1. THE FRENCH SCHOOL SYSTEM

2. School education is obligatory for boys and girls from 6 to 16 years old

3. From 2 to 6 years old PRE-ELEMENTARY SCHOOL L’ÉCOLE MATERNELLE

4. During pre-elementary school children learn to… *live together and respect social rules *use language to communicate efficiently *recognize letters and numbers to prepare for elementary school *through adapted activities (games, songs, reading, drawing)

5. Pre elementary school lasts 3 or 4 years  1st year: Toute petite section age: 2 to 3 )  2 nd year: Petite section age 3 to 4  3rd year: Moyenne section age 4 to 5  4th year: Grande section age 5 to 6

6. Pre-elementary school is not compulsory. -Only 28% of children from 2 to 3 years old attend the first year (and it doesn’t exist in every school) - but nearly 100% of children from 3 to 6 attend the last three years.

7. L’ÉCOLE ÉLÉMENTAIRE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

8. 5 YEARS from 6 to 11 years old 1st year: Cours Préparatoire (CP) 6-7 2nd year: Cours Elementaire 1 (CE1) 7-8 3rd year: Cours Elementaire 2 (CE2) 8-9 4th Year: Cours Moyen 1 (CM1) 9-10 5th Year: Cours Moyen 2 (CM2) 10-11

9. DURING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL School becomes compulsory Children learn mainly how to read, write and count properly They also do arts, music and sports They also discover new subjects: Sciences, History and Geography…

10. SECONDARY SCHOOL =COLLEGE

11. 4 YEARS at the SECONDARY SCHOOL 6 ème (11 to 12 years old) 5 ème (12 to 13) 4 ème (13 to 14) 3 ème (14 to 15)

12. DURING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Pupils now have one teacher for each subject They learn French, Maths, History and Geography, two foreign languages, IT, Music, Art, Sport, Biology, Physics They is a head teacher for each class. They also prepare their future orientation, as the end of Elementary School is the end of compulsory education During the last year (3 ème ), they have to spend three to five days as a trainee in a firm and write a report about it.

13. LE BREVET At the end of elementary school, Pupils sit for their first national exam: the « diplôme national du brevet » They have exams in French, Maths, History and Geography, Civics and History of the Arts. 84.5% of the pupils succeed with this exam. It is not compulsory to continue to Higher elementary school.

14. HIGHER SECONDARY LE LYCÉE After « collège », education is no longer compulsory. So pupils have two choices: 1/ Vocational studies (for 2 or 3 years) - at school - half at school, half at work as a trainee 2/ General studies (for 3 years) -first year is general -2 nd and 3rd year are specialized in science, economics or litterature.

15. At 18, after three years in a general or vocational school school, pupils sit for the « Bacalaureat » Bacalaureat is obligatory to go to university The subjects are different according to your choice of section (science, litterature, economics…) 87% of the pupils sitting for the bacalaureat succeed. Only 73% of a year group pass this exam. LE BACALAUREAT

16. ENSEIGNEMENT SUPÉRIEUR Pupils who passed the Bacalaureat have now access to universities, vocational schools …

17. TO SUM IT UP Ecole maternelle (pre-elementary school) 2 to 6 years old 4 years Ecole élémentaire (elementary school) 6 to 11 years old 5 years Collège (secondary school) 11 to 15 years old 4 years BREVET DES COLLÈGES Lycée ( Higher secondary school) 15 to 18 years old3 years BACCALAURÉAT Enseignement Supérieur