A family moving countries, or switching from a French school to an international one, always runs into the same question: which year will my child be in? The answer fits in a table, with one nuance that often costs or gains a year: systems do not group children by the same birth dates.
The school year equivalence table
| France | Age reached during the year | England | United States | IB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grande section | 5 | Year 1 | Kindergarten | PYP |
| CP | 6 | Year 2 | Grade 1 | PYP |
| CE1 | 7 | Year 3 | Grade 2 | PYP |
| CE2 | 8 | Year 4 | Grade 3 | PYP |
| CM1 | 9 | Year 5 | Grade 4 | PYP |
| CM2 | 10 | Year 6 | Grade 5 | PYP |
| Sixième | 11 | Year 7 | Grade 6 | MYP 1 |
| Cinquième | 12 | Year 8 | Grade 7 | MYP 2 |
| Quatrième | 13 | Year 9 | Grade 8 | MYP 3 |
| Troisième | 14 | Year 10 | Grade 9 | MYP 4 |
| Seconde | 15 | Year 11 | Grade 10 | MYP 5 |
| Première | 16 | Year 12 | Grade 11 | DP 1 |
| Terminale | 17 | Year 13 | Grade 12 | DP 2 |
The correspondence between the French lycée and British years is the one UCAS, the UK universities' platform, uses: seconde is presented as Year 11, première as Year 12, terminale as Year 13. The IB programmes cover three age bands: the Primary Years Programme from 3 to 12, the Middle Years Programme from 11 to 16, over five years, and the Diploma Programme from 16 to 19, over two years.
The birth-date trap
In France, children are grouped by calendar year of birth: all those born in the same year start CP together. In England, the school year starts on 1 September, and a child belongs to the cohort born between 1 September and 31 August. In the United States, the rule depends on the state, but the cut-off usually falls around the end of summer.
The consequence: a child born between September and December is one year ahead in France compared with a British or American system. A child born in November who is in CE1 in Paris would be in Year 2, the equivalent of CP, in London. For a family leaving France, that can mean repeating a year; for a family coming back, skipping one, or on the contrary asking to stay back. The table above applies to children born between January and August; for the others, shift by one row, and discuss it with the school.
IB and the French baccalaureate: what the table does not say
A year equivalence is not a curriculum equivalence. A student arriving from the MYP into seconde has not necessarily covered the same maths chapters as a French student, and the method differs: written proof on one side, exploration and investigation on the other. A student moving from the French system into the Diploma Programme must choose six subjects and their levels, which shapes their university options.
These transitions are prepared subject by subject, maths first. I discuss the choice of diploma in IB or French baccalaureate, and returns to France in Best high schools in Paris for returning expat families.
At Carmine, we help families choose the right year and the right school when leaving or returning, and we prepare entrance tests. To close a gap in maths, I take students in private lessons.