Children playing on a tyre in their
playground

Many French children start playschool (école maternelle) when they are just two or three years old, and go to primary school (école primaire) when they are six. When children are ten or eleven they move on to secondary school, or to a trade and technical school where they can learn skills that will help them to get a job. Children at the secondary school sit an exam called the Baccalauréat when they are eighteen. Many go on to University, though how long they stay there depends on how well they do in the exams at the end of each year. A small number who do well in the Baccalauréat go on to professional training colleges known as filières. These have a very good reputation, and those who attend the filières expect to get well paid, professional jobs, eg in business or engineering. Grand écoles are where the elite of French society go for their education, instead of University. The majority of schools in France are State schools, meaning that they are run by the government. There are also some private schools, a number of which are run by the Roman Catholic church.

Photo by Ivor Angel courtesy of France magazine

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