Jules Ferry, the Minister of Public Instruction in 1881, is widely credited for creating the modern school (l'école républicaine) by requiring all children between the ages of 6 and 12, both boys and girls, to attend.

Ministry reports have confirmed that the rule of schools in promoting "common culture" is only made more critical by the rising levels of student diversity.

According to the ministry, history education in France has, over the course of one century made possible "the integration of children of Italians, Poles, Africans and Portuguese".

All teachers in public primary and secondary schools are state civil servants, making the ministère the largest employer in the country.

At the primary and secondary levels, the curriculum is the same for all French students in any given grade, which includes public, semi-public and subsidised institutions.

Major holiday breaks are as follows: Most parents start sending their children to preschool (maternelle) when they turn 3.

The first two years of preschool (TPS and petite section "PS") are introductions to community living; children learn how to become students and are introduced to their first notions of arithmetic, begin to recognize letters, develop oral language, etc.

In the first 3 years of elementary school, they learn to write, develop their reading skills and get some basics in subjects such as French, mathematics, science and the arts, to name a few.

[17] France has its own international school regulator, the AEFE (Agence pour l'enseignement français à l'étranger).

[18][19] Those levels of study include various "parcours" or paths based on UE (Unités d'enseignement or Modules), each worth a defined number of European credits (ECTS).

During the 1960s, French public universities responded to a massive explosion in the number of students (280,000 in 1962–63 to 500,000 in 1967–68) by stuffing approximately one-third of their students into hastily developed campus annexes (roughly equivalent to American satellite campuses) which lacked decent amenities, resident professors, academic traditions, or the dignity of university status.

[22] As a result, French higher education, compared with other countries, is small in size with a multiplicity of establishments, each specialised in a more-or-less broad spectrum of areas.

A middle-sized French city, such as Grenoble or Nancy, may have 2 or 3 universities (focused on science, sociological studies, engineering, etc.)

For citizens of the EU, EEA, Switzerland or Quebec, the annual fees range from 170 to 380 euros per year depending on the level (licence, master, doctorat).

Some do not receive funds for class trips and other extra activities and so those schools may ask for a small entrance fee for new students.

This is a type of university college, usually in small and medium-sized towns, at satellite campuses of larger universities, that offers post-secondary study programmes designed to provide higher vocational education or the technical skills needed to perform the tasks of a particular and specific job.

They are generally focused on a single subject area (e.g., engineering or business), have a small size (typically between 100 and 300 graduates per year), and are highly selective.

[36][37][38] In France, there are two main categories of private higher education colleges and universities: Since 2018, a public university can integrate not only public faculties, but also private colleges (which have EESPIG accreditation, which means of general interest) as part of an experimental public-private partnership.

[40] Voices have been raised in the teaching community, fearing the privatization of French public higher education and tuition fee increases.

Admission to CPGEs is based on academic performance during the last two years of high school, called Première and Terminale.

CPGEs are usually located within high schools but are a part of tertiary education, which means that to be admitted, each student must have already successfully passed their Baccalauréat (or equivalent).

The first year of a CPGE is widely known as "Math Sup", or Hypotaupe, (Sup for "Classe de Mathématiques Supérieures", superior in French, meaning post-high school), and second year as "Math Spé", or Taupe, (Spés standing for "Classe de Mathématiques Spéciales", special in French).

In scientific and business CPGEs, colles consist of oral examinations twice a week, in French, foreign languages (usually English, German, or Spanish), maths, physics, philosophy, or geopolitics—depending on the type of CPGE.

Students, usually in groups of three or four, spend an hour facing a professor alone in a room, answering questions and solving problems.

Students have one hour to prepare a short presentation that takes the form of a French-style dissertation (a methodologically codified essay, typically structured in 3 parts: thesis, counter-thesis, and synthesis) in history, philosophy, etc.

Colles are regarded as very stressful, particularly due to the high standards expected by the teachers, and the subsequent harshness that may be directed at students who do not perform adequately.

In a March 2004 ruling, the French government banned all "conspicuous religious symbols" from schools and other public institutions with the intent of preventing proselytisation and to foster a sense of tolerance among ethnic groups.

Some religious groups showed their opposition, saying the law hindered the freedom of religion as protected by the French constitution.

fewer than 19 million young people in Metropolitan France, or 32% of the total population, compared with 40% in the 1970s and 35% at the time of the 1990 census.

France is seeing a slow aging of the population, however, that is less marked than in other neighbouring countries (such as Germany and Italy), especially as the annual number of births is currently increasing slightly.