Overview of the Education System

France’s education system is a state responsibility with the government’s Ministry of National Education, Higher Education, and Research responsible for the definition and implementation of educational policy. The Ministry’s goals are to distribute resources allocated to education, guarantee equal access to this public service, and monitor education policies. Specifically, the government defines educational policies and curricula; recruits, trains, and manages educational staff; determines the status of schools and the rules under which they function; and appoints teachers and administrative staff. Only the state government may define and establish diploma levels.

France’s education system was highly centralized, hierarchical, and uniform in its organization and operations until 1982, when the state began to decentralize, transferring certain government powers and responsibilities to regions and departments.⁴ The state still retains responsibility for curriculum definition, diploma distribution, and personnel recruitment and development at all levels. However, regions currently are responsible for overseeing investment, operations, and personnel management in upper secondary schools (lycées). Similarly, departments (smaller administrative entities) have the same responsibilities for lower secondary schools (collèges), while individual towns are responsible for local nursery and elementary schools. Towns own school premises and oversee construction, reconstruction, extension, and major repairs; they manage local school equipment, operations, and maintenance and may utilize school facilities for additional educational, athletic, and cultural activities.

France provides free education for all students in primary and secondary schools, and schooling is compulsory at the elementary and lower secondary levels from ages 6 to 16. Children must be registered at an elementary school at the beginning of the school year (September) in the calendar year in which they reach age 6. In the 2014–2015 school year, there were 31,883 public schools and 5,126 private schools in France at the primary level (preprimary maternelles excluded).⁵

Since 1990, education at the primary level has been organized in three cycles: Cycle 1 comprises introductory learning (first and second years of preprimary); Cycle 2 comprises fundamental learning (third year of preprimary and Grades 1 and 2); and Cycle 3 comprises the consolidation of learning (Grades 3, 4, and 5).

A reorganization of the cycles is underway with a new system of organization being implemented gradually from 2014 to 2017. As of 2017, schooling in France will be organized into four educational cycles from preprimary to the end of lower secondary school.

Preprimary school (maternelle) is free of charge but not compulsory and accepts children ages 3 to 5, and at age 2 when places are available. In 2014, all children in France ages 3 to 5, as well as 12 percent of 2-year-old children, attended a maternelle school.⁶ All maternelle schools benefit from the services of a local specialized officer recruited by the town whose task is to assist teachers with all noneducational activities. The general objectives of maternelle schools are to help children develop and form their personalities, and to prepare them for success in elementary school. In nursery school, mastery of language is emphasized; children practice their speaking skills, begin to build their vocabulary, and learn to write. Artistic education also is an important part of the nursery school curriculum, as is discovering the universe of numbers. In 2014, the average class size in nursery schools was 26 students.⁷

Schooling at the elementary level typically comprises five years, although the period may be increased or decreased by one year based on individual student knowledge. Promotion from primary to secondary education is automatic. At the primary level, many schools have classes composed of two or more grade levels. Some schools (mostly in rural areas) contain only a single class with all grade levels grouped together. Of these one room schools, 97 percent are public, and in 2014 one room schools accounted for 9 percent of French schools. During the 2014–2015 school year, 54 percent of primary schools had one to five classes, 33 percent of schools had six to 10 classes, and 13 percent had 11 or more classes.⁸ In 2014, the average class size in elementary schools was 23 students.⁹

The two main components of primary education are mastery of the French language and the main elements of mathematics. The French language competencies that students must reach by the end of each cycle are as follows:

Cycle 2 (Grades 1 to 2)—Students learn to read and write in French while becoming acquainted with major aspects of the written culture
Cycle 3 (Grades 3 to 5)—Students develop mastery of the French language and continue to acquire foundations for further education

Secondary education is divided into two stages: lower secondary and upper secondary. Lower secondary education comprises Grades 6 to 9 (typically ages 11 to 15). In 2014, the number of students enrolled in public and private lower secondary schools in France was 3.2 million.¹⁰ Upon completion of the ninth grade, students attend a general and technological or a vocational upper secondary school that prepares them for the corresponding Baccalauréat (known as le Bac), an examination usually taken at age 18. The two types of upper secondary schools include:

General and technological schools—These schools lead to the General and Technological Baccalauréat or the Certificate of Technician. The general track includes literature, economics, social studies, and science. The technological track includes tertiary science and technology, industrial science and technology, and laboratory science and technology.
Vocational schools—These schools lead to the Vocational Aptitude Certificate, the Vocational Studies Certificate, or the Vocational Baccalauréat.

The proportion of students enrolled in public state education in France is 85.9 percent at the primary level and 78.9 percent at the secondary level.¹¹ Private schools are primarily religious (mostly Roman Catholic) and are subject to monitoring by the state.