The Student Room Group
Reply 1
Khodu
:erm: Yeah, anyone know any similiarities or contrasts?


Could you be a bit more precise? Any questions in particular? I've been to school in France so I now know both sides almost by heart, but I need some questions to answer :tongue:
Google is your friend :smile:
Reply 3
French schools
- start at 8am
- no school on Wednesday mornings, have clubs instead
- two hour break for lunch
- no uniform

(this is according to what I've studied in class)
College is the French equivalent of secondary school, although students leave at 15 rather than 16, if I remember properly. Then they can go onto a lycee and do the Baccalaureat which usually leads to university, or onto other schools and do more vocational qualifications and apprenticeships.

Just google it, it'll explain everything. But Anatheme would be the expert on what it's actually like in the French school system :smile:
Reply 5
Anatheme
Could you be a bit more precise? Any questions in particular? I've been to school in France so I now know both sides almost by heart, but I need some questions to answer :tongue:



So from what I've read, they start from 3-5 years old... Then it's compulsory from 6-16 years old...

They have an exam similar to GCSEs in year 10 and they to Baccalauréat exams from 15 to 18...

And if they fail they have to resit it, which means they might be years behind..

Like if you could say about 3 things that are similar to France and about 3 things that are completely different other than which I've already said...

:yy:
Reply 6
Khodu
So from what I've read, they start from 3-5 years old... Then it's compulsory from 6-16 years old...

They have an exam similar to GCSEs in year 10 and they to Baccalauréat exams from 15 to 18...

And if they fail they have to resit it, which means they might be years behind..

Like if you could say about 3 things that are similar to France and about 3 things that are completely different other than which I've already said...

:yy:


You can start when you're 2 years old and you go to "l'école maternelle":
Petite section - 2/3/4
Moyenne section - 4/5
Grande section - 5/6

Then at 6 starts compulsory education and you go to "l'école primaire"
Cours Préparatoire (CP) - 6/7
Cours Élémentaire 1 (CE1) - 7/8
Cours Élémentaire 2 (CE2) - 8/9
Cours Moyen 1 (CM1) - 9/10
Cours Moyen 2 (CM2) - 10/11

At 11 you go to collège
6ème - 11/12
5ème - 12/13
4ème - 13/14
3ème - 14/15
At the end of 3ème, you have the sort of equivalent of GCSEs, except we only have 3 subjects, which are French, History-Geography and Maths.

When you're done with "collège", then start "lycée". Most students will follow the general strand, but you can also have "technologique" and "professionel" strands.

2nde - 15/16 (after that, you're not forced to go to school anymore but the majority will carry on their studies)
1ère - 16/17
Terminale - 17/18

From 1ère, if you're following the general strand, then you will have the choice between three sorts of Baccalauréats:
- Baccalauréat Littéraire (Bac L) with prominent literary subjects (such as Literature, Philosophy, Languages)
- Baccalauréat Économique et Social (Bac ES), emphasising on subjects like Economics, History and Maths
- Baccalauréat Scientifique (Bac S), emphasising on Physics, Chemistry, Maths and Biology.

The first year (1ère), you'll have to sit "le Baccalauréat Anticipé" which includes French (written and oral exams) and what's called Travaux Pratiques Encadrés (T.P.E) which are a sort of personal project you have to work on during the year. L will have Maths and Sciences as well, and ES will have Biology added. S students have nothing else but French and TPE during the 1st year.

The second year, students will sit between 8 and 11 end-of-year exams spread on a week (excepts oral exams taking place all over June). Results are published about 2 weeks after at the beginning of July. Exams are between 2h and 4h long (4h = History/Geography and Philosophy). If you have more than 10/20, you passed your bac (and can't resit if unhappy). If you have less than 10/20 but more than 8/20 you have to go to "le rattrapage" which is an oral exam to help you gaining some points to get the Bac. If you have less than 8/20, you have to resit it next year.

About timetables, it mainly depends on schools, but mine made me work from 8 to 6 Mon-Tue, 8-12 Wed, 8-4 Thu-Fri. Some schools make students work on Saturday as well. We don't have uniforms and some schools make students sit exams every week on a given day (it was the case for mine, and my exams were on the Thursday of each week).

Our subjects are for most of them compulsory and you will have studied at least 8 of them for the Bac. We have heavy timetables and not much flexibility in our studies, which is quite a pain in the arse. We are less close to our teachers than you are, meaning we don't have that many contacts with them except for strictly academic stuff. I believe they're a bit more severe than in the UK and you rarely have people talking, discussing, debating in classes. Teachers teach, students listen to them.

About university, it's much more easier to get in than in the UK. You only need 10/20 for any course at any university (I am not talking about "Grandes écoles" or anything else). You pre-apply for a university and you then confirm your place once you got your Bac results. Our mentality is more "choose the job you want to do and do the appropriate studies" than your "study what you like and see what comes after" mentality.

That's all I can think of at the moment, sorry for the essay :redface:
Reply 7
Anatheme
You can start .../


:zomg: You're a star!!! Thank you soooo much :happy2:

Definite rep for you though it doesn't seem to be much compared to what you've given lol

:lovehug:
Reply 8
Khodu
:zomg: You're a star!!! Thank you soooo much :happy2:

Definite rep for you though it doesn't seem to be much compared to what you've given lol

:lovehug:


No problem, and thanks for the rep! :woo:
This is a very thorough and balanced overview of the French education system. Thank you.