Duration of compulsory education in France
France: Duration of compulsory education was 13 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
13
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
17th
of 205 countries
All-time high
13
in 2020
All-time low
10
in 1998
Years of data
28
1998–2025
Duration of compulsory education in France, 1998–2025
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for duration of compulsory education in France is 13, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 28 years on record.
The figure is up 30.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, duration of compulsory education in France peaked at 13 in 2020 and was at its lowest, 10, in 1998.
France ranks 17th of 205 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 28 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 10 | 10 | 10 | 2 |
| 2000s | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| 2010s | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| 2020s | 13 | 13 | 13 | 6 |
Countries ranked near France
- 17 Aruba 13 compare
- 17 Austria 13 compare
- 17 Belgium 13 compare
- 17 Bermuda 13 compare
- 17 Costa Rica 13 compare
- 17 Germany 13 compare
- 17 Gibraltar 13 compare
- 17 Hungary 13 compare
- 17 Marshall Islands 13 compare
- 17 Netherlands 13 compare
- 17 North Macedonia 13 compare
- 17 Paraguay 13 compare
- 17 Philippines 13 compare
- 17 Puerto Rico 13 compare
- 17 Turks and Caicos Islands 13 compare
More education data for France
- Duration of pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 61.2% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 16.2% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 11 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 103.4% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 229,471 (2013)
- Fertility rate vs mean years of schooling 1.64 (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 103.5% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is duration of compulsory education in France?
- Duration of compulsory education in France was 13 in 2025, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest duration of compulsory education recorded in France?
- The highest recorded value was 13 in 2020.
- What is the lowest duration of compulsory education recorded in France?
- The lowest recorded value was 10 in 1998.
- How does France rank for duration of compulsory education?
- France ranks 17th out of 205 countries with data for 2025.
- Is duration of compulsory education rising or falling in France?
- Over the last ten years it is up 30.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this France data come from?
- The figures come from Our World in Data, published as part of Duration of compulsory education. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 28 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).