Education



Compulsory Education :

Maternelle is the first step to formal education. It welcomes children aged 3 to 6 and is free. 95% of French children go to school from the age of 3. To enquire about local schools, call your mairie, service scolarité.


Ecole Primaire is where children learn how to read and write and caters for children aged 6 to 11. Main subjects include french, mathematics, sciences, history and geography as well as sports and music. Lately a new governement scheme has been introduced with the aim of teaching every school children the basics of a foreign language (a chance for your children to obtain the best marks with minimum effort !)

Collège is where the teaching organisation becomes split into modules. Each subject is taught by a specialised teacher and marked independently. Teenagers (11 to 15) will learn (or will they?) french, mathematics, two foreign languages (choice depends on the collège, second language usually introduced at 13)



Maternelle
PS Petite Section
MS Moyenne Section
GS Grande Section

Ecole Primaire
CP Cours Préparatoire
CE1 Cours Elémentaire 1ère année
CE2 Cours Elémentaire 2ème année
CM1 Cours Moyen 1ère année
CM2 Cours Moyen 2ème anneé

Collège
6ème
5ème
4ème
3ème

Lycée
Seconde
Première
Terminale

Université....