Understanding the Moroccan English Curriculum: A Guide for New Teachers (Common Core to Bac)
A clear orientation guide to the Moroccan English curriculum, from Common Core through 2nd Year Bac — what's taught at each level, and how it all connects.
By My Teacher
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August 13, 2026
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5 min read
If you’re new to teaching English in Morocco — whether fresh out of CRMEF or transferring from another subject — the level structure can take a while to fully click. Common Core, 1st Year Bac, 2nd Year Bac: the names get used constantly, but what actually changes between them, and why, isn’t always explained clearly in one place.
This is that orientation: what each level is actually building toward, and how they connect.
Three levels, one destination
The Moroccan secondary English curriculum is structured as a progressive build toward a single endpoint: the 2nd Year Bac National Exam, with each earlier level laying specific groundwork the exam later assumes students already have.
The Three Levels
Common Core (الجذع المشترك)
The foundation year. Students at this level are often still building core confidence with English as a subject, alongside developing foundational grammar, vocabulary, and the four basic language skills. Topics tend to be more concrete and personally relevant — daily life, culture, media — giving students accessible ground to practice on before the curriculum gets more abstract.
1st Year Bac
The bridge year. Grammar and vocabulary complexity increases noticeably, and topics shift toward more socially and globally aware themes — education, ecology, celebrations, media. Writing tasks also become more varied and structured, moving beyond simple paragraphs toward letters, articles, and short essays.
2nd Year Bac
The exam year. Every unit is explicitly built with the National Exam in mind — more sophisticated grammar (passive voice, reported speech, conditionals), more abstract and analytical topics (citizenship, international organizations, science and technology), and writing tasks that mirror the exam’s actual format closely.
Why the Progression Matters
Each level assumes real, specific knowledge from the one before it — not just “some English,” but particular grammar points, vocabulary ranges, and skills that build directly on each other. A 2nd Bac student struggling with the passive voice, for instance, is very often actually missing groundwork that should have been solid from 1st Bac, not a 2nd Bac-specific gap.
Understanding this helps you diagnose real gaps
When a student is struggling with current material, it’s often worth checking whether the actual gap is one or two levels back — not always, but often enough that it’s worth ruling out before assuming the current lesson simply hasn’t landed.
What This Means for the National Exam
The National Exam is often talked about as if it only tests 2nd Bac content, but in practice it draws on the accumulated vocabulary, grammar, and skills built across all three levels. A teacher who understands the full three-year arc — not just their own assigned level — is better positioned to know what a given class genuinely already has versus what still needs reinforcing.
Textbooks change, the structure doesn’t
Different schools may use different approved textbooks at each level (Ticket to English, Gateway, Insights into English, and others), but the underlying curriculum structure and progression stays consistent regardless of which book a particular school has adopted.
See exactly which textbook maps to which level
The Textbook Directory lists every officially approved textbook by level, if you want to see exactly what’s used at each stage of this progression.
Putting It Together
Common Core, 1st Bac, and 2nd Bac aren’t three separate curricula — they’re one continuous build, with each level assuming real groundwork from the last. Understanding that arc, even if you only teach one level yourself, makes it much easier to understand where your students are actually coming from, and where they’re headed next.
If you teach across multiple levels, or want to see the full picture, the Smart English Worksheets Complete Pack and Teacher Bundle are both built with this same three-year progression in mind.
Common Core (الجذع المشترك), 1st Year Baccalaureate, and 2nd Year Baccalaureate — a progressive three-year structure building toward the National Exam at the end of 2nd Bac.
No — while it’s taken at the end of 2nd Bac, it draws on vocabulary, grammar, and skills accumulated across all three levels, not just the final year’s content in isolation.
Morocco has multiple officially approved textbooks per level (such as Ticket to English, Gateway, and Insights into English), and individual schools choose which one to adopt — but the underlying curriculum structure and progression stays the same regardless of the specific book used.
It helps you recognize when a student’s struggle with current material is actually a gap from an earlier level rather than a problem with the current lesson — which changes how you address it.
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