The French curriculum at a distance, from China

Following the CNED from China: the Tutor Who Stands In for the Missing Teacher

Q: What is international complementary schooling?

It is the option for families whose child attends a Chinese or English-language international school and who want to keep the French syllabus running alongside it, on three core subjects. It keeps a return to the French system possible, but it adds a real workload to an already full school day, and that is where support matters most.

Outside Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong there is no accredited French school at secondary level. French schooling then runs through the CNED, and the student works alone, with no teacher in front of them. That is exactly the situation where online tutoring does not top up the school: it takes over part of its role. Mathematics, physics-chemistry, SVT and NSI, from college to Terminale, with Brevet and Asia zone Baccalaureate preparation. In English or in French.

Regulated and free CNED Complementary schooling Every city in China Asia zone past papers ★ 5.0 · 11 Google reviews

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What the CNED actually is

The Centre national d'enseignement a distance is the French state's distance-learning body. It is not a private correspondence school and not a set of revision materials: it teaches the official national syllabus, the same one taught in every accredited French school in the world, and it delivers the courses and the marked assignments to your home.

The closest North American comparison is a state virtual school, with two differences that matter. There is no live class and no timetable, so the family sets the pace. And the whole thing is calibrated on French national examinations, the Brevet at the end of Troisieme and the Baccalaureate at the end of Terminale, which have a format and a mark scheme of their own.

For an English-speaking parent, the practical consequence is simple. Your child is enrolled in a rigorous programme with genuinely good written material, and nobody is watching whether they keep up with it. That gap is what this page is about.

Where the CNED is the only option in China

Only four cities have an accredited French school running through to Terminale: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Everywhere else, French schooling stops earlier or does not exist at all, and the CNED takes over.

Wuhan

The Ecole francaise internationale de Wuhan is accredited from pre-school to the last year of primary. Cinquieme to Troisieme rely on the CNED. A college student there therefore follows the French syllabus at a distance, inside a structure of around twenty students.

Shenzhen

The French programme at QSI International School of Shenzhen, in Shekou, is accredited and an AEFE partner since 2024. It covers pre-school and college, the latter in partnership with the CNED on the core subjects, up to the Brevet. Beyond that there is no French lycee in Shenzhen.

Chengdu, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Qingdao, Xi'an, Chongqing, Suzhou

No accredited school at secondary level. French-speaking families enrol their children in an English-language international school or a Chinese school, and follow the French syllabus alongside it, either as complementary schooling or as full enrolment.

Macau

No accredited French school either. Families turn to Hong Kong, where admission is competitive, or to the CNED. Macau is on the same time zone as Beijing, so the session slots are identical.

The same situation arises inside the four big cities: a family that does not get a place at the French lycee, that arrives mid-year, or that lives too far from the campus ends up in exactly the same configuration.

Regulated, free or complementary, what each option implies

Families often confuse these options, although they do not open the same rights and do not ask for the same work. Here is what separates them in practice.

Full regulated enrolment

The student whose French schooling is their main schooling

Enrolment is conditional: the family must show that the child was in the French system the previous year, for example in a partially accredited French school abroad. This is the option that lets the student sit the Brevet and the Baccalaureate as a school candidate, and that opens entitlement to grants for students of French nationality.

Full free enrolment

The student who does not meet the conditions above

Same courses, same syllabus, but the student sits the examinations as an independent candidate. Academic follow-up is lighter, which makes outside support all the more decisive: nobody tells the family that an assignment was never handed in.

International complementary schooling

The student enrolled in a Chinese or English-language international school

The child follows their local schooling and, alongside it, three core subjects of the French syllabus. It is the option chosen by families who want to keep the door to France open without leaving a local school. The load is real, since it comes on top of an already full day.

Individual courses

The student in a school that does not open every option

One or more subjects taken singly, typically a speciality or an option the small local lycee did not open this year. Common for Maths Expertes or NSI in schools with small cohorts.

Enrolment conditions and fees are set by the CNED and change from year to year: check them directly with the organisation and with your consulate, especially regarding grants. What I do is the teaching support, whichever option you choose.

What a tutor brings to a CNED student

Supporting a distance student is not like supporting one in a school. It is not a matter of adding a layer on top of a teacher's lesson: it is a matter of filling the empty seat.

Explaining the idea before the exercise

A CNED course is written to be read alone, and it is written well. But no booklet notices that a student has understood it the wrong way, and there is nobody to explain it differently on the day the first pass does not land. That is the weekly session's first job: the moment someone explains out loud, answering this particular student's questions.

Keeping the pace, and above all the deadlines

This is what makes distance students drop off, far more than mathematical difficulty. With no bell, no class and no teacher asking for the work, a Quatrieme student falls a week behind, then three. By January the backlog can no longer be closed within the year. A fixed appointment every week creates the deadline that is missing.

Marking the write-up, not just the answer

CNED assignments are marked, but with a delay and at a distance. Between sending and receiving, the student has already moved to another chapter. Going back over the write-up while it is fresh, during the session, on the work they have just written, has a completely different effect from reading an annotation three weeks later.

Preparing the examination, not just the syllabus

A CNED student often knows the course well and the paper badly. The Brevet and the Baccalaureate have a format, a mark scheme and a way of managing time that are learned only by sitting them. Assignments are therefore done under real conditions, timed, on Asia zone past papers, and marked to the official scheme.

Reporting back to the parents

In a CNED schooling it is the parents who carry the follow-up, often without being comfortable with the speciality syllabus themselves. A clear summary at the end of the session, on what is secure and what is not, gives them a visibility the termly report does not.

From college to Terminale

The syllabus is the same as for a student in a school, since the CNED teaches the official national programme. Each page below sets out the chapters of the year and the points that cost marks in assessment.

Sixieme Cinquieme Quatrieme Troisieme, Brevet Seconde Premiere Terminale, Bac Maths speciality

Two moments call for particular vigilance in a distance student. Troisieme, because the Brevet is often their first official examination and they have never sat one under classroom conditions. And Premiere, because continuous assessment counts for 40 out of 100 in the final Baccalaureate mark: a lost term cannot be made up in Terminale.

More flexible slots than in a school

The whole of China runs on Beijing time, UTC+8, and never changes its clocks. Montreal is at UTC-5 in winter and UTC-4 in summer, so 13 hours apart from November to March and 12 hours the rest of the year. The Chinese evening falls in my morning: a session at 8 pm your side is 7 am mine in winter, 8 am in summer.

A CNED student has one further advantage: their timetable is not set by a school. On days they study at home a late Chinese afternoon session is possible, and Saturday and Sunday are open. That is useful for fitting two close sessions before an assignment is due, or a long session under examination conditions.

Corrected exercises, free and useful today

This is the most concrete gap in a distance schooling: the course is supplied, extra corrected exercises are not. The site provides a full bank of them, free and with no sign-up, covering the French syllabus from college to Terminale, with revision sheets by chapter, a two hour mock Brevet and a four hour mock Baccalaureate. Solutions are worked step by step, with the traps and the examinable proofs, and everything reads in the browser with nothing to download. It is written in French, the language of the examination your child will sit.

Corrected exercises Revision sheets

Frequently asked questions

What is the CNED?

The Centre national d'enseignement a distance is the French state distance-learning body. It teaches the official national syllabus, the same one taught in every accredited French school, and sends the courses and assignments to the family. It is the route French families abroad use when there is no accredited French school within reach.

In which Chinese cities do families have to use the CNED?

Everywhere except Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong, the four cities with an accredited French school running through to Terminale. In Wuhan only pre-school and primary are accredited, and Cinquieme to Troisieme go through the CNED. In Shenzhen the French programme covers pre-school and college, the latter in partnership with the CNED. In Chengdu, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Qingdao, Xi'an, Chongqing, Suzhou and Macau there is no accredited school at secondary level.

What is the difference between regulated and free CNED enrolment?

The regulated option lets the student sit the Brevet and the Baccalaureate as a school candidate and opens entitlement to grants for students of French nationality, but access is conditional, notably on having been in the French system the previous year. The free option gives the same courses without those conditions, but the student sits as an independent candidate and academic follow-up is lighter.

What is international complementary schooling?

The option for families whose child attends a Chinese or English-language international school and who want to keep the French syllabus running alongside it, on three core subjects. It keeps a return to the French system possible, but it adds a real load to an already full school day.

Why does a CNED student need a tutor?

Because they work with no teacher in front of them. CNED courses are well made, but no booklet notices that a student has understood the wrong way, explains it differently, or asks for work that was never handed in. What makes a distance student drop off is the pace before the difficulty: a week behind in September becomes three by November. The weekly session creates the deadline that is missing.

Can a CNED student in China prepare for the Brevet and the Bac?

Yes. Brevet and Baccalaureate papers are published by examination centre, and a student in China sits the Asia zone papers. Practice is on those past papers, under real timed conditions, marked to the official scheme. Knowing the course is not enough if you have never written under the format of the paper.

What time do sessions take place?

In the Chinese evening, most often between 7 pm and 9 pm, which is early morning in Montreal. A CNED student has a more flexible timetable, so the Chinese afternoon also works on days they study at home, and Saturday and Sunday are open.