Primary and secondary education

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

• Duration: 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:

• lower secondary education, concluded with exams for a Brevet d’Enseignement Collégial (BEC);
• upper secondary education, concluded with exams for:
  • an Attestation du Baccalauréat if students choose the general education programme of study;
  • a Baccalauréat d’enseignement technologique et professionnel. if students choose the general and vocational education programme of study.

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.

• 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 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.

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 VWO diploma. The level of the diploma lies between a HAVO diploma and a VWO diploma.

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.