Khâgne

Khâgne (French pronunciation: ​[kaɲ]) is an informal French term for what are officially known as classes préparatoires littéraires, i.e. the classe préparatoire aux grandes écoles (CPGE), or classe prépa, dedicated to literature and the humanities. It contrasts with other CPGE majors such as Maths Sup () in mathematics and engineering, or Prépa HEC () in the business domain.

Khâgne is a two-year program after secondary school graduation (baccalauréat) to prepare undergraduate students for the competitive entrance examination to the three Écoles normales supérieures (ENS) — more specifically to their Humanities and Social science departments (Section Lettres,Section Lettres et sciences humaines).

More precisely, khâgne refers to the second year of the program, also known as the Première Supérieure, while the first year is known as the Lettres Supérieures or hypokhâgne (from Ancient Greek (hypo), "under").

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. Teachers would give them more difficult assignments than to high school juniors. Lycée Louis-le-Grand created a special class in order to gather those "veterans": the Première supérieure class, also called rhétorique supérieure, or rhétosup. Lycée Henri-IV 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.

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