary

Before we start discussing the French education system, there are some words it might be helpful to know – or words you might already be wondering how to say. How to say “school” in French, for example.

When you think about it, there’s a lot of vocabulary related to school, from school supplies, to types of exams, to traditions. But when talking or learning about school in France, here are a few that are especially useful. 

Note that you’ll find additional vocabulary, including school grades/levels, diplomas, and more, in the sections of this article that focus on them.

l’école – school. This is a general word for school in French, but as you’ll see in later sections of this article, schools of different levels have different names, just as they do in many other places (nursery school, high school, etc.).

un professeur/une professeur(e) (often shortened to prof )– teacher. This is the general word for “teacher” in French. It used to be exclusively masculine, even if the teacher was a woman. But in recent decades, it’s become accepted to use it with a feminine article when talking about a female teacher. In Canadian French especially, to people may add an “e” to the end when referring to a female teacher, as well: une professeure .

In France, teachers are usually referred to by their first names until collège (middle school/secondary school). Then, they’re referred to as Monsieur or Madame [Last name].

un maître/une ma î tresse – a teacher in preschool/elementary school. Teachers of younger kids are usually referred to this way. Their students usually refer to, or, in preschool/nursery school, call them, by their first name.  By elementary school, to be polite, they will usually just call them Maître or Ma î tresse when addressing them directly, but will still use their first name, for instance, to say who their teacher is.

un instituteur/une institutrice – a more formal, less common term for an elementary/primary school teacher.

un directeur/une directrice – the principal/headmaster or headmistress of a school.

la rentr ée – back to school. This can refer to the first day back at school or the general back-to-school period. La rentr ée is also used as a general term for a return to the routine after summer vacation, so you will see it in other contexts, as well.

la cantine – the cafeteria or canteen/dining hall.

les devoirs – homework. If you’re in French class, you probably already know this word quite well!

la r é cr é ation/la r é cr é – recess.

l’étude – study hall.

les notes – grades or marks.

la classe – class/classroom.

un cours – a class (for middle and high school/secondary school).

un examen – a test.

une interrogation (often called une interro ) – a quiz.

faire l’école buissonnière – to skip school.

sécher un cours – to skip a class.

le centre de loisirs –after school program/vacation program. This usually includes activities as well as free playtime, and sometimes a study hall option or sports options.  During school vacations, the centre de loisirs is a sort of (optional) day camp for preschool and elementary school kids.

We’ll cover many other French school vocabulary words throughout this article. You can also find more school-related French words here .

Basic facts about the French school system

Public (state) education in France is compulsory for children aged 3-16.

Until recently, it was 6-16, but that changed in 2019. So, if you’re reading an older source on French education, keep that in mind.

Another big change is that, as of the 2020-2021 school year, people aged 16-18 who have stopped their studies are required to be employed or involved in an internship or volunteer work .

Public (state) and university education in France are free or extremely affordable.  

All state-run primary and secondary education in France is free. This includes la maternelle (preschool/nursery school). People from countries where  preschools/nursery schools are private and expensive will probably be impressed by this (I know I was, not to mention grateful).

In fact, one of the principles of education in France seems to be affordability. Even universities, which do charge tuition, only charge a few hundred to a few thousand euros per year. There are some universities that cost more, but these tend to be private ones that, interestingly enough, aren’t usually considered as prestigious.

There aren’t really “good” and “bad” public (state) schools in France.

Some French high/secondary schools are known for their high level of academic achievement and for carefully selecting students (this is similar to the high school system in New York City, for those familiar with it). Or there might be schools where outside problems like crime rate or poverty contribute to the general environment.

But generally speaking, because of the strict way school is viewed, the rigorously upheld national curriculum, and the fact that in the early years of their careers, teachers are usually required to teach in other French regions besides their native ones, French schools are fairly uniform when it comes to their quality. Again, there can be some exceptions, but the actual level of education in public schools tends to be perceived as the same, at least in my experience.

A major principle of French public (state) schools is la laïcité (separation of church and state).

Students aren’t allowed to wear religious symbols (although a very subtle one, like a small necklace pendant, may be tolerated) or clothing, and no religious holidays are celebrated or even particularly discussed at school.

In some cases, there may be a school celebration or play around Christmastime, but even this tends to be referred to as an “end-of-year” celebration. That said, in this predominately Christian country, some schools may put up a small Christmas tree, and classes and after school activities may involve Christmas-themed coloring pages or crafts, but it’s never particularly overt and these decorations never feature religious symbols like angels, a manger/creche, etc.

Although education is compulsory until age 16 in France, an estimated 64% of students stay in school until age 18.

A little over 50% of them will continue to university or an apprenticeship.  

More than 80% of schools in France are publics (public schools (US)/state schools (UK)).

Most of the remaining 20% of schools in France are private schools (public schools for our UK readers). A majority of them are run by the Catholic church, but they tend not to be intensely religious. One of the reasons for this is that French private schools can be sous contrat – that is, affiliated with the state, including for the payment of their teachers’ salaries, if they follow certain rules, like adhering to the national curriculum. 

Homeschooling (usually called le homeschooling ) is legal in France, but very rare.

Only about 0.3% of school-aged kids are homeschooled here.

There is a standard national curriculum for every grade/level.

Grades/notes in french public school are based on a maximum of 20 points ..

So if a student gets a 20 on a test or assignment, they got a perfect score.  10/20 is usually considered at least a passing grade.

Starting as early as CP (1 st grade/1 st year), it’s common for French students to have to memorize poems and recite them in front of the class.

Each student may have to recite a poem, or a student might be randomly called upon to do it.  It’s kind of terrifying, but it also leads to many French people knowing at least a few lines of famous poems by heart.

School supplies are very standardized and important.

One of the strangest things for me when I started teaching in French elementary schools is how each child has the same kind of supplies (even though some of these, like backpacks and folders, can be personalized), and how they use them in the same way.

For instance, if you ask an elementary school child to write something down, they’ll often take out an ink pen and make a neat line with a ruler to head their paper. Students have many different kinds of notebooks (a school planner, a notebook of poems and texts to memorize, etc.) and folders, and overall are encouraged to be very organized and precise.

French students still learn cursive.

In certain places, like the US, many schools have stopped teaching cursive, but in French, it’s still taught – even from kindergarten/year 1 ( grande section ). In fact, handwriting is a big part of French learning.

The types of French schools

There are five types of French schools, although some may be combined, especially in areas with a small population.

Note that kindergarten/year 1 is grouped with preschool/nursery school, and not elementary school, like it usually is in the US.

The five types of French schools are:

• la maternelle (preschool and kindergarten/nursery school and year 1) for students age 3-6
• l’école élémentaire (elementary school/primary school) for students age 6-11
• le collège (middle school (including ninth grade)/secondary school) for students age 11-16
• le lycée (high school/secondary school) for students age 16-18
• l’université , often called la fac (short for la faculté ) (university/college) for students 18 and up

These schools cover three main categories of education:

• l’école primaire (primary school). This includes la maternelle and l’école élémentaire .
• l’école secondaire (secondary school). This includes le collège and le lycée .
• l’enseignement supérieur (higher education) – l’université .

We’ll look at the equivalents of each grade/level a little further on.

The French school year, week, and day

The French school year starts in early September and usually finishes around the first week of July.

Up to university level, students have a two-week break every six weeks or so.

There’s one in mid-October to early November ( les vacances de la Toussaint ), one in mid-December to early January ( les vacances de fin d’année ), one in February ( les vacances de février ), and one in March or April ( les vacances de printemps ). Additionally, there is a two-month summer break ( les vacances d’été / les grandes vacances ).

There are also a lot of holidays on the French calendar, including three in the month of May alone. Add to this the very likely possibility that there could be a teacher strike or a strike that affects teachers’ ability to come to the school (like a transportation strike, for instance), a teacher being sick and the school not being able to find a substitute, teacher workdays, and so on, and you will discover that while kids in French schools work hard, they do, luckily, get a pretty decent amount of time off.

French students from maternelle through lycée go to school five days a week (Monday-Friday).

School times and schedules can vary a bit, especially as kids get older, but generally speaking, school starts between 8 and 9am and ends anywhere from 3-4:30pm. Kids might stay at an after-school program until as late as 6:30pm.

If you’re reading or watching something that dates to pre-2008, you may notice that the school schedule was a bit different. Before that time , schools were open on Wednesday mornings, and then also also on Saturday mornings.

The idea was to give kids a bit of a mid-week break, as well as time to pursue extracurricular activities (more on that in a bit). But as a working parent, I cannot imagine how complicated it must have been…or how annoying to have to wake up early on a Saturday to get your kid to school for a few hours…not to mention to have to have part of your Saturday blocked.  Fortunately, that’s no longer the case today.

There are no longer classes on Saturday mornings, but typically, maternelles and écoles élémentaires still only offer classes on Wednesday mornings until lunchtime. Parents can sign students up for after school programs and activities that allow them to stay at the school for the typical amount of time if they prefer, or if they need to due to work.

French school life

Here are some important things to know about school life in France:

French students in public (state) schools don’t wear uniforms.

French students in public (state) schools don’t have an equivalent of something like the pledge of allegiance, morning prayer, etc., most french public (state) schools don’t allow students to bring their lunch from home..

Students either eat at the la cantine (cafeteria/canteen) or go home for the allotted lunchtime (usually an hour or two).

Meals served in French schools are usually considered decent to good quality.

I’ve heard that in a way, meals served in French schoools are a form of education, exposing students to many traditional French dishes. As early as la maternelle , children eating in the school cafeteria also start learning things like how to cut their meat, how to drink from a real glass (as opposed to a plastic one), etc. These are some of the reasons why my son eats at the school cantine – he gets to try traditional French meals it may not occur to me to make at home, and he reviews and brushes up on his table manners .

French schools aren’t closely tied with extracurricular activities or dances.  

In places like the US, school is a huge part of students’ lives, especially as they get older. Many activities, including music, sports, debate club, the school newspaper, yearbook, and so  on, are organized through the school and take place on the school grounds. But this isn’t the case in France.

For the most part, in France, school is school. You will have physical education or art or music classes during the day, but if you want to do more than that, you’ll have to sign up with an outside after-school program.

This also means there isn’t a sense of “school spirit” or “the big game” that you see in a lot of American TV shows (and experience in real life if you go to an American school). French schools also don’t organize school dances or have yearbooks, or even graduation ceremonies in most cases.  The idea behind this, I think, is that school is about academics: the French are very serious about students being there to learn and do their work.   

French education and activities are as affordable as possible.

Each year, based on their income tax, families are given a tarif familial . This determines how much they’re charged for things like school lunches, field trips (although some of these are free) and other activities, supplies, etc. 

Is bullying an issue in French schools?

Bullying exists in French schools but, in a way, on a lesser scale than in some other places.

Bullying ( le harcèlement ) does, unfortunately, happen in French schools. But it’s not the sort of systematic thing it is in the US, where the bully is a stock character in every high school-set TV show, and the results of real-life bullying often make news headlines.

This said, there have been bullying-related suicides in France, and there are anti-bullying campaigns and helplines. The issue is addressed by school administration. But most French people I know don’t seem to have had problems with bullying (or to have been bullies) when they were in school, and it doesn’t seem like the sort of shared, expected experience that it does in countries like the US.

It’s fascinating to me that there is no exact French word or phrase for “school bully”. I think that this shows two important things about French culture:

1. It’s a bit tougher, maybe some would say more “tough love”, than the culture in places like America. For instance, while a bully would be the only one to make fun of you for not getting a good grade, or generally being “stupid”, many French teachers will point out a student’s inadequacies (at least academically), and friends and acquaintances will liberally correct each other. When I taught in French elementary schools, this was pretty shocking to me.

2. A more old-school “stiff upper lip” mentality still predominates. This is changing, as people become more aware of the effects of bullying and as victims speak out and express themselves on social media and elsewhere. But as with many problems that cause strong emotions or difficult, complex feelings, the idea in French culture is to try to accept it and certainly not to air it out in public.

This said, these are general observations, at a large-scale level. Many parents of kids who are being bullied will take action of some kind, whether that’s confronting the kid or their parents themselves (although schools discourage this), talking to school administrators, or at least considering getting their child psychological help if it’s needed (though therapy is fairly rare and often thought of as strange or unnecessary in mainstream French culture). 

What is each year (level) of school called in French?

Most French students are in school for fifteen years (not counting university) – from petite section at age 3, to terminale at age 18.

Here are the French school grades/levels and their equivalents in the US and UK. For anyone unfamiliar with these school systems, I’ve also included the age a typical student would be in each grade/level.

Note that there are three types of French lyc ée (high school/secondary school). These are:

le lyc ée g én éral – the typical high school you might be thinking of, where students take academic classes in many different subjects.

This said, students in these schools choose a path of study based on their major areas of interest/what they want to major in in university. So some will have more emphasis on math courses, while for others it will be foreign languages or literature, etc. The system is a bit complicated to us outsiders, especially since there are subdivisions. This Frenchman’s account of being a student at a typical French lycée gives some interesting insights. And as he advises, the Wikipedia entry on the baccalauréat  exam also provides some helpful information. The French entry goes into even further detail.

le lyc ée technique/lyc ée technologique – This high school (or sometimes just a high school curriculum) focuses on applied technical or technological studies alongside academic ones. Areas of study include laboratory sciences, applied arts, management, and hospitality industry studies.

le lyc é e professionnel – vocational school. That is, a school that mainly focuses on preparing and teaching students who plan to go to work directly and don’t need or want to pursue their studies into university. Subjects include construction-related work, agriculture, and clerical positions.

Students at all three types of lyc ée will have to take some kind of exit exam , usually a variant of le baccalaur éat . This will determine if they can go to university (and which university will accept them), or, in the case of some lyc ée professionnel exit exams, like the CAP ( certificat d’aptitude professionnelle ), if they’re qualified to do a particular job or set of jobs.

What to know about French universities

French universities are always called “ université ”, not college .

But you may see this word associated with older forms of higher education in France in the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and even around Revolutionary times.

Usually, though, coll è ge means “middle school” in contemporary French.

A university is usually referred to in everyday language as la fac .

This is short for la faculté (school division of a university). The pronunciation of this word may sound a bit obscene to the unprepared Anglophone ear, as this funny, iconic, and NSFW scene from the hit French movie L’Auberge espagnole delightfully illustrates , but when you listen to it more carefully (as you should when the French-speaking character pronounces it), you’ll realize that it really does have a short “a” sound.

Not all French universities are considered equal.

This doesn’t necessarily mean in terms of the excellence of their faculty, but in terms of their funding and prestige.

Any French university will have a certain standard of academics that’s perfectly respectable. But French universities are often no-frills affairs when it comes to funding. There are also no special events like graduation ceremonies and such, and there aren’t donors who regularly gift the school with new wings and materials.

On the other hand, the Grandes Écoles are exclusive, extremely prestigious French universities that students full of academic, career, or political ambition strive to get into. They’re the rough equivalent of Ivy League schools in the US, but unlike an Ivy League school, a Grande École will only have about 200-300 graduates per year.

Unlike countries where your diploma will only take you so far, it’s been observed that every French president has always graduated from a Grande École, not some regular university.

As this article points out, the French university system can be seen as elitist . But at least even the Grandes Écoles only charge a few thousand euros for tuition, which allows them to be accessible based on academic merit, rather than economic earnings (and keeps students debt-free).

So, there are good and bad sides to the system.

After graduating from lycée , most students who want to enter a Grande École will take one to two years of classes préparatoires first.

Affiliated with a lycée and usually called by a singular, shortened name, prépa , this is an incredibly intense year or two of studies, with at least 30 hours a week of work, plus oral exams.

Prépas are organized into different areas of studies , but all of them are intense and challenging.  I know someone who took a year of prépa before going to a prestigious engineering school. He says it was the hardest year of his life, even harder than taking classes at the Grande École he then got into. He just worked and slept.

The reward for this work is getting into a good school and then, hopefully, getting a good job that lets you earn a good living or even fulfill your most ambitious desires, like becoming head of state.

That said, as with any prestigious school, a diploma is a diploma; it depends on what you choose to pursue afterwards. My friend, for instance, went to a Grande École and currently has a well-paid IT job. He’s very happy, but it’s not like his academic career automatically made him the French president or one of the richest people in the country.

La Sorbonne is not considered the best school in France.

Internationally, the best-known French university is probably La Sorbonne, officially known as l’Université de Paris today. Established in the Middle Ages, it was the first university in Europe, and is one of the oldest in the world. Still, while you can get a quality education at La Sorbonne, it is not a Grande École.

When it comes to universities in France, cost does not equal quality.

There are many private French higher education organizations that (like many of their counterparts in the US) are more focused on making money than on education.

These schools are usually very pricey, but have no prestige among the French. As a general rule, the higher the cost of a university/higher education institution in France, the less its diplomas are actually “worth”, although there are a few exceptions. If you’re thinking about studying in France, be sure to research any private institutions you’re considering.

French diploma equivalencies

Most French universities offer a three-year program to get the equivalent of an undergraduate degree in the US or UK. 

But there are a lot more French diplomas than that, and sometimes it can be confusing to find their equivalents in another country’s education system.

Let’s look at the most common French diplomas you’ll come across, and their equivalents in the US and UK.

• un DEUG (two-year university diploma) – Associate’s degree (US)/Diploma of Higher Education (UK)

• une licence – (a three-year undergraduate degree) – Bachelor’s degree

                Licence dans un domaine littéraire : BA/Bachelor of Arts

                Licence dans un domaine scientifique : BSC/Bachelor of Science/B.S. degree

• Master 1/ Maîtrise – Master’s Degree

• Master 2/ DEA : A degree given one year before postgraduate studies. There is no precise equivalent for this in the US or UK, as far as I can find, so it still generally corresponds to a Master’s Degree.

                Master dans un domaine littéraire : MA (Master of Arts)

                Master dans un domaine scientifique : MSC/MS (Master of Science)

                Master dans les affaires : MBA (Master of Business Administration)

• Doctorat : Phd/doctorate

This helpful webpage lists a few more specific French diplomas , as well as certain documents and certifications, along with their UK and US equivalents (when applicable).

French school milestones

You may live in a country where school is full of major events. I know that’s certainly the case in the US, where I grew up. Finishing each kind of school can, in some places, be the reason for a celebration or even a ceremony at the school itself. There are school dances, competitions, sports, and more, and of course, when you graduate from high school, there’s the iconic cap and gown ceremony where you receive your diploma.

But that’s not really the case in France. As I’ve mentioned before, the French are very serious about education. Kids may have fun at school, but there isn’t a really fun or “big deal”/ “good job” spin on things. Add to that the fact that most activities like extracurricular sports, clubs, and so on, aren’t associated with schools directly, there are no dances, and there aren’t many big school events.

This said, it may depend on the school, and of course, there can be exceptions. French preschools and elementary schools often host end-of-year carnival-style parties, for instance, and some put on concerts or plays as well.

One thing that does shape the school experience for French students are two important exams.

The first is le brevet des coll èg es , a major test taken at the end of collège (middle school) and the rough equivalent to the GCSE’S under C Grade or GNVQ Intermediate in the UK. There is no US equivalent.

The biggest French school milestone is taking le baccalaur éat , usually called le bac . This exam covers multiple subjects and includes written and oral sections, as well as some parts that may require demonstrating skills (in sports, for example). A student’s overall score and some of the minor subjects covered will differ depending on their area of study.

Le bac is the rough equivalent of A levels in the UK. As for the US, many sources say le bac is similar to AP exams, but personally, since all French high school students have to take it and it influences college admissions, I consider it similar to the SAT’s. The SAT’s are a standardized test covering a limited range of subjects, but when it comes to cultural impact and pre-test jitters, that’s the best match for le bac .

Le bac has many variants and a complex scoring system that I won’t go into in this brief overview of the French education system, but if you’d like to learn more about le bac , I’d recommend this detailed resource.

The biggest difference between le bac and AP or SAT exams, though, is that le bac also determines whether or not you can graduate lyc ée. In that sense, you can think of it as your high school diploma or a certificate of completion.

The results of the bac are posted on lists in front of the school. French students go to find their scores, then, hopefully have reason to celebrate, and that’s it – lycée is finished. There is no graduation ceremony.

University in France does seem to be a similar experience to US and UK schools, in that students still find ways to have fun, and things are a little more open in terms of scheduling – even though there’s still a lot of hard work.

At the end of post-graduate studies, students write and defend (present) un m émoir (thesis/memoir/ dissertation).  If the jury of academics approve, they and the family members and friends that the student has invited will often finish the presentation with a small celebratory ap éro (snacks and drinks).

At the end of some university cycles, there may be une remise de diplômes (graduation ceremony). Students would typically wear business or formal attire, rather than a cap and gown or other traditional clothing. But graduation ceremonies aren’t especially common.

Overall, you could say that the motto for school in France is “it’s not personal, it’s business.”  Whether they’re 3 or 23, French students’ priority is to learn. Fun is something that may happen but it’s not considered an intrinsic part of the educational experience, nor are emotional events like marking milestones.

This doesn’t mean that school in France is a totally joyless affair. You only have to look at comedies old and new that are inspired by the French school experience, including the iconic Le Petit Nicolas and the relatively recent movie Les beaux gosses (sort of like a French Superbad ) to see that there are plenty of laughs, good memories, and nostalgia tied to French academic life.

What is school like where you live? What do you like and dislike about the French education system?

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Alysa Salzberg

Alysa Salzberg is an American writer, worrier, teacher, and cookie enthusiast who has lived in Paris, France, for more than a decade. She has taught English and French for more than ten years, most notably as an assistante de langue vivante for L'Education Nationale. She recently published her first novel, Hearts at Dawn , a "Beauty and the Beast" retelling that takes place during the 1870 Siege of Paris. You can read about her adventures here , or feel free to stop by her website .

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France’s Nursery and Primary School System: Maternelle & Ecole Primaire

Essential Reading

For families looking to relocate to France with young children, the French primary school system may be very different to that of their home country. Here is a practical guide to schooling in France for children between the ages of 3-11 years old.

Nursery School and Primary School in France

The French primary school system is generally well-known for its very good quality of instruction. Both, the école maternelle ( nursery School) and école primaire (primary school) consist of 24 hours of instruction per week.

Schools, along with their local commune (local administrative unit) may decide to organize these 24 hours into a four-day school week (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday) or chose to include a half-day on Wednesday morning.

Wednesdays are generally used for sports activities and other interests outside of school, as well as homework.  French schools give students homework from a young age and this can be more substantial than your child may be used to.

Which French School Zone?

France is divided into three school zones: A, B & C- which have been defined by the Ministry of National Education and is dependent on the region of France you will be living in and its corresponding regional educational authority.

Zone A : Besançon, Bordeaux, Clermont-Ferrand, Dijon, Grenoble, Limoges, Lyon, Poitiers

Zone B: Aix-Marseille, Amiens, Lille, Nancy-Metz, Nantes, Nice, Normandie, Orléans-Tours, Reims, Rennes, Strasbourg

Zone C: Créteil, Montpellier, Paris, Toulouse, Versailles

The dates of school holidays per region may also be found on the ministry website.

École Maternelle ( Nursery School)

  As of September 2019, the French state declared it mandatory for children to attend école maternelle from the age of 3.

The classes at maternelle are organized in the following structure:

French Class         Age

Petite Section             3-4

Moyenne Section      4-5

Grande Section          5-6

École Primaire (Primary School)

  Children attend école primaire between the ages of 6-11. Even the smallest of communes will have access to an école primaire.

The classes are organized in the following structure:

French Class                     Age

Cours Préparatoire (CP).           6-7

Cours Élémentaire 1 (CE1)        7-8

Cours Élémentaire 2 (CE2)        8-9

Cours Moyen 1 (CM1)                9-10

Cours Moyen 2 (CM2)              10-11

French Primary Eduction: What Are Les Cycles?

During the course of your child’s primary education, you will come across les cycles or key stages of education to ensure uniformity of instruction across the schools. The idea is for subjects and topics to be taught and revisited during each three-year cycle in order to reinforce learning.

Cycle 1: Also known as Cycle des apprentissages premier , covers the Petite, Moyenne and Grande Sections of école maternelle

Cycle 2: Cycle des apprentissages fondamentaux , covering CP, CE1 and CE2 in école primaire

Cycle 3: Cycle de consolidation, covers CM1, CM2 of école primaire as well as 6ème (seixième)- the first year of secondary school

La Cantine (School Canteen)

Écoles maternelle and primaire have cantine facilities for the children. The food is normally delivered by a catering company and is generally of a high quality. Children are served three courses, with greater efforts being made to serve vegetarian food too. If your child has food allergies or does not eat certain foods due to religious/cultural reasons, these are noted upon inscription and respected.

Private or public school in France? What’s the difference?

If you are from the UK, the term may be confusing. However, public schools in France are state schools. The standard of education across both public and private schools is generally comparable and French primary education has a good reputation.

A difference you may find with your home country is that French private schools are subsidized by the French State and as such are an affordable option. Parents or legal guardians pay school fees based on a sliding scale, dependent on your level of household income and siblings being at the same school at the same time.

French private schools have a certain amount of liberty in organizing their schedules. Private schools for example may decide to take le pont , taking an additional day as a holiday when it falls between two bank holidays or close to the weekend.  Public schools are required to keep to the State published holidays.

The majority of private schools in France are Catholic schools, although families not required to be practising Catholics. School’s schedule one hour per week to teach Catholicism, however, you may opt for broader humanity studies if preferred.

The majority of écoles primaire have active parent-teacher associations, known as l’association nationale de parents d’élèves . These associations play an important role in the fundraising for school facilities and trips and are a great way to meet other parents too.

Studying in France?

From nursery through secondary school to higher education, university, and foreign exchange study programs—FrenchEntrée is here to answer all your back-to-school questions. Visit our Education zone for more on studying in France and the French school system, or find out more about raising children in France in our Family zone .

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French Education System: Navigating schooling in France

• Post category: French Parenting / Moving to France
• Post author: Nassie Angadi

If you are planning a move to France , you may start to look into the French education system if you have children. And right then, you are immediately hit with an alphabet soup of initials: CP, CM, CE1, etc.

French people refer to the school years with these acronyms, which to an outsider makes no sense at all.

In the U.S. and in France, school starts with compulsory kindergarten, then elementary school, middle school, high school, and higher education. In the US though, it is relatively straightforward, with 1st grade, 2nd grade, up to 12th grade, and graduation. Congratulations you are fully up to speed, easy peasy!

Well, the French have never found a topic that they have not managed to complexify. Pre-school and kindergarten is actually for 3 years, and just wait till you get to the primary schools and junior high.

From secondary education, private schools, bilingual curriculums and vocational schools, the system is filled with acronyms and scholastic cycles that is not the easiest to decipher.

So let’s demystify the schools in France and the education system, shall we? Allons-y!

Foreign Students

1. overview.

• The school year in France starts in September and ends the 1st week of July .
• In general, schooling is free in France.
• Parents only pay for the lunchtime canteen, as well as if they use the early morning drop-off or late evening pick-up services. These services are income-based and tax credits are available as well. The average cost is as cheap as €1-7/day.
• Parents receive aid to send their children to school for supplies, clothing, etc. Allocation de rentrée scolaire  (ARS) is an income-based allocation available for children aged 6 to 18 from modest families. It is approximately €400/year per child.
• Unlike the U.K., students across France don’t wear school uniforms, at least not yet in public schools.
• Boys and girls are not separated.

2. Preschool (Maternelle)

First off, we should note that schooling for all French children is mandatory in the calendar year the child turns 3. This means if your child is born in December, he will be entering school at 2 years and 8 months old.

Thus in the chart below, when it says “age”, it means the year that that child turned that age.

To translate into American schooling standards, Moyen Section is pre-school, Grand Section is kindergarden, and little 3 year old Petit-Sectioners would still be in nursery.

Don’t be fooled however, Petit Section in France is not just a child-care nursery . French three-year-olds learn to sing the alphabet, to count, to draw, etc.

There are a lot of nursery rhymes and french songs , before moving to poetry as they move into primary school. They also do activities with their class such as going swimming , riding a bike in the school courtyard, etc.

If there are a lot of really young children (i.e. children born at the end of the year), the town will open a TPS or Toute Petite Section for the really littles.

The first day of class is known as the Rentrée , and it is such a big deal that many offices give their employees the day off to take their (small) children to school.

School starts at around 8:30am every morning and continues until 4:30pm. There is a 2-hour break in the middle of the day for lunch and recreation.

Lunchtime canteen

Lunch time is considered part of schooling, and French schools take it quite seriously. No picky eaters allowed here. From a young age, children are introduced to a wide variety of healthy meals and taught to try everything.

If the child has an allergy, the parents have to get a PAI from the school doctor authorizing them to send lunch with the child. Some schools also allow parents to pick up children for lunch to eat at home. Here is a maternelle and primary school sample menu:

☞ READ MORE: French food that all kids will love

Arrangements on Wednesdays

Most preschool and primary school students don’t have school on Wednesdays. It is supposed to be the day for extra-curricular activities, to rest, etc. There was a move in 2018 by the government to insist on Wednesday morning classes, however, the teacher unions and parents protested.

This led to some towns having school on Wednesday mornings and reducing hours on other days, while other towns did not.

For working parents who cannot keep their children home each Wednesday, or pick their kids up at 4:30pm, there are the leisure centers.

Each town offers a centre de loisirs (activity and leisure center), where parents can drop off their children on Wednesdays at a minimal cost that is based on income levels. In real terms, the cost is around €5-20/day including lunch.

These leisure centers are in the same school that the child attends, with animateurs watching the kids and proposing a variety of activities. These leisure centers are also open in the mornings for parents who need to head to work early in the morning.

These centre de loisirs hold a variety of craft activities, sports , dance, and other programs based on the age of the child. They also sometimes do field trips to nearby farms, the cinema, museums, etc.

English instruction

Most public maternelles in France start a dose of English instruction, about 45 minutes once a week. This can vary however from school to school.

It can also depend on whether a dedicated English teacher can be found, and the regular teacher’s ability to speak English.

All the children get a report card twice a year, at half-term before the Christmas holidays, and at the end of the year in June .

Parents must give their approval for child to move up a grade. At the end of each year, parents receive two forms for the Poursuite de Scolarité . The first form is the Proposition du conseil des maîtres with the decision of teacher and school to either promote the student or keep him/her behind. Parents have a few days to approve or appeal the decision.

A few days after that, parents will get a 2nd form with la décision of Conseil des maîtres . This decision can then also be approved or appealed by the parents to the Appeals Commission and the School Board. You can read more about French preschools here.

3. Homeschooling

Homeschooling used to be legal in France, but its usuage was significantly restricted in 2022. Consequently, parents desiring to homeschool must now obtain prior authorization.

The authorities will consider only one of four specific reasons for permitting homeschooling:

• The child’s health or disability
• The child’s dedicated involvement in a sport or artistic pursuit
• If the family is traveling and not located at a fixed domicile in France.
• A unique situation specific to the child justifying an alternative educational path.

Despite these stringent regulations, Les enfants d’abord , a French national organization advocating for home-educating families, is actively challenging and opposing this new law.

The Mairie in your town will require you to make an annual declaration, as will the  rectorat  (school inspector). Parents must cover roughly the same curriculum as a French school.

4. Primary school (École primaire)

The French primary school operates on cycles. Maternelle is the first cycle , and from there CP to CE2 is the 2nd cycle where children are expected to learn the fundamentals.

Handwriting still matters in France. Kids in maternelle are taught to draw in boucles (curls) and by CP they are taught to write in cursive. Students are expected to master the cursive and write beautifully.

Along with beautiful handwriting, la dictée (dictation) is also a big part of French learning. Unlike English, French is a language with a lot of accents and hidden sounds and accords. As such, learning to write with the teacher dictating a paragraph of French literature is part of the culture.

Along with dictation, students study classic French poets and their most famous poems in school, and at times are expected to be able to memorize it and recite it in class. The idea is to listen to understand “the diversity of language”. You can read some examples of French poetry for kids here.

As they get older, they start to move from having one teacher for all the subjects, to specialized teachers for each subject. Similar to other countries, the emphasis is on reading, writing, maths, science, language, etc.

In the 3rd cycle , from CM1 to the 1st year of Middle school, the emphasis is on “consolidation of knowledge”.

Starting in primary school, children are offered an accueil des études (study hall), where they can do their homework afterschool while waiting for their parents. It usually lasts an hour, after which they can join the regular centre de loisirs.

There are two types of study hall, étude surveillée and étude dirigée . Etude surveillée is supervised study hall, where the child works somewhat independently on their homework, rather than waiting to get home to do it.

Etude dirigée, on the other hand, is more of a directed study hall for students in difficulty, who would benefit from small class size and more personal attention. The type of study hall offered depends on the school.

☞ READ MORE: Top French books for Children (by age)

Beyond classroom learning, students are offered Class Verte or Classe Blanche , which are experiences outside the classroom.

In Classe Verte (green class) is exploring the countryside, with activities such as hiking, canoeing, horseback riding, etc.

Classe Blanche (white class) is usually for skiing and snow-related activities. Students who live the French Alps usually also have day trips to nearby ski resorts in winter as part of their schooling.

These classes are usually in primary school, but are also sometimes offered for Grand Section in maternelle or middle school students. These can be daytrips or overnight trips over 1-3 weeks, where the entire class is expected to participate.

The teacher accompanies the trip with regular lessons in the morning, and the afternoon used to concentrate on the physical activities.

Foreign students who don’t speak French are provided a teaching assistant through Français Langue Etrangère (FLE) .

In addition, children who have learning or physical disabilities are provided special assistants to help them navigate the system ( Services d’éducation spéciale et de soins à domicile ).

5. Middle school (Collège)

Collège in French is not “college of higher education” as we know it in North America, but actually middle school. Here finally the French drop the acronyms and the U.S. equivalent of 6th grade is the sixème ( 6ème ) in France.

In junior high (collège) and secondary school (lycée) , the schedule is much more variable depending on the school. Older middle school and high school children will have varying hours at school based on the classes they are taking.

Some schools have classes on Wednesday, for a 1/2 day or full day, while others even have classes and exams on Saturday mornings.

Applying to Middle school

Not all middle schools offer a full range of courses, so French students apply to get into the middle school of their choice.

School years 5ème to 3ème are part of the 4th cycle of French education, known as the deepening cycle .

In 6ème, students pick one of two foreign languages that they will study through the rest of their scholastic career. Known as Langue Vivante 1 (Living language 1), the most common languages chosen are English, German, Spanish or Italian.

The following year, in 5ème, they will pick the 2nd language, known as Langue Vivante 2 , amongst the choices offered at their middle school.

Starting in collège , the French grading system becomes quite hard. A 12 out of 20 is considered a pretty decent mark. Unlike North America, where a good portion of the class is expected to be in the 70%-90% range, this is not the case in France.

Redoublement , meaning to redoing the scholastic year, is not uncommon in France. In addition, there is no social stigma to doing so. This is especially the case for the scholastic years that are at the end of a learning cycle (in CE2, 6ème, 3ème).

A child will be held back if he cannot demonstrate the necessary competence in that cycle. The idea is to have the student catch up before he gets any further.

At the end of 3ème, French students must pass an exam known as the brèvet , which includes testing on French, mathematics and other subjects. It is an important test, but not an important test, as everyone is expected to pass the brèvet.

Middle schools are judged on their ability to get their students to pass the Brèvet, so French families will often decide what neighborhood and what school to send their children to, based on the brèvet results.

☞ READ MORE: Top French comics for the young and young at heart

6. High school (Lycée)

The 5th cycle of the French school system is the lycée and it is all about preparing French students for the future.

Applying to High school

The courses offered at the high school will be based on the type of high school diploma that the student is working towards. After the brèvet at the end of middle school, students must apply to one of 3 types of high schools:

Boarding Schools

While boarding schools are common in other countries like the U.K., they are not common in France, especially in big cities. However, in the French countryside where the closest middle school or high school may not offer all the classes the student would like, boarding schools are available.

These schools are called internats , and offer a variety of options such as full days with meals, overnight stays, etc.

Field trips

High school students are also offered trips in France and around the world, depending on the town’s resources. Recent trips in high schools in Paris have been to China, India, New York, etc.

At the end of high school, students must sit the BAC. The BAC is similar to the American SAT, in that it is a nationwide exam that all French students must pass to move on to higher education.

While the SAT is usually one exam, the BAC is a series of exams over several days in a variety of subjects, depending on what the student has chosen.

Unlike the U.S. or U.K., one of the subjects that is mandatory in France is philosophy. It is obligatory in the final year of high school, to emphasize “the learning of freedom through the exercise of reflection”.

The first exam in the BAC series of exams is always philosophy. Here is a recent question from that exam:

Est-il possible d’échapper au temps ? – Is it possible to escape time? Essay Question on BAC exam

The official grading for the BAC shows at what point the student can earn a “mention”:

There are also several technical diplomas for high school students who specialize in technical areas such as the Brevet de technicien supérieur (BTS) or Le brevet des métiers d’art (BMA), etc.

☞ READ MORE: Facts about French schools

7. International Language Sections

All throughout the schooling system, from maternelle to high school, there are International sections with options such as American English, British English, Dutch, Arabic, Japanese, etc. working towards the International Option Baccalaureate (OIB).

These international sections allow students to study certain subjects in a foreign language of their choice. Both French and foreign students can apply to them, but in cities like Paris, the competition is tough. (The earlier the child applies in their scholastic career, the easier the chances are to get in.)

The workload in the “other language” is on top of the regular French workload, and the chances of the student getting in depends on their high scholastic abilities as much as their fluency in the other language.

8. Universities and Higher Education

Once students have their BAC in hand, they are able to apply to a series of public universities and institutions across France. When you see job applications in France, they will refer to having “Bac +5” etc. This means that the person completed studies for 5 years after the Bac, meaning that they have 4 years of university and a Master’s degree.

Universities are generally free in France and every French student is guaranteed a spot somewhere, along with a student bursary from CAF (a govt department).

More interestingly, some schools like the National School of Public Administration  ENA , actually pay the students a stipend of around  €1700/ month  to attend. Competition is tough to get in, and students are required to work for the government for 10 years after graduating, or they pay those funds back.

Grandes écoles

The best students, however, will aim to get into one of the grandes écoles . These schools are quite exclusive, and the equivalent of the American Ivy League.

Students don’t get in immediately after high school but spend 2 years doing private courses known as “preparatory classes”, or  prépas , so they can sit for an entrance exam ( concours) .

Entrance into one of the Grandes écoles is meant to grant the student a surefire job and a high flying career.

So is the French school system similar to schooling where you are from? If you enjoyed that article, you may enjoy reading more about living in Paris . A bientôt!

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How does the French school system work?

by Audrey Sivadier

Published on June 10, 2020 / Updated on January 8, 2024

In France, education is compulsory for all children, from the age of 3 to 16. Parents may choose to send their child to a school (public or private) or to provide this education themselves. You are moving to France and want to know which school your children should go to? Or you are just interested to know how the French school system works? Then read our article on the French school system explained.

Kindergarten: école maternelle

Elementary school: école élémentaire, secondary school: collège, high school: lycée, higher education: études supérieures, private and public schools in france, how to choose the best school path, learn languages at your pace.

Every child aged 3 must attend school, it became compulsory in 2019. Previously, children didn’t have to attend school until they were 6. 

 Children in maternelle go through three different classes:

• PS ( petite section ) – 3 years old
• MS ( moyenne section ) – 4 years old
• GS ( grande section ) – 5 years old

Some schools (depending on the number of students) even offer the TPS (Toute Petite Section) class for children aged 2.

La maternelle is an important step. The French have understood it, that’s why it became compulsory in 2019. The students learn to live together, as well as develop their fine motor skills, letters and sounds in French.

French elementary school children go through five different classes:

• CP ( cours préparatoire ) – 6 years old
• CE1 ( cours élémentaire 1ère année ) – 7 years old
• CE2 ( cours élémentaire 2ème année ) – 8 years old
• CM1 ( cours moyen 1ère année ) – 9 years old
• CM2 ( cours moyen 2ème année ) – 10 years old

Classes from CP to CE2 are the cycle of fundamental learning. During these three years, pupils learn how to read, count and write. In CM1 and CM2 classes, they consolidate their knowledge to be ready to go to secondary school. In elementary school, pupils learn French, math, history, geography, science, sports, music, art and English. French primary schools are managed by the municipality of the town where you live.

The collège allows the pupils to deepen all the knowledge previously acquired. It has four different classes:

• 6ème : sixième – 11 years old
• 5ème : cinquième – 12 years old
• 4ème : quatrième – 13 years old
• 3ème : troisième – 14 years old

The 6ème completes the previous cycle (CM1 and CM2 classes). In 5ème , pupils must choose a second language to learn. Depending on what their first language is, they usually have the choice between English, Spanish or German, or sometimes even Italian (especially for those living near the border). They have other optional choices, for example, they can learn a   regional language , such as Breton or Occitan. This time, they have one teacher per subject, instead of having only one per class in Kindergarten and elementary school. The collège is managed by the department in which you live, and teenagers must go to the collège closest to where they live. 

At the end of secondary school, students take the national exam Brevet . This diploma attests to the knowledge and skills they have acquired up to that point. From there, students can choose a general, technological or professional path and choose their lycée (high school) according to their specialty.

There are two types of lycée in France: the general and technological one, and the vocational one, where students enter the professional world earlier, alternating working and teaching phases. The names of the classes follow those of the college:

• 2nde : Seconde – 15 years old
• 1ère – Première – 16 years old
• Terminale – 17 years old

In Seconde , students all follow the same curriculum, whereas in Première , they specialize and choose three specialties amongst 12 (arts, biology-ecology, digital and computer sciences, history-geography, geopolitics and political science, engineering sciences, physics-chemistry, etc.). They keep only two of them in Terminale . At the end of high school, students take the Baccalauréat or Bac in their chosen specialties. Now, the final grade is composed of the continuous assessment (40%) and the final exams (60%). After that, they can enter professional life or go to higher education like university, preparatory classes, business schools, etc.

 In France, you have several possibilities after the Bac . We’ll go through them below.

A university course follows an LMD course:

• Licence (3 years)
• Master (2 years): at the end, un mémoire (essay) must be written.
• Doctorat (3 years): at the end, you have to write une thèse (thesis) and you become Dr. but this appellation is very little used in France and is often reserved for family doctors.

Les grandes écoles (5 years)

Students are recruited on the basis of a competitive examination, after having passed two years of classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles (CPGE), like khâgne and hypokhâgne for literature studies, for example. These are two very hard years, where you have to study a lot of subjects in an atmosphere of tough competitiveness.

They provide high-level training. Here are some names of renowned schools:

• ESSEC – Business School (Management, marketing, finance, law)
• ENS ( École Normale Supérieure ) – multidisciplinary.
• Mines Paris Tech or Les Mines (Sciences, biology, energetics, mechanics and materials, mathematics, economics, management)
• Polytechnic (Biology, chemistry, economics, humanities and social sciences, computer science, mathematics, mechanics, physics)
• HEC (Management, Economics, Finance, Law)

From Kindergarten onwards, you can choose to enroll your children “privately”. Private schools are often Catholic schools, where religion classes are offered, which is not the case in public schools. But they follow the same curriculum as public schools. There are also more and more private schools offering alternative pedagogies such as Montessori or schools based on bilingualism or that are more connected with nature.

When we say “private school” in France, it does not necessarily go hand in hand with “expensive”. Sure, they are not free like public schools, but they are not extortionate either, as some independent schools in England, for example. Prices usually are between 300 and 500 euros per child per year.

After finishing high school and even earlier, students have to think about their future careers. It’s not always easy to decide what they want to do in life. Luckily, there are some steps that help students better understand what they like. First, they should make a list of their skills and interests or pass some orientation test . This helps the students get to know themselves better, their motivations and passions. Once they know what they are good at, they should consider all the options available to them. Visiting some open houses is a good way to get an overview of what the universities and schools are like. They could also contact a career counselor to get more advice on their future path. Finally, students could do an internship in a company to get a real feeling of what it’s like to work in a professional environment.

The school system in France: the main takeaways

• School is compulsory from 3 to 16 years old in France.
• École maternelle is from 3 to 6 years old, école élémentaire from 6 to 11, collège from 11 to 15 and lycée from 15 to 17/18 years old.
• The baccalauréat is indispensable to enter higher education.
• You can choose between public and private schools, private school being not necessarily very expensive.
• There are many ways to choose the right path, like doing some personality tests, skill evaluations and getting advice from professionals and near relations.

Audrey Sivadier

Audrey has been a French teacher for more than ten years now, and a cheese-lover all her life. She comes from the west of France, and after living 2 years in Spain and 4 years in Oxford in England, she has just settled in the heart of France, in Auvergne, a land of cheese, rugby, Michelin tires and ancient volcanoes. Audrey definitely prefers the first one. She speaks French, Spanish and English, and just started German, nothing better to understand her students who tremble at the French grammar! When she is not teaching, she tries to find time to cook or sing in a choir. She loves to invite people to her house to feed them and trap them with musical blind tests designed and adapted to her guests! Find out more about her on her website and LinkedIn .

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How the French Do School

Wherein the end probably justifies the means..

Reading time min

Julia Breckenreid

By Robert L. Strauss

When my wife and I moved to Cameroon, we had two choices for our then 5-year-old daughter: the American school on the other side of town that cost $10,000 a year, or the French school around the corner that cost $2,000. It was, as the French might say, a decision sans cerveau. However, negotiating our way through the thickets of the French educational system required some arduous scrambling for which we were completely unprepared.

For example, American school grades ascend logically from 1 to 12. Not so the French. Their system starts with a long sequence of at first meaningless abbreviations that evolve into a NASA-like countdown. Even Francophones often need refresher classes on what these abbreviations mean.

We also learned that while standardized testing provokes the passion of religious debate in the United States, the French have long since determined how best Jacques et Jeanne should learn to read—which is pretty much that every student in every French school everywhere in the world should be turning the same page at more or less the same instant. Miraculously, this seems to work: nearly all holders of a French sixth grade education know the difference between the passé composé and the imparfait, whereas most American recipients of PhDs in English do not.

Additionally, the French do not play loosey-goosey with grade assignments. If a newly enrolled child will turn 5 at two minutes before midnight on December 31, he goes into CP. If the child's birthday falls on January 1 at two minutes past midnight, then it's Grande Section. Point final.

Unlike Americans, the French do not assume that parents are likely to be more responsible than their children. With rare exceptions, parents are all but banned from the classroom. This has the remarkable effect of freeing up hundreds of hours a year for teachers to concentrate on their students rather than on the neuroses of their students' parents.

Parents are still expected to be involved in their children's education by initialing the nearly daily directives pasted into each student's texte du jour. Although I am not sure what the sanctions are for noncompliance, I believe they are severe and may include having to spend several hours in the close company of dedicated smokers of Gauloises and Gitanes— non-filtre.

The French also do not make the mistake of believing that the effectiveness of schooling is directly related to the number of hours in the classroom, the amount of homework assigned or the weight of a child's cartable (schoolbag). During our daughter's first five years of French schooling in Cameroon, she had about 10 hours of homework—total. This had my wife gravely concerned for her future. To me, it seemed just about right and reminded me a bit of my own elementary school days, except without the snow.

For parents, the real challenge begins in September with preparation for the rentrée. This involves purchasing all the materials enumerated in long, grade-specific lists. Parents must also present them to the teacher before opening day so that they can be assessed and any deficiencies identified and rectified.

For the non-French parent, deciphering some of the supplies can be as complex as conjugating irregular French verbs in the pluperfect subjunctive.

Never wishing to cut their vacation short by a single day, the French can be counted on to lay siege to supply stores just before the rentrée. The closest cinematic equivalent would be the Oklahoma Land Rush as staged by Ron Howard in Far and Away —but without the wagons and horses. Comparatively speaking, a clearance sale at Filene's is a stroll in the park as parents rifle the shelves looking for the protège-cahier grand format violet, a thin, textured plastic notebook cover that is always out of stock. (My thinking is that all French retailers are in cahoots and in mid-August gather in a room filled with smoke, Armagnac and lingerie models where they decide to send every protège-cahier grand format violet to one store and every cahier grand format to another store located as far away as possible in the same municipality. In this way, every vendor is assured of his piece of liberté, égalité, fraternité. )

This year I was able to find all of the required supplies at a single store—except for the protèges-cahiers grand format violet, vert and  jaune. That required stopping at several other stores, most of which turned out to have plenty of protèges-cahiers petit format  in the missing colors but not in grand format.

Fourth Grade Shopping List:

• Four notebooks of 192 pages, in large format, with large, ruled squares. Daily notebook to be covered in red, evaluation notebook to be covered in yellow, literature notebook to be covered in green, and English notebook to be covered in purple.
• One notebook of 96 pages, small format, large-ruled squares, for essays, to be covered in green.
• One notebook of 48 pages, small format, large-ruled squares, for liaison, to be covered in pink.
• One notebook of 48 pages, small format, large-ruled squares, for practical work, to be covered in violet.
• One daily work calendar book.
• One small pad.
• One plastic pocket envelope with a leaf.
• One portfolio.
• One large format binder with four dividers (for history, geography, science and social studies).
• Two 50-page packets of A4 paper with large-ruled squares.
• One packet of white “Canson” in large format with a paper weight of not less than 120 grams.
• A flat, plastic ruler.
• A flat, plastic angle.
• 10 brightly colored paper sleeves. Do not write the child's name on them.
• Five sheets of tracing paper.
• Five sheets of millimeter paper.
• A box of pens including five blue pens, two black pens, two green pens and one red pen.
• A scissors with rounded ends.
• One small chalkboard.
• A box of chalk.
• A towel for wiping.
• A box of 12 colored pencils (“European norm”).
• A box of 12 felt-tip pens.
• A finely tipped #10 paint brush.
• A regularly tipped #10 brush.
• A ream of A4 paper of not less than 80-gram weight.
• A role of plastic (for covering textbooks).
• A pot of glue.
• A schoolbag.

Finally fully equipped, I reported to Maîtresse Véronique, who dutifully ticked each item off her long list. When, at the end of each of the first three days of school, we asked our daughter what she had done in school that day, to no surprise she answered, “We wrote our names on our supplies.”

Someday an American entering the French system for the first time will rally other parents to petition the French Ministry of Education to revise what is clearly a regressive, nonegalitarian tax on the families of school-age children. After spending several years failing to move the French bureaucracy a millimeter, this American will then take it upon herself to form a company that will bundle all the materials required for each grade in a single box that includes all the correct sizes and colors of protège-cahier. A large political debate will then break out among the French, who will agonize over who was responsible for letting an American undermine a vital aspect of their cultural heritage while wondering what they can do to stop the onslaught.

On the brighter side, once parents have purchased everything, they can look forward to having nearly no involvement in their children's education for the rest of the year aside from three short meetings with the teacher before each of the major holidays. Our daughter's generally favorable evaluations haven't prevented my wife from worrying that by the time she reaches Terminale she'll be 13 years behind her American contemporaries. Most parents, however, seem to be comfortable with the French system. After all, nearly every French-educated child knows that Canada is a large North American country, whereas most American children believe it is simply a hockey association.

On the downside, the French approach to childhood education can engender a certain parental lassitude. Last year, for example, despite streams of red ink adorning my daughter's cahiers, I remained unconcerned because her teacher was unconcerned. Only much later did I learn that fourth-grade students are required to write all uppercase letters in red and all lowercase letters in blue. How this benefits anyone other than the Bic family, I have no idea. But as long as the French continue to produce marvelous butter and excellent pastries at reasonable prices, I couldn't care less. It seems, after all, a small price to pay for having a well-educated child.

ROBERT L. STRAUSS, MA '84, MBA '84, formerly Peace Corps director in Cameroon, is a writer and consultant in Madagascar.

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Education in France

Primary and secondary schools in france - from "maternelle" to "lycée".

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• French life › French school system

From kindergarten to high school – Part 1 of a guide to the education system in France

• Higher education in France
• Studying in France
• French school holiday dates
• French ministry of education website

No more phones in school...

The different types of school: (taken by age of pupils):, ecole maternelle (kindergarten) and creches ;, ecole primaire, or ecole élémentaire:.

Lycée professionnel:

Lycées: les classes préparatoires., public and private schools in france:.

The baccalauréat and grading:

Grade distribution and grade inflation, education in france, 2: higher education, pre-school, primary, secondary.

12 things you should know about French schools

Insurance for your child, long lunch breaks, no school uniform and enrolling in school – here are 12 things you should know about French schools

1. Nursery school is called maternelle and children start at the age of 3

2. Primary school is called école primaire and children start in September of the year they turn 6 – so children born in 2010 all start primary school in September 2016

3. Middle school is called collège and children attend from the age of 11 to 15.

4. Secondary school is called lycée where students from the age of 15 spend 3 years studying for their baccalauréat – the equivalent of A levels in the UK.

5. If a child doesn’t achieve the grades they will have to repeat the year (redoubler) – this is much more common in France

6. You will have to enrol your child in a French school – take their birth certificate, medical records, your passport and proof of address to your mairie

7. School pupils don’t wear a school uniform

8. Pupils get a long lunch break and either eat at the school canteen which offers freshly cooked healthy meals or go home for lunch – no packed lunches in France!

9. Parents must take out insurance for their children , called assurance scolaire, for school trips, sport and extra-curricular activities. This costs between €10 and €35 and covers any damage your child might do to school property and loss of belongings.

10. Schools are strictly secular (expect faith schools) so there won’t be any nativity plays

11. You have to provide all stationery and equipment, except textbooks, for your child but you can apply for and income-dependant grant to pay for these. This is called Allocation de Rentrée Scolaire and you can apply for it at your local CAF (Caisses d’Allocation Familiales)

12. The school day in France starts at 8.30 and finishes at 4.30 with a long lunch break. Some schools close on Wednesday afternoons which is when children participate in extra-curricular activities

More on the French education system:

A guide to the French education system

10 differences between French and British schools

Higher education in France

Ian Moore: back to school in France

5 tips for moving to France as a family

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Pencils Down? French Plan Would End Homework

Eleanor Beardsley

As part of an effort to overhaul education in France, President Francois Hollande is proposing the elimination of homework. Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

As part of an effort to overhaul education in France, President Francois Hollande is proposing the elimination of homework.

In the name of equality, the French government has proposed doing away with homework in elementary and junior high school. French President Francois Hollande argues that homework penalizes children with difficult home situations, but even the people whom the proposal is supposed to help disagree.

It's 5:30 p.m. and getting dark outside, as kids pour out of Gutenberg Elementary School in Paris 15th arrondissement. Parents and other caregivers wait outside to collect their children. Aissata Toure, 20, is here with her younger sister in tow. She's come to pick up her 7-year-old son. Toure says she's against Hollande's proposal to do away with homework.

"It's not a good idea at all because even at a young age, having individual work at home helps build maturity and responsibility," she says, "and if it's something they didn't quite get in school, the parents can help them. Homework is important for a kid's future."

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Toure lives with her son, her little sister and her mother in public housing near the school. On the surface, it seems just the sort of family environment that might put a child at a disadvantage. Yet Toure says she sits down with her son every night, even though she's in law school and has her own studies.

"Poor people want homework because they know that school is very important, and the only chance — the only possibility — they have to give their children a better life is if their children succeed at school," says Emmanuel Davidenkoff, editor-in-chief of L'Etudiant , a magazine and website devoted to French school and education.

An Educational Divide

Davidenkoff says the Socialist government doesn't seem to understand the concerns of the working and middle class and in the name of equality, got it all wrong.

President Francois Hollande argues that homework puts poor children at a disadvantage, but others argue the extra work is needed to help those students succeed. Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

President Francois Hollande argues that homework puts poor children at a disadvantage, but others argue the extra work is needed to help those students succeed.

"Mostly, wealthy people don't want homework because when the kids are at home, they make sports or dance or music. They go to the museums, to the theater. So they have this access to culture, which is very important," he says. "In poor families, they don't have that, so the only link they have with culture and school is homework."

Elisabeth Zeboulon sits in her office over the playground. Today, she's the principal at a private, bilingual school in Paris, but she spent most of her career in French public schools. Zeboulon says the centralized French education system doesn't leave much room for trying different teaching methods.

"The kids are very different from one place to another, from one school to another, and we don't have much way of adapting," she says. "And whenever they start saying, 'Well in this place we could do this, in that place we could do that,' then you have a lot of people coming up and saying, 'Look, it's not equal.' "

Infusing Happiness

Cutting homework is just part of an effort aimed at making primary and secondary school a happier, more relaxed place for children. The school week will be lengthened — currently, French children have Wednesdays off — but the school day will be shortened. Kids get out so late here there's no time for extracurricular activities. Basically, French school is a grind, says Peter Gumbel, author of a scathing book on the education system in France.

"There's an enormous amount of pressure, and it's no fun whatsoever. There's no sport or very little sport, very little art, very little music. Kids don't have a good time at all," he says. "And it's not about building self-confidence and encouraging them to go out and discover the world. It's much more about, sit down and we'll fill your empty heads with our rather dull and old-fashioned knowledge."

There's another big reason the French government is making changing school policy a top priority, Gumbel says.

"The French are discovering — to their horror — that their performance internationally has been declining over the last 10 years. The French actually are performing [worse] than the Americans in reading and science," he says.

This is a huge shock, Gumbel says, to a country that long considered itself an education pioneer.

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15 interesting facts about french schools.

Written by Bertine Heyward

Modified & Updated: 06 Mar 2024

Reviewed by Sherman Smith

• Social Sciences

French schools are known for their rich history, rigorous education system, and unique cultural practices. From kindergartens to universities, the French education system places a strong emphasis on academic excellence and personal growth. In this article, we will explore 15 interesting facts about French schools that highlight the distinct features and traditions of their education system. From the iconic school uniform to the celebrated “La Rentrée” (the return to school) tradition, these facts will give you an insight into the fascinating world of French education. Whether you’re a student, a parent, or simply curious about different schooling cultures, join us as we delve into the intriguing realm of French schools.

Key Takeaways:

• French schools have longer days, promoting a well-rounded education and more time for extracurricular activities, like sports and arts, to help students explore their interests and talents.
• French schools prioritize healthy, social lunchtimes and emphasize learning through activities, promoting teamwork and creativity. They also encourage students to think critically and be active members of their community.

French schools have a longer school day compared to many other countries.

French schools typically have a longer school day, with classes starting early in the morning and finishing in the late afternoon. This extended schedule allows for a more in-depth curriculum and more time for extracurricular activities.

School lunches in France are a serious affair.

In French schools, lunchtime is not just about eating; it is considered an important social and educational time. Students are provided with nutritious, multi-course meals that include a variety of dishes such as salad, main courses, cheeses, and desserts.

French schools follow a strict uniform policy.

Uniforms are mandatory in most French schools, promoting a sense of equality among students. The traditional uniform consists of a specific color scheme and style, varying according to the grade level and school.

French students have shorter summer vacations.

In France, the summer vacation period is relatively short, usually lasting only about eight weeks. This allows for a more consistent learning schedule throughout the year and helps prevent significant gaps in students’ knowledge.

All French schools teach English as a mandatory subject.

English is taught from a young age in French schools, starting as early as the primary level. This aims to provide students with strong language skills and enhance their opportunities for international communication and career prospects.

Homework is not common in French primary schools.

In French primary schools, the emphasis is placed on learning through activities and immediate feedback. Therefore, homework is not commonly assigned, allowing students to have more time for extracurricular activities and family time.

French schools strongly promote physical education.

Physical education, or “EPS” (Education Physique et Sportive), is a highly valued part of the curriculum in French schools. Students participate in various sports, aiming to instill a healthy lifestyle, teamwork, and discipline.

French students learn multiple foreign languages.

In addition to English, students in France typically learn at least one other foreign language. Common choices include Spanish, German, Italian, or even Latin.

French schools focus heavily on a well-rounded education.

French schools prioritize a broad spectrum of subjects, including humanities, sciences, arts, sports, and technology. This approach aims to provide students with a comprehensive education and foster their individual interests and talents.

Exams play a crucial role in French schools.

Exams, such as the Baccalauréat (commonly known as “Bac”), are significant milestones in French education. These exams assess students’ knowledge and determine their readiness to progress to higher education.

French schools have a strong emphasis on arts and culture.

France is renowned for its rich cultural heritage, and French schools strive to preserve and promote it. Art, music, theater, and literature hold a prominent place in the curriculum, fostering creativity and artistic expression.

School trips are an integral part of the French education system.

French schools regularly organize educational trips and outings to museums, historical sites, and cultural events. These excursions provide students with hands-on experiences and enhance their understanding of various subjects.

French schools have a rigorous grading system.

French schools use a numerical grading system ranging from 0 to 20, with 10 being the passing grade. Teachers provide detailed feedback on students’ performance, enabling them to monitor their progress closely.

French schools encourage critical thinking and debate.

The French education system places a strong emphasis on developing analytical and reasoning skills. Students are encouraged to question, discuss, and debate various topics, fostering independent thinking and intellectual growth.

French schools prioritize civic education.

French schools incorporate civic education into their curriculum, teaching students about democracy, citizenship, and social responsibility. This helps develop a sense of community and prepares students to actively participate in society.

In conclusion, French schools have some truly interesting aspects that set them apart from other educational systems around the world. From their focus on academic excellence to the emphasis on arts and culture, French schools offer a unique and well-rounded education for students. The extensive school lunch system, the absence of homework, and the centralized organization of education are just a few of the fascinating elements that contribute to the success of French schools. The strict disciplinary policies, the rich history of education in France, and the emphasis on learning multiple languages also make French schools stand out. Overall, the French educational system is a reflection of the country’s values and commitment to providing an exceptional education to its students.

1. Are French schools only for French citizens?

No, French schools are open to both French citizens and foreigners. However, there may be different admission procedures and requirements for international students.

2. Is learning French mandatory in French schools?

Yes, learning French is mandatory in French schools. It is the primary language of instruction, and students are expected to become fluent in French during their schooling.

3. Do French schools have uniforms?

Yes, most French schools require students to wear uniforms. The typical uniform consists of a blazer, shirt or blouse, and trousers or skirt.

4. What subjects are taught in French schools?

French schools cover a wide range of subjects including mathematics, sciences, humanities, foreign languages, art, music, and physical education.

5. Do French schools have extracurricular activities?

Yes, French schools offer a variety of extracurricular activities such as sports clubs, art clubs, music ensembles, and theater groups.

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French parents to boycott homework

A group of French parents and teachers have called for a two-week boycott of homework in schools, saying it is useless, tiring and reinforces inequalities between children.

They say homework pushes the responsibility for learning on parents and causes rows between themselves and their children. And they conclude children would be better off reading a book.

"If the child hasn't succeeded in doing the exercise at school, I don't see how they're going to succeed at home," said Jean-Jacques Hazan, the president of the FCPE, the main French parents' association, which represents parents and pupils in most of France's educational establishments.

"In fact, we're asking parents to do the work that should be done in lessons."

Homework is officially banned in French primary schools, and has been since 1956. But many teachers ignore this and send children home with exercises to do. Older children often spend up to an hour each evening doing homework, and longer at the weekend or on Wednesdays when most schools close.

Catherine Chabrun, president of the teachers' organisation Co-operative Institute of Modern Schools (ICEM), says homework also reinforces inequalities.

"Not all families have the time or the necessary knowledge to help their offspring," she said.

The protesters calling for the ban say no one is contesting the idea of children being given "devoirs" – or exercises – just that they should be done during the school day and not at home. "Teachers don't realise the unbelievable pressure they are putting children under," said Hazan.

The question of whether young children should do homework has been a matter of fierce debate and disagreement in France since 1912. The anti-homework campaigners stand little chance of banning it, even for two weeks, but their blog , which has already had 22,000 visits in the past fortnight, hopes to put the perennial controversy back on the political agenda.

On the blog, Mado, the mother of a young pupil in her first primary school class (aged 6-7), writes: "My daughter is completely stressed … often she doesn't have time to finish her homework and she is afraid of being told off." She signs off: "Thanks for your blog. I feel less alone!"

A statement from the FCPE said: "Either a pupil has understood the lesson and succeeded in doing the exercises in class, in which case homework is a waste of time and stops them reading, for example, or they haven't understood and it's not at home in the absence of a teacher that they're going to do better."

Not all parents agree. Myriam Menez, general secretary of PEEP, another school parents' association, told Le Parisien giving primary school children homework prepared them for secondary school."Of course it has to be reasonable, but going back over a lesson is the best way of learning things," she said.

• Primary schools

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French Homework Help: 10 Essential Resources to Help Finish Your Assignment

Au secours! (Help!)

Do you ever find yourself mentally screaming this while struggling to complete your French homework?

Ever get overwhelmed with your assignments and wish that someone—anyone!—would just step in and make the French murkiness a little clearer?

To help you out with this, we’ve compiled the 10 best online resources to get French homework help quickly. So read on, and then try out a couple next time you’re confused or stuck.

1. Bescherelle

2. larousse, 3. bonpatron, 4. alloprof, 5. verbling, 6. 24houranswers, 7. wordreference, 8. french language stack exchange, 9. tex’s french grammar, 10. le conjugueur, and one more thing....

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Summary: Well known grammar and conjugation help source

If you’ve ever attended an in-person French class, there’s a good chance you’ve already seen or heard of this first resource. Bescherelle is better known for its written counterpart, a guide to hundreds of verbs in the French language, but you don’t have to run to the bookstore just yet. Bescherelle is also available online!

Bescherelle   conjugates almost every verb imaginable into any tense imaginable. That means that you can look up any verb and find it in all verb tenses and participles . Additionally, you can get the verb conjugations in both the active and passive voice: an excellent resource for when you’re completing upper-level French papers that require you to write impersonally.

Further, when you search for a verb, you can find out whether it’s regular or irregular and you’ll even see other verbs that are conjugated with the same verb ending pattern.

In addition to the conjugator, the Bescherelle website includes  dictées (dictations) for you to practice your listening and writing skills, quizzes about verbs and their tenses as well as other grammar points such as nouns and adjectives. If you’re feeling energized, Bescherelle also has a selection of French-learning games .

Summary: Accurate and nuanced word definitions

Larousse is a famous French dictionary that’s also available online. That means you can search any French word you’d like and get an in-depth look at its meaning, not just a one-word translation that may miss the meaning entirely (I’m looking at you, Google Translate!).

The dictionary itself offers many resources for French learners and for French homework help. First, Larousse has a monolingual French edition so you can look up words and see their definitions in French. Larousse also has bilingual editions for many other languages. Larousse can translate words into English, Spanish, German, Italian, Chinese and Arabic from French and vice versa.

In addition to its dictionaries,  Larousse offers a verb conjugator similar to that of Bescherelle. While it’s not as in-depth as Bescherelle’s, it gets the job done for quick searches of common conjugations. Further,  Larousse has an awesome encyclopedia to be used for French essays or other projects .

Finally, Larousse offers forums for people to post questions, which can be helpful if you’ve got a specific question about your French homework (more on getting those answered below).

Summary: Accurate online grammar and spell checker

For those who need a complete revision of French written compositions and not just simple word look-ups and verb conjugations,  BonPatron  is the holy grail! BonPatron  is an online French grammar and spell checker extraordinaire!

Let’s say you’ve been tasked with writing a paragraph or essay for your French course. You’ve looked up all the words you didn’t know and verified all the conjugations, and to be honest, you’re feeling pretty good about it.

But wait! Before you hand your work in, you should make sure everything is correct. Simply paste your French written work into the BonPatron  checker, and the service will find all your spelling and grammar errors for free. It’ll even give you necessary corrections as well as a small explanation for any mistakes you’ve made.

But it gets better: if the grammatical explanations don’t clarify the error for you,  BonPatron  also offers short tutorials on different aspects of French grammar.

Summary: Text and telephone connection to French Canadian speakers

Our first resource for personalized homework help is called  Alloprof,  a website from Québec that offers students a wealth of resources.

On  Alloprof , there are two services where students can connect directly with French educators to get answers to their questions or access personalized French homework help.

The first is called t exto  (text message) , a service where students can text their questions and receive text message answers. The second service is called  téléphonique  (by telephone) , where students can call in their questions and receive one-on-one, over-the-phone support.

Both services are available Monday through Thursday, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. That’s great because those are prime homework hours, but it can also force you to plan ahead (no last-minute homework help right before your morning class!).

Alloprof has a handful of other fun, independent practice tools , too.

You can access interactive exercises to help you review and practice grammar and vocabulary skills. Topics range from French grammatical explanations to history, science and mathematics.  Alloprof  also has a virtual library where students can access texts as well as a forum for students to communicate with other French learners.

This is perfect for asking informal French questions and getting answers from peers who may be studying the same material.

Summary: Excellent place to find good tutors and teachers

Verbling is a service that connects French learners to French teachers and tutors all around the world . If you’re stumped on your homework and need an expert to identify the learning block, Verbling is a super handy resource. Simply log on and pick a tutor that you like best.

All the language teachers are native speakers. You’ll find a short summary of the tutor’s specialities and get a feel for who they are personally. You can also access ratings from previous students so you can find the best educator to meet your needs. Verbling displays tutors’ rates right upfront so you know how much you’d be paying.

Verbling even uses its own virtual “classroom” set-up , where you can upload files and notes alongside a video chat. That’s perfect for quickly showing your tutor the class materials you’re having trouble with, or sharing your work so they can give you feedback.

Summary: Emergency help any time of the day or night

Like Verbling, 24houranswers connects French learners with tutors and teachers all around the world. 24houranswers has homework help for many subjects, but for French homework help, it focuses on the language at the college level , and as their name suggests, they’re available 24 hours a day .

Many of the tutors and teachers from 24houranswers are actual college professors or other education professionals . Their services include online face-to-face tutoring as well as written solutions. For example, you can submit a written assignment and receive feedback on the assignment—just be careful to leave enough turnaround time for your tutor, so you don’t hand in an assignment late.

In addition to their in-person support, you can browse their online library of previously solved French homework questions to see if your question has already been asked and answered.

Summary: Excellent dictionary and active online forums

WordReference is like your friendly online language buddy that’s perfect for French homework help.

It’s not just your regular dictionary–it’s like a language wizard that gives you not only translations but also cool explanations , real-life examples and even a forum where you can chat with others about tricky words.

So, when you’re scratching your head over that French assignment, WordReference and the many who are active on its message boards could provide the help you need.

Summary: Online forum where you can ask other learners questions

French Language Stack Exchange is like a cozy virtual cafe where French enthusiasts gather.

Imagine you’re stuck on a tricky French homework question—instead of feeling lost, you can pop into this online spot and ask for help. It’s not just a Q&A— it’s like having a group of friends who love French as much as you do.

They share tips, tricks and their own experiences, making those confusing parts of French class feel way less daunting. So, next time you’re puzzled, French Language Stack Exchange is the friendly table where answers and insights flow like great conversation. 

Summary: Easy to understand grammar lessons

Tex’s French Grammar is your friendly language mentor, ready to unravel the mysteries of French homework. Think of it as having a patient teacher who breaks down grammar rules into bite-sized pieces that make sense.

It’s not about dry lessons—it’s like having a conversation with someone who gets you. Tex’s Grammar doesn’t just throw rules at you—it explains why they matter and gives you examples that light up the “aha” moments. So, when French assignments seem like a puzzle, Tex’s French Grammar steps in to help you put the pieces together and ace that homework. 

Summary: Excellent and reliable verb conjugation charts

This site by popular French language newspaper  Le Figaro  is a great online resource for French students who are looking for help with verb conjugations.

It’s a super accurate conjugation tool that allows you to conjugate verbs in various tenses, moods and persons. It’s particularly useful for students who are working on grammar exercises or assignments that involve verb conjugations. You can enter a verb and see its conjugation presented in a clear and organized format.

FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.

You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.

P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)

Try FluentU for FREE!

Your call for help has been answered! Go forth and finish that French homework (with help, of course)!

FluentU has a wide variety of great content, like interviews, documentary excerpts and web series, as you can see here:

FluentU brings native French videos with reach. With interactive captions, you can tap on any word to see an image, definition and useful examples.

For example, if you tap on the word "crois," you'll see this:

Practice and reinforce all the vocabulary you've learned in a given video with learn mode. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning, and play the mini-games found in our dynamic flashcards, like "fill in the blank."

All throughout, FluentU tracks the vocabulary that you’re learning and uses this information to give you a totally personalized experience. It gives you extra practice with difficult words—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned.

Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)

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