It's that time of year again. Monday marks the start of what some describe as the most gruelling and stressful rites of passage in France: the baccalaureate, colloquially called the “bac”.
This year, more than 740,000 students all over the country will sit the end-of-high- school exam, which was introduced by Napoleon in 1808.
There are three different categories of baccalaureate exams:professional, focused on trades like carpentry; technological, which is centered on computer sciences; and the general baccalaureate.
A majority of students take the general baccalaureate, for which they must choose between three tracks: Literature (L), Economic and Social Sciences (ES), or Science and Math (S).
But the choice represents much more than just a preference: it more or less determines what kind of further studies – and eventually careers – students can pursue.
Every year the test starts with perhaps the hardest subject: philosophy.
This year, the questions include: "Is it possible to escape time?" and "Does one sacrifice freedom by recognising one's duties?"
