How to Say "Middle School" in French

collège

/kɔ.lɛʒ/

Middle school in French is collège.

The term collège refers to a school that typically covers the middle school years for students aged 11 to 15.

Meaning: school containing both primary and secondary students (noun)

Which one should you use?

In the French education system, collège refers specifically to middle school, whereas lycée refers to high school.

In Canada, middle school is often referred to as école intermédiaire.

To say someone is 'in middle school', use the prepositional phrase au collège.

/kɔ.lɛʒ/. The word has 2 syllables.

English speakers often mistake the French word collège for the English word 'college' (university). However, in French, it refers to middle school.

Unlike many English-speaking schools, the collège in France is often strictly secular, meaning no religious symbols are permitted to be worn by students or staff.
In the French system, the final year of collège ends with a national exam called the brevet, which is the first official diploma a student earns.
The word collège traces its roots back to the Latin word collēgium, which originally described a group of people living together under a common rule.

Il m'a dit qu'il m'aimait depuis le collège.
He told me that he loved me since middle school.
This sentence shows how to use collège when discussing a period of time in the past.
Tatoeba #6385573 by Yemana, translation #6383695 by Hybrid
Mon père enseigne l'anglais dans un collège.
My father teaches English at a middle school.
This sentence uses collège to describe the location of a workplace.
Tatoeba #8954230 by Aiji, translation #3459842 by AlanF_US
Un mois que je suis au lycée… et toujours pas un seul ami. C'est vraiment horrible, à ce rythme-là, ça va redevenir exactement comme au collège !
One month since entering high school … not a single friend yet. That's really terrible, at this rate it will be middle-school all over again!!
This sentence uses collège to compare a current situation to a past school experience.
Tatoeba #5655000 by Yemana, translation #328274 by fcbond
Mon frère fréquente un collège appelé Montaigne.
My brother attends a middle school called Montaigne.

Gabriel and Léa are talking about their old friends.

Gabriel

Tu connais encore les gens du collège ?
Do you still know the people from middle school?
Léa

Oui, je vois encore quelques amis.
Yes, I still see a few friends.
Gabriel

Moi, j'ai perdu contact avec tout le collège.
Me, I lost touch with everyone from middle school.
Léa

C'est dommage, on s'amusait bien.
That's a shame, we had a lot of fun.

Sources

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