‘It’s no shame’: how to handle your child being placed a school year below in France

More than 11 million students returned to the classroom on September 1, as the rentrée, or back-to-school season, kicked off in France. However, for children who have just arrived in France from another country, starting school can be a complicated, and surprising, process.

That was the case for Jenna Hartzell's two children, who moved to France from the US state of Virginia this June.

From her son's American middle school installing a weapons detection system to protect against school shooters, to the country's overall political uncertainty, Ms Hartzell, 40, said there were multiple reasons they chose a French education for their children. 

Yet accessing the public system meant taking language placement tests, factoring in administrative delays and, most concerningly, hearing that her nine-year-old daughter would be placed in a grade below where she should be.

"Had I kind of got a heads-up before, I would have been a little less worried," said Ms Hartzell, who lives in the Haute-Vienne department in central France.

Despite initial confusion, Ms Hartzell told The Connexion that other expat parents reassured her on Facebook that this was a common occurrence for allophone, or non-French-speaking, children. National authorities say holding a child back a year is not necessarily the first choice for foreign families, but can be done to support the child’s learning. 

Allophone children make up a significant portion of French pupils. More than a third of pupils between six and 18 years old in France speak a language other than French at home, according to a 2024 UNICEF report. Additionally, 88,500 newly arrived allophone students entered the French school system during the 2023-2024 school year, according to a report by the Ministry of National Education, Higher Education, and Research. 

At a time when more Americans are moving to France, US children in France can expect to confront the language placements, support and grade discrepancies that accompany the French system.

'It's not a source of shame in France'

Ms Hartzell did not realise her daughter – who would normally have been in CM1, broadly equivalent to fourth grade in the US – had been placed in a grade below until the young girl's first day.

All the children around her daughter seemed young, so Ms Hartzell asked the teacher to see the register with all the pupils' names.

"She was the only 2017 baby," Ms Hartzell said. "All the other kids were 2018 and 2019."

The head teacher later explained that the lower grade placement was to ensure her daughter did not have to learn new material in a new language.

Within Ms Hartzell's concern lies a cultural difference. While in the US being held back a grade is almost a source of stigma, "it's not a source of shame in France, it's a very common thing," she said.

Elementary school children are enrolled in an ‘age appropriate class’ and take a placement test assessing their skills in math, French and their original language of instruction, a spokesperson from the national education ministry told The Connexion. 

For students entering middle school, the family must submit an application to the Direction des services départementaux de l’éducation nationale (DSDEN). 

They also take an evaluation before being assigned to a school. The test is used to assess newly arrived non-French-speaking students (élèves allophones nouvellement arrivés, or EANA). It is usually administered through the local education authority, although with support from CASNAV (Centre académique pour la scolarisation des élèves allophones nouvellement arrivés) and the local office of the CIO (Centre d'information et d'orientation).

There is a chance school authorities will place an elementary school-aged child in a class where other students are not the same age, according to the official Service-Public.fr website. However, in principle, the age difference should not exceed two years.

The education ministry spokesperson added that school authorities may also factor in when the child arrived in France, which can lead to a placement one year below.

For primary school students, "a child's allophony should not hinder his or her education," states the education ministry's resource page for allophone students. "Thus, if a newly arrived student demonstrates strong skills in mathematics and reading in the language of his or her initial schooling, he or she should be placed in the grade appropriate for his or her age."

The decision can also change, and the child can be moved into a more age appropriate level in the following year. 

We asked Elodie Vincent for insights on French education as an English speaker. Ms Vincent runs Your Online French Teacher, which offers French lessons to non-French-speakers, and Parlamamie, which is for French speakers living abroad.

For parents worried that being placed in a lower grade carries broader risks for a child's education, she said the stakes go well beyond French class itself. Reaching a minimum level of French is a prerequisite for succeeding in every other subject taught in French, including history, geography, maths and physics.

"The skills targeted by the French national education system, within the public-school system, are skills that need to be developed in the French language," said Ms Vincent, who also published a guide for French language administrative exams. 

'Give learning the time it needs'

Children's French level is generally measured against the CECRL (Cadre européen commun de référence pour les langues), an EU document used across Europe to assess language skills. 

Within the public school system, the level of French as a second language (FLS) support varies significantly by region and school. Some collèges offer French classes for newly arrived students, but not all, Ms Vincent said. In total 90% of allophone students in France receive FLS support, according to the Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research. Collège, the French equivalent of US middle school, is where FLS support is most common – at 92 % –  whereas only 88% of allophone elementary students have enrolled in a program.  

Both elementary and middle school students can get support from UPE2A, a support programme for allophone students, the education ministry’s spokesperson said. The UPE2A programme allows allophone students to join regular classes while at the same time receiving intense French-language support via extra lessons. 

A Connexion staff member's daughter who was recently enrolled in the UPE2A system at a collège in the Vaucluse department, for example, receives an extra 14 hours of support weekly in French, including three hours of math.  

However, UPE2A does not exist in every school, according to the expat site EasyFranceNow.  

This is where the regional disparities Ms Vincent mentioned come in: while departments like Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Hautes-Alpes, Haute-Marne, Ardennes, Bas-Rhin and Val-de-Marne see 95% of allophone students who receive French language support use UPE2A, the figure drops to 5% in Mayenne, Manche, Mayotte and Orne, according to the Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research’s report. 

To improve an allophone child's French level, Ms Vincent recommended outside lessons from a dedicated teacher, or a language-learning app such as Duolingo. The latter is something Ms Hartzell said her family is using. 

Ms Vincent also stressed the importance of emotional connection – it is essential for a child to build a circle of French-speaking friends. That will give them the motivation to learn the language and understand their peers.

To boost those connections, Ms Vincent suggested parents look into their local mairie's centre de loisirs, an after-school and holiday activity programme that is far less expensive than a typical American summer camp, as a way to help a child build those friendships. As children get older, she said, team sports, art classes or music lessons can serve the same purpose, giving a child a genuine social life in French.

These can all contribute to increasing the child's motivation to learn French.

"We can give all the lessons we want. We can throw all the parties we want. If the child doesn't have the motivation, it's going to be difficult," she said.

However, there is one advantage young children have on their side: what Ms Vincent called the crible phonologique, or phonological sieve, the ear's ability to distinguish new sounds, which develops much more easily before around age six.

"The younger you are, the better your ability to hear the sounds. The more easily you hear them, the more easily you can reproduce them," she said.

As children pick up a new language, Ms Vincent encouraged parents to "give learning the time it needs."

In other words, stay calm, make room for setbacks, and prioritise building French-speaking friendships for the whole family, including organising get-togethers with French-speaking families rather than sticking to other expatriates. At home, she suggested labelling household items, such as the fridge, the cupboard or the coffee maker, with Post-it notes or stickers showing the French words.

It is also helpful to set aside a dedicated time each day for speaking French as a family, even if the parents' own French is far from fluent. Watching the news, listening to French songs, or reading a bedtime story in French can all reinforce a child's learning, she said, but the effort has to be visible for it to work.

"The child will learn if they see the parent making an effort," she said.