This week we will examine how the French education system has developed since the Third Republic, focussing in particular on secondary education (collège and lycée). We will look at how the education system was shaped by the political climate of subsequent regimes, leading to the existing provision of free, secular secondary education for all. We'll also investigate how the Republican tradition has become ingrained in the pre-university education system and how political leaders have consistently sought to alter the system according to their own influences and beliefs.