Primary and secondary education in Morocco

Pupils aged 6 to 12 attend primary education (enseignement primaire) in Morocco.

  • : 6 years.
  • Content: reading, writing, social development, Arabic and a foreign language. Pupils complete the education with the Certificat d’Études Primaires (CEP)/ شهادة الدراسات الإبتدائية.

Secondary education (enseignement secondaire) lasts 6 years. It is divided into 2 phases, each lasting 3 years:

Attestation du Baccalauréat

Students take exams for an Attestation du Baccalauréatif they have chosen the general education programme of study (enseignement général). They attend upper secondary general education at a lycée qualifiant.

  • : 3 years (after 3 years of lower secondary education).
  • Content: the 1st year there is a common curriculum (tronc commun). From the 2nd year they follow general education subjects from one of the 3 subject clusters:
    • lettres modernes (modern languages);
    • sciences expérimentales (natural sciences);
    • sciences mathématiques (mathematics).
      Within these profiles, students can specialise further.
  • Admission requirements: a Brevet d’Enseignement Collégial (BEC), the lower secondary education diploma.
  • Function of the diploma: access to higher education.
  • Diploma: Attestation du Baccalauréat/ شهادة البكالوريا.

We compare an Attestation du Baccalauréat to at least a diploma.

Please note: 'at least a HAVO diploma' means that the diploma has a higher level than a HAVO diploma, but a lower level than a diploma. The level of the diploma lies between a HAVO diploma and a VWO diploma.

Baccalauréat d’Enseignement Technologique et Professionnel

Students take exams for a Baccalauréat d'Enseignement Technologique et Professionnel (BETP) if they have chosen the general and vocational education programme of study in upper secondary school.

  • Duration: 3 years (after 3 years of lower secondary education).
  • Content: the 1st year there is a common curriculum (tronc commun). From the 2nd year, they follow subjects belonging to the subject cluster they choose. There are 6 subject clusters:
    • génie civil (engineering);
    • génie chimique (chemical engineering);
    • génie électrique (electrical engineering);
    • génie mécanique (mechanical engineering);
    • sciences agronomiques (agricultural sciences);
    • sciences économiques (economics/business administration).
      These subject clusters consist largely of general education subjects. A third of all teaching is practice-oriented.
  • Admission requirements: a Brevet d’Enseignement Collégial (BEC), the lower secondary education diploma.
  • Function of the diploma: access to higher education.
  • Diploma: Baccalauréat d'Enseignement Technologique et Professionnel.

We compare a Baccalauréat d’Enseignement Technologique et Professionnel to a HAVO diploma with vocational subjects.