Secondary education lasts 6-7 years, and consists of:
Classical system (enseignement secondaire): Geared towards a university education. It offers a general, all-round education. The objective is for the students to acquire fundamental knowledge of human sciences, literature, mathematics and natural sciences
Technical system (enseignement secondaire technique): Emphasis on vocational education. It may, however, also allow access to university studies. It is divided into 4 régimes:
Technical régime
Technician training régime
Professional régime, resulting in a Certificate of technical and professional aptitude (CATP)
Preparatory régime, for those who have not yet fulfilled the requirements of fundamental education
Schools of secondary education (that is, aimed towards university education) are called Lycées (or, colloquially, Lycée classique), while schools of secondary technical education are Lycées techniques. Some Lycées offer both types of education. The oldest Lycée in the country is the Athénée de Luxembourg, established in 1603. For a long time, it was also the only secondary school.
32 public Lycées and 5 private Lycées teach the state curriculum. Out of these, the following 4 have a special status to use innovative teaching techniques, while still using the public curriculum:
Lycée Ermesinde, an all-day school
Schengen Lycée, a bi-national school in Perl in Germany
Sportlycée, for pupils engaging in sport at a high level
École de la 2e chance (School of the second chance), for adolescents or adults who have left the school system without a certification