lycée

lycée, in France, an upper-level secondary school preparing pupils for the baccalauréat (the degree required for university admission). The first lycée was established in 1801, under the educational reforms of Napoleon Bonaparte. Lycées formerly enrolled the nation’s most talented students in a course of instruction lasting seven years. These lycées were divided into three types having different areas of specialization: classical studies, modern studies, and scientific-technological studies. In the late 20th century, however, the lycée...