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The Education System in France

Preprimary:

  • Common name: école maternelle
  • Ages of attendance: As early as age 2 to age 5
  • Number of years: 1 to 4
  • Start of universal enrollment: Age 3
  • Compulsory: No

Primary:

  • Common name: école élémentaire
  • Ages of attendance: 6 to 10
  • Number of years: 5
  • Universal enrollment: Yes
  • Compulsory: Yes

Lower secondary:

  • Common name: Collège
  • Ages of attendance: 11 to 14
  • Number of years: 4
  • Universal enrollment: Yes
  • Compulsory: Yes
  • Entrance/exit criteria: Yes; brevet des collèges is the exit exam for lower secondary. It is a national examination, which determines whether or not students will be able to attend lycée.

Upper secondary:

  • Common name: Lycée
    • Enseignement professional—Vocational upper secondary school
    • Enseignement technologique—Technological upper secondary school
    • Enseignement général—Academic upper secondary school
  • Ages: 15 to 17 (graduation generally at age 18)
  • Number of years: 3
  • Universal enrollment: Through age 17 (most students turn 18 during the last year of upper secondary school)
  • Compulsory: Until age 16
  • Entrance/exit criteria: In order to enter upper secondary education, students must pass the brevet des collèges. Students take a national examination, the baccalauréat, during the last year of secondary school, which determines entrance to university.

NOTE: All three types of upper secondary school (enseignement professional, technologique, and général) qualify a student to enter university, although certain tracks are more likely to lead to university: the academic branch (enseignement général) typically leads to university and other forms of higher education; the technological branch (enseignement technologique) may also lead to specialized technological or professional forms of higher education; and the vocational branch (enseignement professional) more often leads to the labor force and/or job training.

Postsecondary and tertiary:

  • Common name: IUT, STS, université, grande école
  • Ages of attendance: Varies
  • Number of years: Varies according to degree or program
  • Universal enrollment: No
  • Entrance criteria: In order to enter into higher education programs in France, students are required to have passed the baccalauréat or an equivalent. Entrance to the university is nonselective, meaning that students who have passed the baccalauréat are entitled to enter. There are, however, competitive entrance exams for the grandes écoles.

Common programs (short fields):

  • DUT (University degree in technology): Taken at the University Institute of Technology (IUT). Two-year program in mostly vocational subjects. Student may choose to continue on toward a license (see section below).
  •  BTS (Higher technical diploma): Two-year program taken in higher education departments of lycées (STS, Institute for Higher Technical Studies); more specialized than degrees from IUT, but also in mostly vocational subjects.
  • DEUG (General university studies degree): Academic degree received after completion of 2 years of university.

Common degree programs (long fields):

  • License: DEUG (see above) plus 1 additional year at university.
  • Maîtrise: Degree following the license. Requires 1 additional year at university.
  • DESS (Diploma of specialized higher studies): Follows the
  • maîtrise; 1-year professional course involving a required internship.
  • DEA (Diploma of advanced studies): Follows the maîtrise;
  • 1-year program designed to prepare students for doctoral research. Involves the preparation of a research project.
  • Medical doctor/dental/pharmacy: Degree programs taken at the university. Length of program varies and can lead to degrees such as the doctorat de médecine specializé, doctorat de médecine generale, and doctorat pharmacie.
  • Doctorat: Research-based graduate degree program at a university, leading to a doctorate. Usually requires 5 years of study beyond the maîtrise.
  • Diplôme grande école: Competitive degree programs (students must pass a selective entrance exam) in academic subjects, science, commerce, management, engineering, business, and architecture. These are typically 5-year programs and are taken at the grandes écoles.

Sources:

Eurybase. (2009). The Information Database on Education Systems in Europe: Organization of the Education System in France, 2008/2009. Brussels: Eurydice. Retrieved December 15, 2010, from http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/documents/eurybase/eurybase_full_reports/FR_EN.pdf.

Marlow-Ferguson, R. (Ed.) (2002). World Education Encyclopedia: A Survey of Educational Systems Worldwide, Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group.

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (1996). Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators. Paris: Author.

Robitaille, D.F. (1997). National Contexts for Mathematics and Science Education: An Encyclopedia of the Education Systems Participating in TIMSS. Vancouver, Canada: Pacific Educational Press.