collège

Collège is a term used in the French-speaking world with several related meanings. In France, a collège is a state secondary school that serves as the first stage of secondary education, for students roughly aged 11 to 15. The term derives from Latin collegium, meaning association or body of learners. In the French education system, students progress through four levels: sixième, cinquième, quatrième, and troisième. The collège sits between l’école élémentaire (primary school) and le lycée (upper secondary). The curriculum covers core subjects such as French, mathematics, sciences, history-geography, foreign languages, technology, arts, and physical education, with assessment through ongoing coursework and examinations. At the end of troisième, students typically take the Diplôme national du brevet (DNB), a national diploma that records achievement across subjects and signals readiness for lycée. Public and private collèges exist; governance is centralized under the Ministère de l'Éducation nationale, with a national curriculum and standardized assessments.

The term also appears in other contexts. In Belgium and Switzerland, collège can refer to different forms of secondary education or to a private school; in Canada, particularly in Quebec, the word collège is commonly used for cégep (collège d'enseignement général et professionnel), a post-secondary institution that sits between high school and university.

Overall, the collège functions as a bridge between primary and upper secondary education, with a focus on broad preparation for further study or vocational paths and on developing foundational knowledge and skills for adolescence.