Schools in Paris: a guide for Australian families

French public school is free, starts at three and is assigned by your address. Get your paperwork to the mairie early and the rest follows.

The short version

School is compulsory in France from age three, so your preschooler goes to école maternelle, not an optional kinder year [1].
For public primary school you enrol at your mairie d'arrondissement (or online), get a certificate naming the school, then finalise admission at the school itself [1][2].
Kids who don't speak French aren't left to sink. Primary pupils are assessed and can join a UPE2A class for intensive French; secondary students are tested by the CASNAV first [3].
Sections internationales in state schools teach part of the week in another language, and Australian is one of the 18 section languages in France [4].
Crèche places are scarce. You can apply from the sixth month of pregnancy, and you need to keep confirming the request [6].

How French school is organised (and how it differs from home)

The biggest surprise for Australian parents is the age. In France, instruction is compulsory from three [1]. Your three-year-old starts petite section of école maternelle in September, in a proper school with a teacher, a timetable and a canteen. There's no equivalent of choosing between long day care and a four-year-old kinder program.

Here's how the stages roughly line up with what you know:

French stage	Age (start of year)	Rough Australian equivalent
École maternelle (petite, moyenne, grande section)	3 to 5	Three-year-old kinder to Prep/Foundation
École élémentaire (CP to CM2)	6 to 10	Year 1 to Year 5
Collège (6e to 3e)	11 to 14	Year 6 to Year 9
Lycée (seconde, première, terminale)	15 to 17	Year 10 to Year 12

A few other differences:

The year starts in September, not late January. Paris is in school holiday Zone C [1]. If you arrive in March from Brisbane, your child joins a class two-thirds of the way through its year.
Years count down in collège. Sixième is the first year and troisième the last. Don't ask why.
Your address decides the school. Paris uses sectorisation, a catchment system. You can check your assigned school on the city's school map, and exemptions (dérogations) are only granted for serious reasons [1].
Uniforms are rare, and the canteen lunch is a sit-down affair, priced on a sliding scale by household income.

Enrolling in a Paris public primary school

Public school is free, and enrolment at your mairie is the gate to it. For the September 2026 intake, Paris opened enrolment on 1 April 2026 [1]. The same online service handles kids who arrive mid-year after a move [1].

What you'll need

Paris asks for [1]:

ID for the parent or legal guardian
the child's livret de famille or full birth certificate, issued within the last three months
proof of address, such as a recent electricity or gas bill or a tax notice
custody papers if relevant, and a certificat de radiation if the child was already at a French school

Australians don't have a livret de famille, so you'll be using a full birth certificate. The "less than three months old" rule catches a lot of families. Order a fresh full certificate from your state's Births, Deaths and Marriages registry before you leave, and be ready to have it translated. Vaccinations also matter: your child must be up to date with compulsory vaccines such as diphtheria, tetanus and polio, unless there's a medical exemption [1]. Bring their Australian immunisation history statement.

Step by step

Create a Mon Paris account and apply through the city's school enrolment service, or book a slot at your mairie d'arrondissement. Some mairies want an appointment, others take walk-ins, and the 17th works online only [1].
Upload or bring the documents above.
Get the certificat d'inscription, which names your child's school [1][2].
Take it to the school's head teacher (directeur or directrice) with the vaccination record to finalise admission [1][2].
Sort out canteen and after-school care (centre de loisirs), which can need extra paperwork [2].

You don't need to re-enrol every year if your child stays at the same school [1].

If your child doesn't speak French yet

This is the question every Australian parent asks, and the system has a real answer.

Primary age (about 6 to 10). You still enrol through the mairie. Your child is directed to the nearest school with a UPE2A, a unit for newly arrived non-French-speaking pupils. A teacher assesses French and maths, then places them in the UPE2A or an ordinary class, usually with support [3].

Secondary age (about 11 to 18). Children who have never been to school in France go through the CASNAV, the académie's service for new arrivals. You book an appointment, your child sits French and maths tests, and the académie assigns a collège or lycée by post [3]. There are no tests during school holidays [3], so book well before the September rush.

Maternelle. Little ones simply go to the nearest maternelle, subject to places [3]. Three-year-olds tend to absorb French faster than their parents, which can be humbling at pick-up.

Bilingual and international options

If you'd like your kids to keep studying in English, or you know you'll head home to Australia in a few years, you've got three broad choices.

International sections in state schools

Sections internationales mix French and foreign pupils. At lycée level they add four hours a week of literature in the section language and teach history-geography partly in that language, with programmes set jointly by France and the partner country [4]. Students can sit the Baccalauréat français international (BFI) [4]. Sections also exist at collège, where pupils can earn the brevet with an international option [5].

Australian is one of the 18 section languages [4], but there are only a handful of Australian sections in the whole country [5]. Check the ministry's current list to see whether one is within commuting distance of Paris. Most families end up in an English-language section, often called British or American. In the Paris region these are found at places like the public Lycée International Honoré de Balzac in the 17th and the Lycée International in Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Admission isn't automatic. Some sections test your child's English in writing and orally, and places can be very competitive [5]. Some state sections also charge an annual fee run through a parents' association, so ask each school [5].

Bilingual private schools

Private schools sous contrat follow the French curriculum, are partly state-funded and charge modest fees. Some run bilingual streams. You enrol directly with the school, as dates and procedures vary [2].

Fully international schools

Fee-paying international schools teach mainly in English and usually offer the International Baccalaureate or an English or American curriculum. Fees can run well into five figures in euros a year [5], so check whether your employer's package covers them before you fall in love with a campus. Apply early: waiting lists are common.

Crèches and care for under-threes

Paris has municipal crèches, crèches familiales and haltes-garderies for occasional care. Places are tight, so start early.

Apply from the sixth month of pregnancy, online through the Paris Familles portal or at your mairie d'arrondissement. You must live in that arrondissement and confirm the application after the birth [6].
Reconfirm regularly. If you forget, your file can drop out [6].
Wait for the commission. The mayor of the arrondissement allocates places after a commission that meets as often as needed. Criteria include the child's needs, balancing work and family, returning to work, social mix and inclusion [6].
Move fast when you're offered a place. You have 10 working days to book an appointment with the crèche, or the place goes to someone else [6].

Fees follow the national CNAF scale: an hourly rate based on household income and the number of children, with a floor and a ceiling [6]. If you're not with the CAF, you'll need your French tax notice from two years earlier, or you pay the maximum rate [6]. New arrivals rarely have one, so join the CAF as soon as you can.

Heading back to the Australian system

Most Australian kids move back without drama, but plan for it.

Keep reports and work samples. French reports (livret scolaire) use different scales. Bring copies, ideally translated, so your Australian school can place your child sensibly.
Watch the calendar gap. Leaving in July puts your child mid-year at home. Some families time the move for the December break and accept a slightly short French year.
Keep English literacy ticking over. Kids in French-only schools often speak English fluently but write it less confidently. A weekly reading habit at home helps.
Year 11 and 12 need extra thought. A French bac or BFI is recognised by Australian universities, but entry requirements differ. Check with the university or your state's admissions centre before your child picks lycée subjects.

Want to know which arrondissement mairie is quick, or how other families handled the CASNAV tests? Ask in Cooee France, our Facebook group for Australians in France. Plenty of members have been through the school gates before you.

Schools in Paris: French public school, international sections and crèches