Enrolling your children in school in France: the system, the carte scolaire, and how to arrive well

The French system in clear terms

The French school clock starts earlier and runs on the calendar year. Children join école maternelle (nursery school — a real school, with a curriculum) at age 3, in three years: petite, moyenne and grande section. Then comes école élémentaire from CP — the reading year, joined the calendar year the child turns 6 — through CE1, CE2, CM1 and CM2. Secondary school splits in two: collège (four years, 6e to 3e, ending with the brevet exam) and lycée (three years, 2nde to terminale, ending with the baccalauréat).

Two structural differences from England are worth internalising early. First, instruction is compulsory from 3 — there’s no equivalent of choosing when to start Reception. Second, cohorts are cut by calendar year, not by a September-to-August school year: everyone born in 2019 moves together. That’s why a UK Year number doesn’t translate one-to-one — see the FAQ for how your child will be placed.

Rhythm: the year starts in early September and carries roughly 16 weeks of holidays — two-week breaks roughly every six weeks (staggered by zones A/B/C for some of them) and about eight weeks in summer. Many communes run a four-day school week (no school Wednesday); Paris kept Wednesday mornings, with income-indexed activity programmes on Wednesday afternoons. No uniforms, canteens run by the commune, and the school day typically runs 8:30 to 16:30 — longer than an English day, which partly replaces after-school childcare.

Types of school — and what each changes for you

• State schools (free, secular): the default and the majority. Quality is more uniform than in England — there are no published league tables at primary level and no Ofsted equivalent for parents to obsess over. The school is assigned by address (next section).
• Private schools “sous contrat” (modest fees): mostly Catholic-network schools under state contract — the state pays the teachers, the school follows the national curriculum, and fees are startlingly low by UK standards (commonly €500–€3,000/year). No address rule: you apply directly to the school. This is the standard “more choice” route for French families, not a luxury product.
• Private schools “hors contrat” (higher fees): outside the state contract, free to set their own curriculum — this is where Montessori schools and most international and bilingual schools live. Fees range widely, up to £-comparable levels for the big international names.
• International sections in state schools — the system’s best-kept secret for anglophone families; they get their own section below.

The carte scolaire: your address is your school

For state schools, France runs on sectorisation — the carte scolaire. Each address belongs to a sector, each sector feeds a school. You don’t apply to a school; you enrol at the mairie (town hall) of your commune — or the arrondissement in Paris — and the mairie tells you which school your address feeds. For collège and lycée the same logic runs at département level.

Practical consequences:

• The neighbourhood decision is the school decision — same as London, minus the annual distance lottery. Before signing a lease, check which school (and collège) the address feeds: the mairie publishes sector maps, and a phone call settles it.
• Renting counts fully. Your proof of address (lease, utility bill) is what the mairie checks. No ownership needed.
• Dérogations exist but aren’t a plan. You can request a different school with a motivated reason; acceptance depends on space and the commune’s policy (see FAQ).
• Private sous contrat ignores the carte scolaire — which is exactly why some families use it: it decouples the school from the address at low cost.

Enrolling: the calendar — and arriving mid-year

1. The normal cycle. Enrolments for September typically open in spring (March to June depending on the commune; in Paris, registration runs through the mairie of your arrondissement and its online portal). You’ll need: proof of address, the child’s birth certificate or passport, and the vaccination record — France requires the standard schedule (11 vaccines for children born since 2018), and your UK red book or GP printout works as evidence; missing shots are simply caught up with a French doctor.

2. Arriving mid-year — the standard case for relocating families, and it genuinely works: instruction being compulsory, the mairie enrols at any point in the year. The sequence is the same (mairie → enrolment certificate → school), usually resolved in days. If the sector school is full, the mairie assigns the nearest school with space. For collège/lycée, the DSDEN (the département’s education authority) handles placement, and a non-French-speaking teenager will usually be assessed for UPE2A support first.

3. Non-French speakers are expected, not a problem. The UPE2A framework gives newly arrived allophone children dedicated French-language teaching hours while they belong to a mainstream class for everything else. It exists at primary and secondary level, coordinated by the local CASNAV. In practice: primary-age children integrate fast; teenagers need the framework more and it serves them well.

Keeping English alive — the options, honestly ranked

Your children will become French speakers; the real question is what happens to their English literacy. Four routes, in ascending order of cost:

• English at home, school in French (free): works for spoken fluency, but written English needs deliberate work — families typically add structured reading and writing at home. The quiet favourite for long stays, and the fastest French immersion.
• Sections internationales (free or nearly): selective English-language streams inside state schools — several hours a week of literature and history in English, taught to native level, leading to the BFI (baccalauréat français international). Paris and its suburbs have the densest network (the Lycée international in Saint-Germain-en-Laye’s British section is the historic flagship). Entry is by language test, and seats are limited — apply as early as your plans firm up. For an anglophone child this is the system’s best value by far.
• Bilingual private schools (€5,000–€15,000/year, mostly hors contrat): genuine half-and-half curricula, concentrated in Paris and larger cities.
• Full international schools (€15,000–€35,000+/year): British or IB curriculum end to end — continuity if you’re likely to move again internationally, at a price that mirrors London independents.

Rule of thumb by horizon: staying 2–3 years then back to the UK → international school or strong bilingual, to protect curriculum continuity. Open-ended → state school (with an international section if you can get one) converts your child into a true bilingual for free.

What it really costs

• State school: tuition-free, books provided through collège, no uniform. Real costs: the income-indexed canteen (Paris: from under €1 to ~€7 per meal), after-school care and Wednesday centres (income-indexed too), the September supplies list, occasional trips. The means-tested allocation de rentrée scolaire softens September for eligible families. Many households land at a few hundred euros per child per year.
• Private sous contrat: commonly €500–€3,000/year plus canteen — the cheapest “school choice” in Europe.
• Bilingual and international: €5,000–€35,000+/year depending on how international — see the section above.
• Under-3s: the French counter-shock after London prices — municipal crèche fees are income-indexed (for many families €300–€900/month full-time), childminders come with CAF support and a 50% tax credit. This line alone reshapes family budgets; it’s a major reason the Paris–London cost comparison flips for young families.

Your plan — address and school as one decision

The method in one line: shortlist neighbourhoods → ask each mairie which schools (and collège) those addresses feed → decide your English-continuity route (state + section internationale, bilingual, international) → then sign the lease — and if you arrive mid-year, go straight to the mairie with your documents and let UPE2A do its work. It’s the same address-first logic as our Paris neighbourhood guide — and if part of the family stays connected to London schools, the mirror guide covers the other side.