# Questions regarding differences between a French collège and a British public secondary school **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 24, 2022, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-regarding-differences-between-a-french-college-and-a-british-public-secondary-school/964983 "2022-05-24T07:29:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2022, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-regarding-differences-between-a-french-college-and-a-british-public-secondary-school/964983/1 "2022-05-24T07:29:33Z")
Is it true that collège students (13-14 year-olds) specialise in subjects earlier than in British public secondary schools at the same age? Is there far more rigorous testing in a French collège than in equivalent grades in the UK? ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2022, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-regarding-differences-between-a-french-college-and-a-british-public-secondary-school/964983/2 "2022-05-24T08:41:54Z")
As a terminological clarification: Are you using the term “public school” in the American sense (i.e., a government-run, tax-funded and hence tuition-free school) or the British sense (i.e., a privately-run, tuition-funded and usually rather selective school)? I would guess that makes a difference. Quite generally, the British education system is highly fragmented: First, you have the regional differences between the various countries of the UK, so it would probably make sense to narrow down the question to England. Then you have the public (in the British sense described above) versus state school (what Americans call public school) divide. But even among state schools there’s wide variation, partly as a result of countless education reforms which have taken place over the decades but which were never put into a complete and coherent overhaul of the entire system. ---
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2022, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-regarding-differences-between-a-french-college-and-a-british-public-secondary-school/964983/3 "2022-05-24T10:55:16Z")
Thanks for the clarification Schnitte. Let me rephrase my question then; I’m interested in knowing whether English state schools (government-run, tax-funded and hence tuition-free school) are less specialized and less rigorous in terms of testing than the French collège (middle school) ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-regarding-differences-between-a-french-college-and-a-british-public-secondary-school/964983/4 "2022-05-25T06:54:02Z")
This might help as an overview of requirements in England and Wales up to age 16, to start with: > **[The national curriculum](https://www.gov.uk/national-curriculum)** > > The English national curriculum means children in different schools (at primary and secondary level) study the same subjects to similar standards - it's split into key stages with tests Thereafter, from 16-18, pupils follow a more intensive study of only a few subjects, which are usually more focussed on a specialised area: > **[GCE Advanced Level (United Kingdom)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/GCE_Advanced_Level_(United_Kingdom))** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > The General Certificate of Education (GCE) Advanced Level, or A Level, is a main school leaving qualification in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It is available as an alternative qualification in other countries. > Students generally study for A levels over a two-year period. For much of their history, A levels have been examined by "terminal" examinations taken at the end of these two years. A more mod... (My personal experience is far in the past, in a very academically-focussed grammar school: I did ten subjects for the 16+ GCSE, followed by languages for my A-levels - I was examined on nothing else after the age of 16. There are those in government who keep meddling to try to get schooling back to those days, it sometimes seems!) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-regarding-differences-between-a-french-college-and-a-british-public-secondary-school/964983/5 "2022-05-25T12:34:04Z")
> [@Octagon](#): > > I’m interested in knowing whether English state schools (government-run, tax-funded and hence tuition-free school) are less specialized England has whole streams of specialized state schools ([academies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_(English_school))) so I wouldn’t say so.