Education in France is not much different from other countries. Its type of school is divided into two parts:
- Public schools, where tuition is almost free;
- Public schools, where there are fees.
The school system consists of 4 key stages: pre-school, primary, secondary and higher education:
- 2 - 6 years. Pre-school - Crèche.
- 6 - 11 years. Primary school - Ecole elementaire.
- 11 - 15 years. College - College.
- 15 - 18 years old. Lycee.
Pre-school education (Éducation préscolaire)
Pre-primary education is the same as pre-schools in Russia. It is not compulsory. Children are divided into three age groups.
The first group starts from 2 to 4 years, where children only play. The second group starts from 4 to 5 years, where children are taught sculpting, drawing as well as oral communication. The third and final group begins at age 5 to 6 where children learn to read, write and count.
Primary Education (Enseignement primaire)
Primary education lasts from 6 to 11 years and is divided into 5 phases:
- Preparatory Course (CP).
- 1st grade (CE1).
- 2nd grade (CE2)
- 3rd grade (CM1)
- 4th grade (CM2).
Subjects taught at school:
- French;
- Basics of social life;
- mathematics;
- Learning about the world;
- Arts education.
Secondary education (Enseignement secondaire)
Secondary education lasts 7 years and consists of two blocks:
- college,
- lycée.
College
The grades in secondary school are counted in reverse order. Grades 6 and 5 are the observation cycle. Grades 4 and 3 are the orientation cycle.
Studying in college is compulsory. The children study the basic subjects: French, mathematics, English and so on. In Grade 5, an additional language is studied (Italian, Spanish or German) and sometimes Latin.
Lyceum
After the 3rd year pupils have two options for their further education.
The first is the professional lycées which offer certificates and diplomas of professional education, or the lycées which prepare students for higher education.
Their programmes lasts for 3 years. At the end of the upper secondary school, pupils receive a baccalaureate certificate and a baccalaureate degree.
Higher education
Higher education in France is made up of two main cycles: a short cycle and a long cycle.
The short cycle: this lasts two or three years, after which students obtain a diploma called the DUT (Diplôme universitaire de technologie) or the BTS (Brevet de technicien superieur).
The long cycle. It is given at universities and high schools and has the LMD (Licence, Master and Doctorat) higher education system which requires 8 years of study: 6 semesters of a Master and 4 months of a Doctorate.
The main requirement for admission to a French university is a good knowledge of French (except for business schools which require English).
In France, foreign students have the same rights as nationals (i.e. the price of universities remains the same for everyone).
School fees in France
School fees in France depend on the type of school (private or public) but do not exceed €1,200 per year.
The average cost of tuition at private universities in France is €1,500-2,000 per year, and education at private business schools usually costs around €4,500-7,000 per year.
