The
French educational system is highly centralized, organized, and ramified. It is divided into three different stages:
- the primary education (enseignement primaire);
- secondary education (enseignement secondaire);
- higher education (enseignement supérieur).
This degrees are recognized by the
Bologna ProcessThe purpose of the Bologna Process is the creation of the European Higher Education Area by making academic degree standards and quality assurance standards more comparable and compatible throughout Europe, in particular under the Lisbon Recognition Convention...
(EU recognition):
- Licence and Licence Professionnelle (Bachelor)
- Master (Master)
- Doctorat (Doctorate)
History
While the French trace the development of their educational system to Napoléon, the modern era of French education begins at the end of the nineteenth century.
Jules FerryJules François Camille Ferry was a French statesman and republican. He was a promoter of laicism and colonial expansion.- Early life :Born in Saint-Dié, in the Vosges département, France, he studied law, and was called to the bar at Paris in 1854, but soon went into politics, contributing to...
, a lawyer holding the office of Minister of Public Instruction in the 1880s, is widely credited for creating the modern school (
l'école républicaine) by requiring all children between the ages of 6 and 12 - both boys and girls - to attend. He also made public instruction mandatory,
free of chargeFree education refers to education that is funded through taxation, or charitable organizations rather than tuition fees. Although primary school and other comprehensive or compulsory education is free in many countries, for example, all education is mostly free including...
and
secularSecular education is the system of public education in countries with a secular government or separation between religion and state.An example of a highly secular educational system would be the French public educational system, going as far as to ban conspicuous religious symbols in schools.In...
(
laïqueFrench secularism, in French, laïcité is a concept denoting the absence of religious involvement in government affairs as well as absence of government involvement in religious affairs. French secularism has a long history but the current regime is based on the 1905 French law on the Separation of...
). With these laws, known as
Jules Ferry lawsThe Jules Ferry Laws are a set of French Laws which established free education , then mandatory and laic education . Jules Ferry, a lawyer holding the office of Minister of Public Instruction in the 1880s, is widely credited for creating the modern Republican School...
, and several others, the
Third RepublicThe French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
repealed most of the
Falloux LawsThe Falloux Laws were voted during the French Second Republic and promulgated on 15 March 1850 and in 1851, following the presidential election of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte in December 1848 and the May 1849 legislative elections that gave a majority to the conservative Parti de l'Ordre. Named for...
of 1850-1851, which gave an important role to the clergy.
Governance
All educational programmes in
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
are regulated by the Ministry of National Education (officially called
Ministère de l'Éducation nationale, de la Jeunesse et de la Vie associative). The head of the ministry is the
Minister of National EducationThe Ministry of National Education, Youth, and Sport , or simply "Minister of National Education," as the title has changed no small number of times in the course of the Fifth Republic) is the French government cabinet member charged with running France's public educational system and with the...
, one of the highest-ranking officials in the cabinet. As of September 2009, the Minister is
Luc ChatelLuc Marie Chatel is a French politician born on August 15, 1964 in Bethesda, Maryland, USA. He has been Minister of National Education since June 2009, overseeing a difficult transition in the conditions under which new secondary teachers begin their careers...
.
The teachers in public primary and secondary schools are all state civil servants, making the
ministère the largest employer in the country. Professors and researchers in France's universities are also employed by the state.
At the primary and secondary levels, the
curriculumSee also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
is the same for all French students in any given grade, which includes public, semi-public and subsidised institutions. However, there exist specialised sections and a variety of options that students can choose. The reference for all French educators is the
Bulletin officiel de l'éducation nationale, de l'enseignement supérieur et de la recherche (B.O.) which lists all current programmes and teaching directives. It is amended many times every year.
Find B.O. archives on the Ministry's official website
| Zone |
Académies |
| A |
Caen, Clermont-Ferrand, Grenoble, Lyon, Montpellier, Nancy-Metz, Nantes, Rennes, Toulouse |
| B |
Aix-Marseille, Amiens, Besançon, Dijon, Lille, Limoges, Nice, Orléans-Tours, Poitiers, Reims, Rouen, Strasbourg |
| C |
Bordeaux, Créteil, Paris, Versailles |
In the
MetropolitanMetropolitan France is the part of France located in Europe. It can also be described as mainland France or as the French mainland and the island of Corsica...
territory, the school year extends from early-September to early-July. Most students have off
Bastille DayBastille Day is the name given in English-speaking countries to the French National Day, which is celebrated on 14 July of each year. In France, it is formally called La Fête Nationale and commonly le quatorze juillet...
, 14 July. The school calendar is standardized throughout the country, and is the sole domain of the ministry.
In May schools need time to organise the exams (for example, the
BaccalauréatThe baccalauréat , often known in France colloquially as le bac, is an academic qualification which French and international students take at the end of the lycée . It was introduced by Napoleon I in 1808. It is the main diploma required to pursue university studies...
). In the
overseas departments and territories of FranceThe French Overseas Departments and Territories consist broadly of French-administered territories outside of the European continent. These territories have varying legal status and different levels of autonomy, although all have representation in the Parliament of France , and consequently the...
, the school calendar is set by the local
recteur.
Major holiday breaks are as follows:
- All Saints
All Saints' Day , often shortened to All Saints, is a solemnity celebrated on 1 November by parts of Western Christianity, and on the first Sunday after Pentecost in Eastern Christianity, in honour of all the saints, known and unknown...
(la Toussaint), one and a half weeks around the end of October and the beginning of November;
- Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
(Noël), two weeks around Christmas Day and New Year's DayNew Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...
;
- winter (hiver), two weeks starting in mid-February;
- spring (printemps) or Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
(Pâques) , two weeks starting in mid-April;
- summer (été), two months starting in early-July.
Primary education
| Maternelle (Kindergarten) |
| Age |
Grade |
Abbreviation |
| 3 -> 4 |
Petite section |
PS |
| 4 -> 5 |
Moyenne section |
MS |
| 5 -> 6 |
Grande section |
GS |
| École élémentaire (Primary school) |
| Age |
Grade |
Abbreviation |
| 6 -> 7 |
Cours préparatoire |
CP / 11ème |
| 7 -> 8 |
Cours élémentaire première année |
CE1 / 10ème |
| 8 -> 9 |
Cours élémentaire deuxième année |
CE2 / 9ème |
| 9 -> 10 |
Cours moyen première année |
CM1 / 8ème |
| 10 -> 11 |
Cours moyen deuxième année |
CM2 / 7ème |
Schooling in
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
is mandatory as of age 6, the first year of primary school. Many parents start sending their children earlier though, around age 3 as
nurseryA nursery school is a school for children between the ages of one and five years, staffed by suitably qualified and other professionals who encourage and supervise educational play rather than simply providing childcare...
classes (
maternelle) are usually affiliated to a borough's primary school. Some even start earlier at age 2 in
pré-maternelle or
très petite section classes, which are essentially daycare centres. The last year of
maternelle,
grande section is an important step in the educational process as it is the year in which pupils are introduced to reading.
After nursery, the young students move on to primary school. It is in the first year (
cours préparatoire) that they will learn to write and develop their reading skills. Much akin to other educational systems, French primary school students usually have a single teacher (or perhaps two) who teaches the complete curriculum, such as
FrenchFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
,
mathematicsMathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
,
scienceScience is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
and
humanitiesThe humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
to name a few. Note that the French word for a teacher at the primary school level is
maître or its feminine form
maîtresse (previously called
instituteur, or its feminine form
institutrice).
Religious instruction is not supplied by public schools.
LaïcitéFrench secularism, in French, laïcité is a concept denoting the absence of religious involvement in government affairs as well as absence of government involvement in religious affairs. French secularism has a long history but the current regime is based on the 1905 French law on the Separation of...
(secularism) is one of the main precepts of the
French republicThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Pupils therefore have
civicsCivics is the study of rights and duties of citizenship. In other words, it is the study of government with attention to the role of citizens ― as opposed to external factors ― in the operation and oversight of government....
courses to teach them about
la République, its function, its organisation, and its famous motto
Liberté, Égalité, FraternitéLiberté, égalité, fraternité, French for "Liberty, equality, fraternity ", is the national motto of France, and is a typical example of a tripartite motto. Although it finds its origins in the French Revolution, it was then only one motto among others and was not institutionalized until the Third...
(Liberty, Equality, Fraternity).
In a March 2004 ruling, the French government banned all "conspicuous religious symbols" from schools and other public institutions with the intent of preventing proselytisation and to foster a sense of tolerance among ethnic groups. Some religious and
libertarianLibertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
groups showed their opposition, saying the law hindered the freedom of religion as protected by the French constitution.
Secondary education
| Collège (Junior High) |
| Age |
Grade |
Abbreviation |
| 11 -> 12 |
Sixième |
6e |
| 12 -> 13 |
Cinquième |
5e |
| 13 -> 14 |
Quatrième |
4e |
| 14 -> 15 |
Troisième |
3e |
| Lycée (High school) |
| Age |
Grade |
Abbreviation |
| 15 -> 16 |
Seconde |
2de |
| 16 -> 17 |
Première |
1e |
| 17 -> 18 |
Terminale |
Term or Tle |
French secondary education is divided into two schools:
- the collège for the first four years directly following primary school;
- the lycée for the next three years.
The completion of secondary studies leads to the
baccalauréatThe baccalauréat , often known in France colloquially as le bac, is an academic qualification which French and international students take at the end of the lycée . It was introduced by Napoleon I in 1808. It is the main diploma required to pursue university studies...
.
Brevet des collèges
The
Brevet des collègesThe National diploma is a diploma given to French pupils at the end of the , This diploma is awarded to students that are or were within French cultural influence, including France itself, Lebanon and Syria, the latter two within the scope of a League of Nations mandate to France after World War...
is the first official diploma a pupil has to sit. It is not required in order to enter
lycée. Until 2006 the school marks for the whole of the third (4ème) and final year (3ème) were taken into account for a percentage of the mark. The rest of the mark consisted of the final exam, the Brevet. Pupils were only tested on
FrenchFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
,
MathematicsMathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
,
HistoryHistory is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
/
GeographyGeography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
/
CitizenshipCitizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
for the exam.
Starting in 2007, only the marks from the final year (3ème) were taken into consideration.
Since 2011, pupils are tested on History of the Arts, an oral test.
Baccalauréat
The
baccalauréat (also known as
bac) is the end-of-
lycée diploma students sit for in order to enter
universityA university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
, a
classe préparatoire, or professional life. It is generally taken at age 18 if the pupil has not repeated a class during secondary school. The term
baccalauréat refers to the diploma and the examinations themselves. It is comparable to English, Northern Irish, & Welsh A-Levels,
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
AP tests, the
IrishIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
Leaving CertificateThe Leaving Certificate Examinations , commonly referred to as the Leaving Cert is the final examination in the Irish secondary school system. It takes a minimum of two years preparation, but an optional Transition Year means that for those students it takes place three years after the Junior...
, New South Wales's Higher School Certificate and the
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
AbiturAbitur is a designation used in Germany, Finland and Estonia for final exams that pupils take at the end of their secondary education, usually after 12 or 13 years of schooling, see also for Germany Abitur after twelve years.The Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife, often referred to as...
.
Many students sit for the theory-oriented
baccalauréat général which is divided into three streams of study, called
séries. The
série scientifique (S) is concerned with the natural sciences, physical sciences and mathematics, the
série économique et sociale (ES) with
economicsEconomics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
,
social sciencesSocial science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
and mathematics, and the
série littéraire (L) focuses on
FrenchFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
,
foreign languagesLanguage may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
,
philosophyPhilosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
history-geography and the arts (as an option). However, these
séries are not exactly specialisations and every
bac-possessor has the right to enrol at any public university in the catchment area if this applies to the subject they wish to apply for. Students having followed the L series do not have enough scientific knowledge from their secondary education alone to succeed in science university courses, therefore some combinations of baccalauréats and university courses are very rare.
There is also the
baccalauréat technologique and
baccalauréat professionnel. The former mixes theoretical and vocational training and prepares students for professional higher studies, whereas the latter focuses on vocational training and prepares students for a direct entry into the marketplace.
Higher education
Higher education in France is organised in three levels or grades which correspond to those of other European countries, facilitating international mobility:
- Licence and Licence Professionnelle (Bachelor
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
)
- Master (Master
This page refers to types of Master's degrees in Europe. Please see Master's degree for more information.In order to facilitate the movement of students between European countries, a standardized schedule of higher education diplomas, also known as the Bologna process, was proposed: an...
)
- Doctorat (Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
)
In addition, the Licence and the Master are organised in semesters: 6 for the Licence and 4 for the Master.
These levels of study include various “parcours” or paths based on UE (Unités d’Enseignement or Modules), each worth a defined number of European credits (ECTS). A student “capitalises” these credits which are generally transferable between paths.
A Licence is awarded once 180 ECTS have been obtained. A Master is awarded once 120 additional credits have been obtained.
Licence and Master degrees are offered within specific DOMAINES and carry a specific MENTION. SPECIALITES which are either research-oriented or professionally-oriented during the second year of the Master.
There are also Professional Licences whose objective is immediate job integration. It is possible to later return to school through continuing education or to validate professional experience (through VAE, Validation des Acquis de l’Expérience).
Higher education in France is divided between
grandes écolesThe grandes écoles of France are higher education establishments outside the main framework of the French university system. The grandes écoles select students for admission based chiefly on national ranking in competitive written and oral exams...
and public universities. Grandes écoles admit the pocessors of the level
BaccalauréatThe baccalauréat , often known in France colloquially as le bac, is an academic qualification which French and international students take at the end of the lycée . It was introduced by Napoleon I in 1808. It is the main diploma required to pursue university studies...
+ 2 years of validated study whereas universities admit "
all"
BaccalauréatThe baccalauréat , often known in France colloquially as le bac, is an academic qualification which French and international students take at the end of the lycée . It was introduced by Napoleon I in 1808. It is the main diploma required to pursue university studies...
-possessors.
A striking trait of French higher education, compared with other countries, is the small size and multiplicity of establishments, each specialized in a more or less broad spectrum of areas. A middle-sized French city, such as
GrenobleGrenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...
or Nancy, may have 2 or 3 universities (focused on science or sociological studies), and also a number of engineering and other specialized higher education establishments. In
ParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and its suburbs there are 13 universities, none of which is specialized in one area or another, and a large number of smaller institutions which are highly specialised.
It is not uncommon for graduate teaching programmes (
master's degreeA master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
s, the course part of
PhDPHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
programmes etc.) to be operated in common by several institutions, allowing the institutions to present a larger variety of courses.
In engineering schools and the professsionnels degrees of universities, a large share of the teaching staff is often made up of non-permanent professors; instead, part-time professors are hired to teach one specific point only. These part-time professors are generally hired from neighbouring universities, research institutes, or industries.
Another original feature of the French higher education system is that a large share of the scientific research is not done by universities, but by research establishments such as CNRS or INSERM. In many cases, the research units of those establishments are installed inside universities (or other higher education establishments), and jointly operated by the research establishment and the university.
Tuition costs
Since higher education is funded by the state, the fees are very low; the tuition varies from 150€ to 700€ depending on the university and the different levels of education. (
licence, master, doctorate). One can therefore get a Master's degree (in 5 years) for about 750-3,500€. Additionally, students from low-income families can apply for scholarships, paying nominal sums for tuition or textbooks, and can receive a monthly stipend of up to 450€/month.
The tuition in public engineering schools is comparable to universities, albeit a little higher (around 700€). However it can reach 7000€ a year for private engineering schools, and some business schools, which are all private or partially private, charge up to 8900€ a year.
Health insurance for students is free until the age of 21, so only the living costs and books expenses have to be added. After the age of 21 the health insurance for students costs 200 € a year and cover most of the medical expenses.
Although this is the case in many schools, some public schools have other ways of gaining money. Some do not receive sufficient funds from the government to hold many trips, and so these schools may ask for a small (optional) entrance fee for new students.
Universities in France
The public universities in France are named after the big cities near which they are located, followed by a numeral if there are several. Paris, for example, has thirteen universities, labelled Paris I to XIII. Some of them are, however, not in
ParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
itself, but in the suburbs. In addition, most of the universities have taken a more informal name which is usually the one of a personality or a particular place. Sometimes, it is also a way to honor a famous alumnus, for example the science university in Strasbourg is known as "Université
Louis PasteurLouis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist born in Dole. He is remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and preventions of diseases. His discoveries reduced mortality from puerperal fever, and he created the first vaccine for rabies and anthrax. His experiments...
" while its official name is "Université Strasbourg I".
The French system is currently undergoing a reform, the
Bologna processThe purpose of the Bologna Process is the creation of the European Higher Education Area by making academic degree standards and quality assurance standards more comparable and compatible throughout Europe, in particular under the Lisbon Recognition Convention...
, which aims at creating European standards for university studies, most notably a similar time-frame everywhere, with three years devoted to the Bachelor's degree ("licence" in French), two for the Master's, and three for the doctorate. French universities have also adopted the ECTS credit system (for example, a licence is worth 180 credits). However the traditional curriculum based on end of semester examinations still remains in place in most universities. This double standard has added complexity to a system which also remains quite rigid. It is difficult to change a major during undergraduate studies without losing a semester or even a whole year. Students usually also have few course selection options once they enroll in a particular diploma.
France also hosts various branch colleges of foreign universities. These include
Baruch CollegeBernard M. Baruch College, more commonly known as Baruch College, is a constituent college of the City University of New York, located in the Flatiron district of Manhattan, New York City. With an acceptance rate of just 23%, Baruch is among the most competitive and diverse colleges in the nation...
, the
University of London Institute in ParisThe University of London Institute in Paris is a college of the University of London located in Paris. It is currently the only UK University Institute in Continental Europe.-History:...
,
Parsons Paris School of Art and DesignParsons Paris School of Art and Design , known formally as the Association Franco-Américaine de Design and more commonly as École Parsons à Paris, is an arts and design university with campuses in the 11th and 15th arrondissement in Paris, France.Parsons Paris in a non-profit independent...
and the
American University of ParisThe American University of Paris is a private, independent, and accredited liberal arts and sciences university in Paris, France. Founded in 1962, the university is one of the oldest American institutions of higher education in Europe...
.
Grandes écoles & CPGE
The
Grandes écolesThe grandes écoles of France are higher education establishments outside the main framework of the French university system. The grandes écoles select students for admission based chiefly on national ranking in competitive written and oral exams...
of France are higher education establishments. They are generally focused on a single subject area, such as
engineeringEngineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
or business, have a moderate size, and are often quite selective in their admission of students. They are widely regarded as prestigious, and traditionally have produced most of France's scientists and executives.
The
classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles (CPGE), widely known as
prépas, is a prep course with the main goal of training students for enrollment in a
Grande ÉcoleThe grandes écoles of France are higher education establishments outside the main framework of the French university system. The grandes écoles select students for admission based chiefly on national ranking in competitive written and oral exams...
. Admission to the CPGE is usually based on performance during the last two years of high school, called
Première and
Terminale. The CPGE programs are located within high schools but pertain to tertiary education, which means that each student must have successfully passed their
BaccalauréatThe baccalauréat , often known in France colloquially as le bac, is an academic qualification which French and international students take at the end of the lycée . It was introduced by Napoleon I in 1808. It is the main diploma required to pursue university studies...
(or equivalent) to be admitted in CPGE. Each CPGE receives the files of hundreds of applicants worldwide every year during April and May, and selects its new students under its own criteria. A few CPGE programmes, mainly the private CPGEs (which account for 10% of CPGEs), also have an interview process or look at a student's involvement in the community.
The oldest CPGEs are the scientific ones, which can only be accessed by scientific
BacheliersThe baccalauréat , often known in France colloquially as le bac, is an academic qualification which French and international students take at the end of the lycée . It was introduced by Napoleon I in 1808. It is the main diploma required to pursue university studies...
. Scientific CPGE are called MPSI ("Mathematics, Physics and Engineering Science"), PCSI ("Physics, Chemistry, and Engineering Science") or PTSI ("Physics, Technology, and Engineering Science") in the first year, MP ("Mathematics and Physics"), PSI ("Physics and Engineering Science"), PC ("Physics and Chemistry") or PT ("Physics and Technology") in the second year and BCPST ("Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Life and Earth Sciences").
First year CPGE students are called the 'Math Sup' - or
Hypotaupe - (Sup for "Classe de Mathématiques Supérieures", superior in French, meaning post-high school), and second years 'Math Spé' - or
Taupe - (Spés standing for "Classe de Mathématiques Spéciales", special in French). The students of these classes are called
Taupins. Both the first and second year programmes include as much as sixteen hours of mathematics teaching per week, ten hours of physics, two hours of philosophy, two to four hours of (one or two) foreign languages teaching and two to three hours of minor options: either
SI, Engineering Industrial Science or
Theoretical Computer Science (including some programming using the Pascal or CaML programming languages, as a practical work). With this is added several hours of homework, which can rise as much as the official hours of class. A known joke among those students is that they are becoming monks for two years. Sometimes three.
The literary and humanities CPGEs have also their own nicknames,
Hypokhâgne for the first year and
Khâgne for the second year. The students are called the
khâgneux. These classes prepare for schools such as the three Écoles Normales Supérieures, the Ecole des Chartes, and sometimes
Sciences PoThe Institut d'études politiques de Paris , simply referred to as Sciences Po , is a public research and higher education institution in Paris, France, specialised in the social sciences. It has the status of grand établissement, which allows its admissions process to be highly selective...
.
There are two kinds of
KhâgnesThe literary and humanities CPGE constitutes a type classe prépa, the two-year cycle of classes taken after the baccalauréat...
. The
Khâgne de Lettres is the most common, and focuses on philosophy, French literature, history and languages. The
Khâgne de Lettres et Sciences Sociales (Literature and Social Sciences), otherwise called Khâgne B/L, also includes mathematics and socio-economic sciences in addition to those literary subjects.
There are also CPGE which are focused on economics (who prepare the admission in business schools). These later are known as "Prépa EC" and are split in two parts ("prépa EC spe mathematics" , generally for those who graduated the baccalaureat S and "prépa EC spe éco" , for those who were in the economics section in the lycée.). The most famous of those business schools are HEC Paris,
ESSECESSEC is one of the foremost business schools and Grandes Écoles in France and one of Europe’s top business schools. It was created by Jesuits in 1907 and was originally located in the heart of Paris, next to the University of Paris II: Panthéon-Assas, rue d'Assas...
Business School and ESCP Europe which propose a Master degree and an MBA.
The students of CPGE are also matriculated in universities, and can rejoin college in case of failure of their
grandes écoles ambitions or if they just do not wish to become engineers and feel not able to pass the
Écoles Normales Supérieures competitive examinations. The ratio of students who failed to enter
grandes écoles is low in the scientifics and economics CPGE, but high in humanities, for the only
Grandes Écoles aimed at in these classes are the Écoles Normales Supérieures.
The amount of work required of the students is exceptionally high. In addition to class time and homework, students spend several hours each week completing exams and 'colles' (very often written 'khôlles' to look like a Greek word, this way of writing being initially a
khâgneux joke). The so called 'colles' are unique to French academic education in CPGEs. They consist of oral examinations twice a week, in maths, physics, French and the foreign languages, usually English, German or Spanish. Students, usually in groups of three, spend an hour facing a professor alone in a room, answering questions and solving problems. In CPGE littéraires (humanities), the system of 'colles' is different; they are taken every quarter in every subject. Students have one hour to prepare a short presentation that takes the form of a French-style
dissertation (a methodologically codified essay, typically structured in 3 parts: thesis, counter-thesis, and synthesis) in history, philosophy, etc. on a given topic, and that of a
commentaire composé (a methodologically codified commentary) in literature and foreign languages; as for the Ancient Greek or Latin, they involve a translation and a commentary. The student then has 20 minutes to present his work to the teacher, who ends the session by asking some questions on the presentation and on the corresponding topic. 'Colles' are regarded as extremely stressful, particularly due to the high standards expected by the teachers, and the subsequent harshness that may be directed at students who do not perform adequately, but they are important in as much as they prepare the students, from the very first year, to the oral part of the competitive examination, reserved to the happy few who successfully pass the written part.
Recruitment of teachers
Decades ago, Primary teachers were educated in Ecoles Normales and Secondary teachers recruited through the "Agrégation" examination. The situation has been diversified by the introduction in the 1950s of the CAPES examination for secondary teachers and in the 1990s by the institution of "Instituts Universitaires de Formation des Maîtres" (IUFM).
University teachers are recruited by special commissions, and are divided between:
- "teachers-researchers" (enseignants-chercheurs), with at least a doctorate: they teach classes and conduct research in their field of expertise with a full tenure. They are either Maître de Conférences (Senior lecturers), or Professeurs (Professors). Only a Professor can be the director of studies for a PhD student. Net pay : from 2300 to 8800 euro (extra duties). Net salaries of over 4000 Euros a month (2011 level) are however very unusual, and limited to the small minority of teacher-researchers who have held the grade of first class full professor for at least seven years... which is rare. The maximum possible net salary for second-class full professors and chief senior lecturers (maître de conférence hors classe) - the end of career status for most full time teacher-researchers in French universities - is 3760 Euros a month (2011) - and only a minority of this group ever reach this level.
- Secondary school teachers who have been permanently "detached" from their original school position to teach in a university. They are not required to conduct any research but teach twice as many hours as the "teachers-researchers". They are called PRAG (professeurs agrégés) and PRCE (professeurs certifiés). Their weekly service is 15 or 18 hours. Net pay : from 1400 to 3900 euro.
- CPGE teachers are usually "agrégés" or "chaire sup", detached by the Inspection Générale, according to their qualifications and competitive exam rank, but not only. Their weekly service is about 9 hours a week, 25 or 33 weeks a year. Net pay : from 2000 to 7500 euro (extra hours)
- Primary school and kindergarten teachers (Professeurs des écoles), educated in "Instituts Universitaires de Formation des Maîtres" (IUFM), have usually a "licence" (Bac+3). Their weekly service is about 31 hours a week.
Statistics for education in France
The French Republic has 63 million inhabitants, living in the 22 regions of metropolitan
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and four overseas departments (1.7 million). Despite the fact that the population is growing slightly (up 0.4% a year), the number and proportion of young people under 25 is falling. There are now fewer than 19 million young people in metropolitan France, or 32% of the total population, compared with 40% in the 1970s and 35% at the time of the 1990 census. France is seeing a slow aging of the population — less marked however than in other neighbouring countries (
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
), especially as the annual number of births is currently increasing slightly.
18 million pupils and students, i.e. a quarter of the population, are in the education system. Of these, over 2 million are in
higher educationHigher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
.
In 1999, France's GDP was close to FF 9,000 billion (EUR 1,330 billion), i.e. FF 150,000 (EUR 22,000) per inhabitant. Of this total, just over FF 600 billion (EUR 95 billion) were devoted to initial or continuing education: 7.2% of GDP. As far as school education spending is concerned, France is in a middle position, behind two Nordic countries (
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and
DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
), but ahead of
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and
JapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
See also
- Minister of National Education (France)
The Ministry of National Education, Youth, and Sport , or simply "Minister of National Education," as the title has changed no small number of times in the course of the Fifth Republic) is the French government cabinet member charged with running France's public educational system and with the...
- Agence pour l'enseignement français à l'étranger
The Agency for French Teaching Abroad, , is a national public agency under the administration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France that assures the quality of schools teaching the French national curriculum outside of France...
- Home Education in France
- University of London Institute in Paris
The University of London Institute in Paris is a college of the University of London located in Paris. It is currently the only UK University Institute in Continental Europe.-History:...