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But you can't be doing a literal translation of "mentions" at third level (secondary, bac, yes).
That'll be a loooong footnote then? I got a A-B-C-D system worked out at some stage and then dropped it.
What is a "Supp."? But congrats anyway.
Scandalous that for your daughter's M2 "passable" started at 13/20!
So, it proves the point, which is that "trans-culturing" or even "trans-schooling" "honours" is to be avoided, duly noted. Many thanks for the insight Nikki.
I think, more broadly, maybe French employers pay more attention to pieces of paper but in the Anglosphere there is more attention paid to the applicant's suitability for the job. No cultural judgement, that's the way I consider it to be.
Then again, I've had friends who have gone through a gamut of tests and panel interviews, what a shocker!
Lastly Nikki, light-heartedly, I suggest that you should get Zs out of your system! It's "penalised", Madame!
Yeah, 'cos when push comes to shove, and here it does, we have to put some words in there after all. I provide a literal translation of the "mentions" and footnote clearly what range that represents on that course, on that date, in that uni/school. If I don't have that info, then I simply write, for "très bien" ("very good") and indicate in the footnote that this is a literal translation, and that there are four grade bands, etc. That still sells someone short if they got "félicitations du jury".
The décrêt and the arrêté go back to March/April 2002 and have been updated since, I believe. I got a Supp. au diplôme for my psychology M2 for example with the indication that it also conferred the professional title. My daughter's political science/law and international relations M2 indicated the mentions beyond "passable" started at 13/20. I've seen some courses at the Sorbonne applying a similar approach. The unis argue that it means their standards are higher. Out in the big wide world, it mean that if a student has to indicate the "mention" he got, he might in fact be penalized. If the "standard" rule is not that standard on a national scale, then it even less clear to other states!
Also Nikki, on the great legal question of our times...draw breath...I failed to go through your reference note in detail and reply, due to, shall we say, a distraction. I'm sure it was impeccably researched and evaluated.
I have seen the term used on certificates and so on when the institution is indeed referring to what might simply be described as "classement". In context, a 12,8/20 ranking 38/41 is not "honour roll" material.
Note the rules and regs regarding the "Note descriptive" and the "Supplément au diplôme". These documents provide additional information that assist receiving institutions in assessing content, results and finally the equivalence they will be considering for applications they receive beyond their national borders. The "Supplément" will also indicate details such as the award of a specific professional title, for example, again with meaning that is relevant to the country awarding the qualification. I once translated a Supplément that contained a specific note with regard to translators, reminding them not to translate titles, "grade" (FR) and so on.
You have to be very careful when it comes to translating qualifications and diplomas, of course. Translators have to be careful not to imply parallels or equivalents; that is the job of the receiving instituion. Note also that in France's higher education system, not all schools and unis stick to the standard cut-off points. The Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3 awards the "mention" assez bien when a student achieves an overall average of 13/20 whereas most unis would award that "mention" from 12/20 - 13.99/20. So it is indeed a risky thing to start "translating" into English terminology.
According to my notes, between 12 and 14 out of 20 is "mention assez bien", "with honors" in US English, "with praise" in UK English, and "cum laude" in Latin, for the posher unis maybe!
Above 12 is a "Merit" for a master's degree and "Upper division" for a bachelor's degree in the UK system.
You don't have "mention très bien", "mention bien", or "mention assez bien", so you don't need to worry about honours or summa cum laude or whatever.
The exact wording (at least) of Cyril's suggestion doesn't check out, perhaps the spirit of it does, but then again, talking about meeting minimum requirements when the person scored well above average is a bit harsh.
My solutions fit nicely in the gaps, I would dare to suggest.
Given the student's average of 12.8/20, that is "Mention Assez Bien" — honours, and is quite an achievement in a competitive post-secondary school. I would therefore tend to translate this by inclusion on the honour roll.
It definitely isn't a bare pass of 10/20, so it would not be 'has met the minimum requirements".
ph-b (X)
France
38e/41?
17:46 Mar 14, 2021
Ah, well, that hardly qualifies as palmarès. I still agree with Marco's answer as it answers the question as asked, but it would seem that the source text is not well written. What they're talking of here is nothing more than classement.
Here's a little more context, Compte tenu des résultats obtenus durant le cursus, Monsieur XXXXXXXX obtient : - une moyenne générale retenue pour le palmarès de promotion de : 12,8/20. - un palmarès de promotion de : 38è/41
Jenny, the student's overall average grade was 12,8/20, that's what counts in what I interpret to be the class ranking. It's a decent grade, but his ranking shows you that he was up against some stiff opposition.
The key text is from "Compte tenu" to "41", that is what you should post for a second opinion. I am still confident my answer is correct. "Class ranking" for me is an Americanism, but they (class rankings) are quite common in third-level education in France.
Thanks for your helpful comments, ph-b, but I'm wondering just how to translate the term, or should I leave it as "palmarès" with some kind of explanation afterwards? In the report, the student obtained an average in his marks from 11 out of 20 to 15 out of 20, if that's any help?
ph-b (X)
France
palmarès (2)
16:30 Mar 14, 2021
Hard to know without seeing the source text, but there is a possibility that they're saying that the mark that was used to consider whether Mr X should be included in the palmarès was 12.8. In other words, while he probably passed, he didn't make it to said palmarès.
ph-b (X)
France
palmarès
16:18 Mar 14, 2021
This word refers to the "best in class or in a group ", those who would have been given palms or the right to wear a crown made of palms in Roman times. In the context of education, le palmarès is a list of graduates (for instance) who did particularly well – they did not just graduate, they also achieved particularly high marks. Palmarès = liste des lauréats* d'une distribution des prix, d'un concours, des vainqueurs d'une épreuve sportive. *Lauréat = qui a remporté un prix d'honneur, une distinction dans un concours (CNRTL). There is a difference between palmarès ("the best") and classement ("every person who achieved sthg"): Le Figaro publie le palmarès des meilleures écoles d’ingénieurs de France, ainsi que des classements par spécialité. (https://etudiant.lefigaro.fr/article/classement-des-ecoles-d... For information, R+C gives "prize/award/medal winners", "top universities", "most popular programmes". I'm not sure that "meeting minimum requirements" or "group ranking" have the same strength as palmarès.
peer agreement (net): +3