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(), officially known as , is a two-year academic program in the French “” (≈
undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...
) system, with a specialization in the
humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...
(A/L) or
social science Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the ...
(B/L). It is one of the three main types of (CPGE, informally ), contrasting with other CPGE majors such as in
mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
and
engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
, or in the
business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...
domain. Strictly speaking, the word refers to the final year of that program. In fact, the course articulates into two years with separate names: * year 1: officially , casually * year 2 (+3 +4): officially , casually The two-year program as a whole is commonly called ''hypokhâgne-khâgne'' , or simply ''khâgne''. In 2020, about 130 lycées scattered across France proposed ''hypokhâgne'' classes (1st year), and at least 30 had a ''khâgne'' (2nd year). Historically famous institutions for preparing the ''khâgne'' program – some since the 19th century – include prestigious ''lycées'' in Paris (lycées Henri IV, Louis-le-Grand,
Condorcet Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis of Condorcet (; ; 17 September 1743 – 29 March 1794), known as Nicolas de Condorcet, was a French philosopher, political economist, politician, and mathematician. His ideas, including suppo ...
, Fénelon, Janson-de-Sailly…), around Paris (
Lycée Lakanal Lycée Lakanal is a public secondary school in Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, France, in the Paris metropolitan area. It was named after Joseph Lakanal, a French politician, and an original member of the Institut de France. The school also offers a mi ...
in Sceaux, in
Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
, …) and in major cities of the country (e.g. Lycée du Parc in
Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
, Lycée Montaigne in
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
…).


Main features of the ''khâgne'' program

Once they have graduated from secondary school (), French students with a strong interest in the Humanities may choose to follow a
Licence A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...
curriculum in a
university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
(''l' université'', slang ''la fac''); or they may opt for the more selective course, which is situated outside the university system, taking place in a just like secondary school. One of the formal differences between the two competing systems (university vs. ''khâgne'') is that, while university students discover a new form of academic organization (with typically large gatherings of students in
lecture hall A lecture hall or lecture theatre is a large room used for lectures, typically at a college or university. Unlike flexible lecture rooms and classrooms with capacities normally below one hundred, the capacity of lecture halls can sometimes be m ...
s), students continue the organization they were familiar with in
high schools A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
(''lycée''), characterized by a stable class group with a maximum of 35 to 40 members. This is conducive to more substantial interaction between students and their professors, which is commonly understood as favouring high-quality learning. When the khâgne program is based in a public school, the
tuition fee Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in Commonwealth English, are fees charged by education institutions for instruction or other services. Besides public spending (by governments and other public bo ...
normally ranges between 0 and 300 euros per year;
private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...
s require higher fees. The most prestigious khâgne programs in France are found in public schools, and are thus essentially free of charge. The official objective of is to prepare undergraduate students for the competitive
entrance examination In education, an entrance examination or admission examination is an examination that educational institutions conduct to select prospective students. It may be held at any stage of education, from primary to tertiary, even though it is typica ...
() to the three (ENS) — more specifically to their ''Humanities and Social science'' departments (, ''Section Lettres et sciences humaines''). In case of an unsuccessful attempt at at the end of their , students are allowed to repeat that second year once or even twice. This means that students can remain in the whole programme from two up to four years in total (see also the section on slang terms). For the vast majority of students who will fail to get selected to ENS, having merely attended a curriculum remains valued ''per se'' on the job market, even though it provides no formal degree.


Current organisation of the ''khâgne'' program

There are two kinds of ''hypokhâgnes'': 1) The ''hypokhâgne A/L'' which can either lead to a ''Khâgne Ulm'' or a ''Khâgne Lyon''. 2) The ''hypokhâgne B/L'' which leads to the ''Khâgne B/L'' only. There are therefore three kinds of ''khâgnes'': ''khâgne B/L'', ''khâgne Ulm'', and ''khâgne Lyon'', respectively preparing to the following entrance exams: * The entrance examination (A/L section) to the ENS Ulm * The entrance examination (A/L section) to the ENS of Lyon. * The entrance examination (B/L section) to the ENS Ulm, the ENS of Lyon and the ENS Paris-Saclay


Khâgnes de Lettres (Ulm and Lyon)

The two remaining kinds of khâgnes are literary khâgnes: ''khâgne Lyon'' and ''khâgne Ulm''. * ''Khâgne Ulm'' prepares to the ''A/L'' section of the entrance examination to the ENS of Paris. As the ''khâgne B/L'', the particularity of the ''khâgne A/L'' lies in the fact that curricula of some subjects is unlimited. Each subject of the entrance examination must be taken in a written and in an oral form. The six written subjects taken are given the same coefficient: a codified essay in French literature, in history and in philosophy, a translation from an ancient language, a translation from a modern language and a commentary of it, and a subject taken as a speciality. During the oral entrance examination, the literary analysis of a French literary text, an examination in philosophy, in modern and in ancient languages are based on an unlimited programme, and so is the extension of the curriculum in history. However the examination in the subject taken as a speciality is based on an explicit curriculum. About 2,000 students attend the ''khâgne ulm''. * ''Khâgne Lyon''. It prepares to the ENS of Lyon, which is more recent than the ENS Ulm, though it is better ranked in some research departments such as in exact and experimental sciences. Each subject taught is based on an explicit curriculum which is different each year. Although all subjects have the same importance for the written part of the exam, for the oral examination one or two subjects are strongly emphasized, which makes the entrance examination to the ENS of Lyon more specialized than the one of to the ENS Ulm. 3,000 students are attending the ''khâgne Lyon'' each year. For the students of Khâgne Lyon who choose to specialise in English, there is also the possibility of getting into the ENS Paris-Saclay, traditionally a more science-orientated ENS but with an additional 10 places offered to English specialists. The selection process involves a different emphasis put on the grades obtained in the exam for the ENS Lyon and an even more specialised oral exam, which only involves English-related subjects. Unlike what is commonly assumed, the distinction between "classical" and "modern" opposing the ''khâgne Ulm'' to the ''khâgne Lyon'' isn't explained by the distinction between classical literature and modern literature, since classical literature is also taught in ''khâgne Lyon'' and modern literature in ''khâgne Ulm''. The distinction is actually made between "classical curriculum" and "modern classical" drawn in 1902 by the Ministry of Public Instruction of the time,
Alexandre Ribot Alexandre-Félix-Joseph Ribot (; 7 February 184213 January 1923) was a French politician, four times Prime Minister. Early life and early career Ribot was born on 7 February 1842, in Saint-Omer. After graduating from the University of Paris, wh ...
. Before 1902, all high school classes were considered "classical", which means that ancient languages were compulsory even among students majoring in sciences. The reform created "modern" sections in which ancient languages weren't compulsory.


The ''hypokhâgne A/L'' curriculum

All ''hypokhâgneux'' must attend 5 hours of French literature, 5 hours of history, 4 hours of philosophy, 4 hours of the first modern language, 3 hours of ancient language and cultures (2 hours of Latin or Ancient Greek and 2 hours of antique culture), 2 hours of geography and 2 hours of a second modern language a week. Then comes a chosen subject which can be art, ancient languages, geography or another modern language. In khâgne, the compulsory subjects and their respective tuition hours depend on the kind of speciality chosen: * in literature, in philosophy, in history/geography or in geography (explicit curriculum) * in classical literature (Latin and ancient Greek, ancient history) * in modern languages (two modern languages are to be studied) * in arts : musicology, art history, cinematography or theater studies


Khâgnes de Lettres et Sciences sociales (B/L)

Compared to the khâgne A/L, students of the khâgne de Lettres et Sciences sociales (B/L) (Literature and social sciences) are required to take mathematics and social sciences in addition to literary subjects (philosophy, French literature, history and languages). The khâgne B/L was created in 1983 in Henri-IV and Lakanal high schools at the same time as a corresponding entrance examination was created at the ENS rue d'Ulm. The goal was to attract good high school students who majored in sciences to literary and social studies. Both the curriculum of a hypokhâgne and a khâgne B/L is composed of the following subjects, which are considered of equal importance: * Mathematics (6 hours per week) whose curriculum is similar to the ones of business CPGEs. * Social sciences (6 hours per week) which encompasses economy, sociology, and objects commonly studied by those two subjects. * French literature (4 hours per week), unlimited curriculum. * History (4 hours per week). The curriculum encompasses "World history from 1918 to the present" and "French history from 1870 to the present" and is taught during the two years of the classe prépa. * Philosophy (4 hours per week), unlimited curriculum. * A compulsory modern language (2 hours per week) * An extra option (4 hours per week): extra classes in the compulsory modern language, or another modern language, or an ancient language or geography. * Sport (2 optional hours per week) The khâgne B/L prepares students to take the entrance examinations of various schools: * ENS Ulm (25 places) * ENS Paris-Saclay (18 places) * ENS of Lyon (10 places) * ENSAE (20 places) (National School of Statistics and Economic Administration) attached to France's National Institute of Economic and Statistical Information ( INSEE) * the National School for Statistics and Analysis of Information ( ENSAI) * Business schools (
ESSEC Founded in 1907, ESSEC Business School (École Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales) is a French higher education institution specialising in business and management. It is a grande école, a type of institution known for select ...
, HEC,
ESCP Business School ESCP Business School (; ) is a French business school and ''grande école'' founded in Paris and based across Europe with campuses in Paris, Berlin, London, Madrid, Turin, and Warsaw. Established in 1819, it is considered the world's oldest busi ...
,
EDHEC The École des Hautes Études Commerciales du Nord, commonly known as EDHEC Business School or simply EDHEC, is a French business school and ''grande école'' founded in 1906. It has campuses in Lille, Nice, and Paris, as well as in the United Ki ...
, École de management de Lyon, Audencia, etc.) * the French military academy Saint-Cyr * the national school for archivists and librarians,
École nationale des chartes The École Nationale des Chartes (; ) is a French ''grande école'' and a constituent college of Université PSL, specialising in the auxiliary sciences of history, historical sciences. It was founded in 1821, and was located initially at the A ...
* Communication schools (
IFJ The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is the largest global union federation of journalists' trade unions in the world. It represents more than 600,000 media workers from 187 organisations in 146 countries. The IFJ is an associate ...
, etc.) and journalism schools ( CELSA, etc.) * Instituts d'études politiques ( IEP,
Sciences Po Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...
) * the Engineering school (Management/Advanced mechanics) ( ISMANS)


University

The majority of khâgneux B/L and A/L go on to study at a university once they have completed the khâgne, though an increasing number of khâgneux enroll in
grandes écoles Grandes may refer to: *Agustín Muñoz Grandes, Spanish general and politician * Banksia ser. Grandes, a series of plant species native to Australia * Grandes y San Martín, a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain ...
such as business schools or engineering schools (ENSAE, ENSAI, etc.). During their studies in classe préparatoire, students are simultaneously enrolled at a university so that the years spent at the classe prépa are recognized by universities: a student having completed the hypokhâgne is allowed to enroll in the second year of university in a chosen subject; a student having completed the khâgne can immediately enter the third and last year of the French bachelor's programme in a chosen subject. After having repeated the khâgne, the student may be granted a partial or a total bachelor's diploma equivalence. In the case of a student who has passed the written exam but failed the oral part, there is the possibility of studying any subject they have done in the written exam at post-graduate level. In addition to grandes écoles and IEPs, khâgne students can also enroll in selective university programmes, such as ''magistères''.


History

Until 1890, secondary school graduates prepared for the entrance examination to the ENS by repeating their ''classe de rhétorique'' which corresponds to the final year of
secondary education Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education. Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...
. Teachers would give them more difficult assignments than to high school juniors.
Lycée Louis-le-Grand The Lycée Louis-le-Grand (), also referred to simply as Louis-le-Grand or by its acronym LLG, is a public Lycée (French secondary school, also known as sixth form college) located on Rue Saint-Jacques (Paris), rue Saint-Jacques in central Par ...
created a special class in order to gather those "veterans": the ''Première supérieure'' class, also called ''rhétorique supérieure'', or ''rhétosup''.
Lycée Henri-IV The Lycée Henri-IV () is a public secondary school located in Paris. Along with the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, it is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious and demanding sixth-form colleges ('' lycées'') in France. The school educates more ...
then introduced the ''Lettres supérieures'' (or ''Lettres sup'') year between the final year and the ''Première supérieure'' year. Regarded as a two-year extension of high school studies, ''Lettres supérieures'' and ''Première supérieure'' was meant to prepare students to the ENS. This system became standard by the 1930s. As the coursework is intensive, with around 35 hours of classwork per week and a good deal of work on top of that, it can be very stressful for students. The examinations are difficult and competitive and it is common for students either to repeat the second year of classes (in slang ''cuber'') or to fail altogether, in which case they usually obtain a ''
Licence A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...
'' or other qualification. The grading system (0 to 20) reflects the general philosophy of the ''khâgnes'': underscoring the failings of the students rather than their strengths. Consequently, most grades hover between 4 and 11, the latter grade being an excellent grade. This grading system is quite demotivating for students but is part and parcel of the intellectual "boot camp" mentality of the ''classes prépas'' educational system. The classes involve elements of literature (modern and classical), history, philosophy, geography, languages and linguistics-–-a comprehensive humanities-based education-–-but students will normally specialise in one or two subjects. Critics claim that a disproportionate amount of resources is devoted to ''khâgne'' students as against the c. 40% of Baccalauréat students who attend a standard university. They therefore see it as a feature of the elitism of the French higher education system, especially since the majority of successful candidates originate from privileged upper-class and middle-class families. Defenders see it as demonstrating an emphasis on quality.


Terminology


Etymology

The word (f.) is a pseudo- Graecism, derived from the French adjective , meaning ' knock-kneed'. During the 19th and early 20th century, the adjective was often used mockingly to describe people in the academic strata, especially those pursuing classical studies. More specifically, the was used as a taunt by students of the military academy, whose curriculum included physical education such as
equestrianism Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding ( Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...
and
fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...
, against students in the humanities, who were perceived as crouching over their books, thus developing physical deformities. In the early 20th century, the term was adapted by humanities students themselves as a mocking self-description but they changed the spelling () to make it look like a Greek
loanword A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...
. The play with
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
is even more conspicuous with ''hypokhâgne'', the name of the first year. This word was jocularly derived from ''khâgne'' using the Greek prefix , 'under'.


Slang terms and folklore

Students commonly abbreviate the name of their year using
acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...
s, hence ''hypokhâgne'' is ''HK'' , ''khâgne'' is just ''K'' . In student slang, a former hypokhâgneux attending the khâgne for the first time is called ''carré'' (or ''khârrés''). A khâgneux who fails the end-of-year entrance examination to ENS may repeat the khâgne year to try their luck a second time; in which case he or she is called ''cube'' (or ''khûbe''). The origin of these terms corresponds to the number of years spent by the student in the system: two years (HK+K) correspond to ''carré'' (cf. Fr. m² = ''mètres carrés'' = square meter), three (HK+K+K) to ''cube'' (cf. m³ = ''mètres cubes'' = cubic meter). A khâgneux who repeats the khâgne twice is called ''bicarré'' (or ''bikhârré''), commonly abbreviated as ''bica''. So in a classroom of khâgne, half of the students may be ''carrés'', a third may be ''cubes'', plus a handful of ''bicas'' who are trying their last chance at the final examination. Using derived verbs, one can say ''Je vais cuber.'' (meaning "I plan to give khâgne a second try"); or ''Je vais quand même pas bicater!'' ("I'm not going to try a third year in khâgne!").


See also

*
Classe Préparatoire aux Grandes Écoles Classe may refer to: * Classe, ancient port of Ravenna, Italy ** Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe, a 6th-century church in Ravenna * Classé, a Canadian manufacturer of audio equipment * Coalition large de l'association pour une solidarit ...
*The khâgne is informally discussed in the memoirs of Raymond Aron (1905–1983), who transferred at 17 from a suburban school to
Lycée Condorcet The Lycée Condorcet () is a secondary school in Paris, France, located at 8, rue du Havre, in the city's 9th arrondissement. Founded in 1803, it is one of the four oldest high schools in Paris and also one of the most prestigious. Since its inc ...
in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
for the two-year khâgne course, and was a classmate at the
École Normale Supérieure École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...
of
Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...
and
Georges Canguilhem Georges Canguilhem (; ; 4 June 1904 – 11 September 1995) was a French philosopher and physician who specialized in epistemology and the philosophy of science (in particular, philosophy of biology, biology). Life and work Canguilhem entered t ...
. These memoirs (published in English translation in 1990) illustrate the social differences between the education of the intellectual elite in France and in other countries, largely deriving from the unique curriculum and method of the khâgne.Raymond Aron, ''Mémoires'', Paris: Julliard, 1983, chap. 2. *In ''
The Human Stain ''The Human Stain'' is a novel by Philip Roth, published May 5, 2000. The book is set in Western Massachusetts in the late 1990s. Its narrator is 65-year-old author Nathan Zuckerman, who appears in several earlier Roth novels, including two boo ...
'',
Philip Roth Philip Milton Roth (; March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) was an American novelist and short-story writer. Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey—is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophical ...
details the life story of Delphine Roux, a character who was educated in
Lycée Henri-IV The Lycée Henri-IV () is a public secondary school located in Paris. Along with the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, it is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious and demanding sixth-form colleges ('' lycées'') in France. The school educates more ...
's khâgne and became a normalienne. He also describes the intellectual life of khâgneux in the
Latin Quarter The Latin Quarter of Paris (, ) is an urban university campus in the 5th and the 6th arrondissements of Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine, around the Sorbonne. Known for its student life, lively atmosphere, and bistros, t ...
, from the point of view of the main character, Coleman Silk. * Jaesusaeng *
Gaokao The Nationwide Unified Examination for Admissions to General Universities and Colleges (), commonly abbreviated as the Gaokao (), is the annual nationally coordinated undergraduate admission exam in mainland China, held in early June. Despite the ...
*
Rōnin In feudal Japan to early modern Japan (1185–1868), a ''rōnin'' ( ; , , 'drifter' or 'wandering man', ) was a samurai who had no lord or master and in some cases, had also severed all links with his family or clan. A samurai became a ''rō ...


External links


“Qu'est-ce que la khâgne ?”
A 60' podcast, by Renée Elkaim-Bollinger, initially broadcast 19 Dec 1996 on French public radio
France Culture France Culture () is a French public radio channel and part of Radio France Radio France () is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: *France Inter — Radio France's "generalist ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khagne Academic slang Education in France