French schools/UK universities

[Paperthinspider]

What are the best schools to attend, either in Paris/suburbs/rest of France for DC to be accepted into good UK universities?
DC still very young, we are not in Paris and they go to the local Catholic school, which is great for now, but I'm thinking ahead and would love to hear of others experiences.
Thanks in advance.

Hi Paper,

I don't really have any recent knowledge but I can tell you that my sister got her baccalaureat in 2006 from a rural unknown lycée in the middle of nowhere in the south of France and when on to Cambridge.

As long as your children manage to get a decent bac, I'd think you're probably better focusing on extra curriculum activities as well as volunteering and associatif engagement over top schools. A bac is a bac, wherever it is from!

Also, the OIB carries more "weight" with UK universities. Link in English here ; www.ciep.fr/en/international-option-baccalaureate-oib Depends where you are, and entrance is pretty tough (DS1 is currently waiting for an interview, hopefully for a place in September)

What matters for UK university entrance is having the correct preparation (having followed courses that cover the prerequisites for the chosen course of study) and good grades in the bac, plus workable English. Many schools in Paris and the surrounding area have a great track record at the Baccalauréat S (which is the one that covers the most prerequisites and therefore keeps the most doors open). After that, you need to focus on identifying the right school for your DC, and do not underestimate the level of competition for the better schools - it is brutal!

Please, what are the names of the schools in Paris and the surrounding area which have a great track record at the Baccalauréat S ?

There are lots. Look at websites like France Examen or Le Figaro that do annual rankings.

what are the names of the main ones please ?

In France you go to your lycée de secteur unless you choose an option it doesn't offer, all general lycées offer Bac S so look at the reults of those around where you live. There isn't as much difference in schools, especially outside Paris and other big cities, as there is in the UK because teachers are sent to their jobs by the ministry, they don't apply directly to the school, heads don't hire and fire and there are no governors.

In Paris there is no catchment lycée anymore - the city is divided into four quarters, each with several lycées and a selection system whose criteria can vary year to year. There are many Catholic lycées that have no strict catchment criteria and do their own admissions.

côté public, Louis-Le-Grand, Henri IV et Condorcet, tous situés à Paris. Côté privé, Notre-Dame-de-Sion à Paris, L’Ermitage à Maison-Laffitte ?

Depends what you want. Henri IV and Louis-le-Grand are not ideal if your DC wants to go to HE overseas.

L'Ermitage has very poor reputation.

This is from Le Figaro's annual rankings today

You need the rankings of "Mention Très Bien", not just the ones that are based on pass/fail of the bac.

Private schools often publish their bac results on their websites.

I am confused as to why if your children are very young, you have already decided for them that they will go to university in the UK.

Just because the French universities come lower down international league tables does not mean Higher Education is worse in France, it is just different and so does not appear in the rankings. The grand écoles are excellent but are specialised so don't appear on the university league tables.

You children should be able to chose when they get older depending on what they want to do.

Thanks, found it

STANISLAS 67%

HENRI IV 67%

SAINT-LOUIS DE GONZAGUE 67%

LOUIS LE GRAND 65%

SAINT-JEAN DE PASSY 52%

NOTRE-DAME DE SION 39%

CONDORCET 37%

ECOLE ALSACIENNE 36%

LA ROCHEFOUCAULD
34%

J.MANUEL
33%

SAINT-MICHEL DE PICPUS 32%
31%

BLOMET
30%

ROCROY SAINT-VINCENT DE PAUL
28%

PREPASUP
26%

CHARLES PEGUY
25%

STE URSULE-LOUISE BETTIGNIES
25%

FENELON SAINTE-MARIE

24%