02/09/2026
Well the children and students have returned back to school this week. You can find many articles about living, moving and working in France over on our website here.🏡
www.suzanneinfrance.com
We have written a piece on Lycée and what you can expect - this will vary somewhat across different departments but it is our experience here in Normandy. It is not an exhaustive list rather an overview. Enjoy!
Lycée🎒
This may not be especially high on your list of priorities if you move to France with young children. You will undoubtedly be looking at schools for their age group eg. primary or high school. However, it is worth considering the complete school system in France and, indeed, considering where you wish to purchase a house based on the local schools and where your children will study as they get older.
Whilst semi-rural can be idyllic when the children are younger, as they get older being nearer to a town means they can walk/cycle/stroll in to a little town/village and hang out with their friends. In particular, on a Wednesday, when all schools – primary, collège and lycée have a half day. This will make them more independent and will mean less time spent in the car driving them to various friend’s houses, after school activities, etc.
It will be unlikely that you will find a collège and lycée in the same small town or village. The towns where you can find both are in Mortain, Vire and Avranches where we do sell houses, in and around. However, for the rest you would have to consider the school transport bus links and your nearest village bus stop, for your child’s commute to lycée.
The school year runs from September to July and the whole of France is split into 3 zones – A, B and C. Normandy comes under Zone B and whilst most of the holidays are the same, the February and April holidays are normally all different for each Zone.
We have put this year's academic school year below.
You will see that the normal one week half term in the UK in the Autumn and Winter is two weeks’ holiday here. However, the children go straight from the April holiday (also longer) to the grandes vacances – Summer school holidays, which starts earlier too – at the beginning of July rather than the end. In fact, lycéens can finish at the end of June with universities finishing even earlier.
Please also note that the month of May can have 3/4 Bank holidays and schools do 'pont' that is to say 'bridge' m the gap to make for a long weekend. For example, if the Bank holiday falls on a Thursday, they will also close the school on a Friday to make for a long weekend. You will see many families avail of this, by leaving to go on a short holiday, as soon as school has finished on a Wednesday.
This does seem like a lot of holidays, however, the lycée day is long (even with the half day on a Wednesday). Lessons can and do start at 8.00 am and finish at 5 pm and often 5.30/6.00 pm in the evening. This is the same, if not longer, than many peoples’ working day.
The students age (for ascertaining which year group you go into) in France goes from January – December unlike the UK whereby this goes from September – August.
So what exactly is lycée? Well it starts earlier than the UK sixth form. It is a cross-over of high school and sixth form. It is an extension of collège just like high school. The year terminology carries on.
So the last year of collège is 3ème (troisième). When your child goes to lycée the years are called the following :-
The 1st year is called… Seconde
The 2nd year is called… Première
The 3rd year is called… Terminale
The student will enter when they are 15 and leave when they are 18 (unless they have had to repeat a year). They can either go down the academic route, vocational route or technology route. They study for the Baccalaureate in one of these three paths:-
If they are academic they study for a Bac Général (gen) and if they are going down the vocational route it is a Bac Professional (pro) and there is also a Bac Technological (Tech). Everything is marked out of 20 as it is in primary and collége, making for an overal average score, for the final assessment to obtain their Bac.
Just like with the primary and college in the UK – there are catchment areas and if you live outside the catchment area, there is no special treatment – however well your child did in their Brevet.
So you can choose your school/area providing it is in your catchment. You may opt for a private school (no catchment area) if your child has a particular passion eg. Art, and wishes to pick this as their speciality. For instance, there is an Art section at the private Catholic school in Granville.
Many students do stay at lycée throughout the week as, given the long days and homework, it is easier to do this. You will often see students with their wheelie suitcases waiting for a the school bus on a Monday morning, returning on a Friday.
The fees for this, even with a private school, compare favourably to a UK school. For example, a private lycée to board including Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner would be in the region of €3,000 per year. If the student is not boarding it costs approximately €1,000 per year. If they do not board you will still have to pay their daily lunch as packed lunches are not allowed.
We hope you enjoyed this brief insight into lycée life in France.🇨🇵
