Education in France
The French education system is divided into three main categories: primary, secondary and superior, detailed below. Bear in mind that the system functions on calendar years, as opposed to school years, so all children born in 1998 for example will be in the same class.
In areas with a lot of English-speaking children, there are sometimes special systems to help them learn French, lasting a few hours a week, or they may be allowed to study French during their English lessons. In some areas no provision is made, so you may need to look into, and pay for, extra help for your child to begin with. It's worth finding out what your local schools offer before you register your children, if you're moving to an area where a choice of schools is possible. Most children however just go to their local school, it’s considered a little unusual not to.
It is the norm for all children have school lunches, though from collège onwards some children go home for lunch. Bringing a packed lunch is usually not allowed, and special diets, likes and dislikes, are rarely catered for. Financial help, in the form of a ‘bourse’, a type of grant, is available for low income families for lunch, or ‘cantine’ bills.
If your child is going to take a bus, you'll need to organise a bus ticket that lasts the whole school year. This is usually arranged by the mairie of a local commune. If you live more than 2km from a bus route or your local school, there may be financial help available for transport costs. In this area, bus tickets in this area cost about 45 euros per child per trimestre.
There are three trimestres per year, but they are not divided by holidays as they are in UK and Ireland. Holidays are generally about 8 weeks in summer, 10-14 days at Toussaints, end of October, 2 weeks at Christmas, 2 weeks ‘winter holidays’ and 2 weeks ‘spring holidays, which may or may not coincide with Easter.
There are no school uniforms, children can wear what they wish. There is a certain amount of ‘fashion consciousness’ but children without the latest brand names, or marques, are not generally stigmatised in my experience.
The minimum age to leave school is sixteen.
Although some religion is taught as part of the curriculum, the basic school system is entirely secular. No more assemblies or Christmas carols...
Below I set out the workings of the school system. The years described are standard, but it is possible to repeat a year, which is known as ‘redoubling’. This is quite common, especially for foreign children and there is no stigma attached to it as there might be in UK or Ireland.
Primary education:
‘L'Ecole Maternelle’, a sort of nursery, is the very first stage. Optional, but widely attended by French children, it lasts roughly from ages three to five, though some start at two. There are beds in the schools, and children often have a nap after lunch since it’s a long day for little ones, often from 8.30 am to 4.30pm.
Mandatory school starts at six, with CP, standing for ‘cours préparatoire’. Then it's CE1 and CE2, ‘cours élémentaire’, then CM1 and CM2, ‘cours moyen’. In areas with small populations, in order to prevent school closures, they sometimes divide the younger and older classes between the schools of neighbouring villages if there are too few children to fill two schools. In such cases there is usually a ‘shuttle’ bus between the schools. Children have to reach a certain standard at the end of CM2 in order to be allowed on to the next stage, ‘collège’.
Secondary education:
Collège goes from ages eleven to fourteen, with the classes sixième, cinquième, quatrième, and troisième in that order. Children study between about 8 and 11 subjects, depending on availability and on their choice and ability. Throughout collège, there are regular tests in all subjects, including things like art and sport. These are usually marked out of 20. Marks for each subject are averaged at the end of each trimestre and an overall average, or ‘la moyenne génerale’ is calculated. French parents and teachers set much store by these figures, the whole system being very much more competitive than what you are likely to have experienced in the UK.
At the end of troisième most pupils do an exam called the ‘Brevet du Collège’ in French, maths and history-geography (which is counted as one subject, like physics-chemistry). The results obtained in the Brevet are an average containing marks in all subjects throughout the year and the actual exam marks.
After collège, there are two main options....
-Lycée générale: starts with ‘seconde générale’, where everyone does roughly the same subjects as in collège, with extra options such as a third new language, extra sports, music or latin... The following year, in ‘première’, pupils currently choose between three main categories, or ‘sections’. These are S, scientifique, ES, économique et sociale, and L, litéraire. These categories however may be abolished in the next few years. The subjects, how many hours of them studied and their ‘coefficients’ in the exam at the end vary in function of the ‘section’ the pupil has chosen. Also depending on the ‘section’, some exams are taken at the end of ‘première’ and those are subjects then dropped and may be replaced by another, new, subject. The final year, ‘terminale’, is closely linked to première and at the end there is the Baccalauréat, known as ‘le bac’, exam in all the subjects studied. How well the pupil does partially defines what superior education he or she can do. There are also ‘bacs technologiques’, sligthly more specialised in one domain, and they split with the générale system at the start of ‘première’.
-Formation professionnelle: two year courses, called CAPs, keep a very basic general education, with maths and french for example, but approximately half of the hours in the week are spent learning a precise trade, such as secretarial work, baking, carpentry... Generally considered easier than lycée générale, these courses are often followed by two more years to obtain a ‘Bac professionnel’, specialised in their trade. Until recently there was a common ‘BEP’ qualification, but this has now been superceded by a three year ‘Bac Pro’ which students can start straight after college. Both CAPs and Bac Pros can be done part time 'en alternance' whilst doing an apprenticeship.
Lycées are often some distance from the pupil’s home, and in order to follow a particular course in a lycée professionnelle, the pupil may even find themselves at school in another department. Most lycées have an ‘internat’ or boarding section, where pupils can stay from Monday morning to Friday evening. Priority for places is given to those most in need and financial help, again in the form of a ‘bourse’ is available for those parents on lower incomes. Help may also be available for transport.
There are also some ‘international lycées’, some private and some state run. The curricula are different, with some subjects being studied in French and some in other languages. Further information, in English, can be found via search engines.
Further education:
After lycée comes the equivalent of university. Courses and admission requirements and procedures are very varied, too complicated to explain here, but I can provide further information and help with applications for clients if necessary.
A personal note:
We moved to France when the children were 9, 8, 5 and 4. The elder two had an excellent and sympathetic teacher, but both repeated CM2, the last year of primary school, so that they had a reasonable level of French when starting college. The 5 year old could read and write basic English but learned mostly in French, the youngest child learned to read and write in French. I personally believe that it is actually relatively easy for a child to learn and adapt to a new language before the age of about 10, although one should not believe stories of ‘they’ll be fluent in 3 months’ - I would say it takes about a year for them to be able to communicate effectively. After a few years, depending on how hard they try and how bright they are, they should be speaking and writing French completely fluently. They NEED to be able to this in college and lycée since they have to learn ALL the subjects through the medium of French. As an aside, some children seem to lose their native accent (all of mine have, no one can tell they are not French) but many seem never to lose their native accent. It’s important too of course, by reading and speaking it at home, to keep up their level of English if in later life they are to be completely bilingual.
I know of some great success stories where families have moved to France with teenagers. Children have, with determination and a certain amount of difficulty, managed to learn French quickly enough to pass the necessary exams. They have often had to repeat years, especially to begin with, but they have succeeded and are very happy here and fully intend to stay. Unfortunately I also know of families for whom a teenager not settling or keeping up has been the cause of problems within the family and sometimes reluctant, sometimes very relieved, moves back to UK, sometimes incurring considerable financial loss.
So, I personally would say that all else being equal, moving to France with younger children is a great adventure and one from which the whole family may well benefit, but that I would think hard before moving here with teenagers....