Since the beginning of this century, France has successively issued two versions of Common Base of Knowledge and Skills as legal goals for compulsory education to cultivate key competences of primary and middle school students. To achieve these goals, France has organized an assessment system based on Common Base to assess students' key competences. One type of the assessment is school-based and carried out in three stages to diagnose, feedback and improve students' key competences throughout compulsory education. Another named CEDRE is held regularly by DEPP to monitor the progress of students' level of key competences. This article focuses on the provisions of Common Base, the contents of and approaches to assessment, and the highlights and trends in the innovation of assessment in France. One purpose of the article is to offer reference for the cultivation and development of Chinese students'core literacy.