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The level of French students in English improved orally at the end of primary and middle school between 2016 and 2022, and remained stable in writing, according to a study published Thursday.
At the end of elementary school (CM2), half of the students reach level A1 of the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages), an introductory or discovery level expected at the end of 6th grade, according to a national disciplinary assessment on a sample (Cedre) from the Ministry of National Education.
In oral examination, 56% of CM2 pupils reached level A1, with an average score up six points compared to 2016.
In reading comprehension, 53% of them achieve it and the average score has been stable since 2010, adds this report published by Depp, the statistics department of the Ministry of Education.
In middle school, the overall level of students is also increasing in oral comprehension. At the end of the third year, 62% of students reach level A2 of the CEFR in oral, expected at the end of middle school (intermediate or usual level). The average score is up five points.
In reading comprehension, 42% of them reach this level. The average score is stable compared to 2016.
The level of English remains “very correlated” with the social profile of the schools and colleges in which students are educated, the survey also notes. But the gaps are less marked than in previous studies between the most and least advantaged establishments.
In CM2, the scores of students enrolled in the least advantaged schools are significantly higher than in 2016: +15 points in oral comprehension and +13 points in writing.
Student performance increases significantly in priority education (+21 points in oral and +17 points in written).
In middle school, the gaps in average scores between students in very advantaged and very disadvantaged middle schools are the lowest observed since 2004, the study highlights.
Furthermore, girls continue to outperform boys in English at school, with gaps that are widening (12-point gap in oral comprehension). They also continue to outperform boys in secondary school, with a nine-point gap in oral comprehension.
In writing, the level of both girls and boys is stable compared to 2016, at school as well as at college.