Academic Term - France

France

In primary and secondary schools, the school year begins the first Monday of September, unless September 1 is on Sunday. The school year is divided into trimesters. The first from September to January, the second from January to April, and the third is from April to June. There are the Autumn Holidays beginning on the week of All Saint's Day. They last about a week-and-a-half from midday Saturday before All Saint's Day to the Second Wednesday of holidays. The Christmas Holidays are from the Saturday before Christmas to the first Monday after the New Year, unless New Year's Day falls on a Sunday. The second term begins and the Winter Holidays are two weeks in February depending on region. Easter Holidays are two weeks in April depending on region. The third term begins then, and ends in early July. There is only a half week of school in July.

On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, pupils have a full day of teaching from around 8:00am until around 4:00pm. On Wednesday mornings, some pupils may have supplementary classes. French pupils used to attend school on Saturdays, but the so-called "four-days week" has been implemented since September 2008, reducing the teaching year from 936 to 864 hours (above the European average of 800 hours, but below the UK minimum of 950 hours for state schools). Additional holidays include Veterans Day on November 11, May 8, Ascension Day, May Day on May 1, and Easter Monday.