For a child aged 3 to 10, moving to Paris looks like the easy case: the baccalaureate is far away, young children adapt quickly, one school is as good as another. That is partly true and partly a trap. Primary school sets the language in which a child learns to read and write, the pace at which they do maths, and often the middle school that follows. And the choice is narrower than families expect: international primary provision in Paris is limited, expensive, and split between systems that do not even count age the same way.
The first trap: year groups follow the calendar year
In France, a child starts CP (the first year of primary) in the September of the calendar year in which they turn 6, whatever their birth month. International schools use other rules: the International School of Paris places children by their age on 1 September, while the American School of Paris has them join the grade after the one they have just completed. The same child born in November can therefore end up a year higher or lower depending on the school. In the state system, the rules place children in the class of their age.
| Age reached during the calendar year | Class from September |
|---|---|
| 3 | Petite section (nursery) |
| 4 | Moyenne section |
| 5 | Grande section |
| 6 | CP |
| 7, 8, 9, 10 | CE1, CE2, CM1, CM2 |
State primary schools in Paris: free, zoned, in French
You enrol at the town hall of your arrondissement (mairie), online or in person, with an ID, a birth certificate or family record book, proof of address and the vaccination record. The mairie gives you the catchment school; its head then registers the child. Enrolment campaigns for September open in the spring.
For a child who does not speak French, it depends on age:
- In nursery, there is no reception class: the child joins the ordinary class for their age, and learns French there.
- From 6 to 10, the mairie sends the child to the nearest school with a reception class (UPE2A). A teacher assesses French and maths; the child then joins the reception class, with at least nine hours of intensive French a week in the first year, or goes straight into a regular class.
Paris state schools also have eight international sections at primary level: German, Arabic, Chinese (three schools), Italian, Japanese and Russian. None is in English. An English-speaking family that wants to keep English at primary school will therefore look at private schools, or at the international sections in Saint-Germain-en-Laye and the inner suburbs.
The IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) in Paris: two schools
The IB's primary programme, the PYP, is for children aged 3 to 12. It is not a curriculum in the French sense: it is a framework built around transdisciplinary themes and inquiry-based learning, whose content each school designs. French primary schools, by contrast, follow subject-by-subject, year-by-year programmes set by the State and checked by national assessments every year from CP to CM2.
In the Paris region, only two schools are authorised by the IB to teach the PYP: ICS Paris (15th arrondissement), where everything is taught in English with four hours of French a week, and the International School of Paris (16th), where French is compulsory in small groups by level. Jeannine Manuel, EIB and the American School of Paris offer the IB only at high-school level.
Other international and bilingual schools
- École Jeannine Manuel (15th): under contract with the State, French curriculum enriched in English and science, from age 4 in Paris. The main entry points are moyenne section, grande section and CP; the school is heavily oversubscribed and its waiting list is not ranked. An adaptation programme takes children who speak little or no French from CE1 (age 7).
- École internationale bilingue (EIB): several primary schools in Paris, half in French and half in English at Grenelle, Trocadéro and Wagram, or French curriculum with English at other sites.
- British School of Paris (Croissy-sur-Seine): English National Curriculum, ages 3 to 11 in the Junior School.
- American School of Paris (Saint-Cloud) and Marymount (Neuilly-sur-Seine): American programmes in English, with French every day at ASP.
Annual primary fees (ages 6-11) for 2026-2027, from the schools' websites.
- École Jeannine Manuel: €10,260, plus a €1,650 first registration fee. The adaptation programme (€4,295) is covered by a foundation for children of foreign researchers, visiting professors, diplomats or military staff posted in France.
- ICS Paris: €24,759, plus €7,500 in entry fees in the first year.
- International School of Paris: €31,400, plus a €10,000 entry fee and a €1,200 application fee.
- American School of Paris: €34,600, plus €12,200 in the first year and a €1,450 application fee.
- Marymount: €34,400, plus €12,400 in the first year and a €1,400 application fee.
EIB and British School of Paris fees are not published in plain text on their websites: ask them directly.
The gap is considerable: from about €10,000 a year at Jeannine Manuel to €35,000 at an English-speaking school, entry fees on top. The difference is not about prestige but about status: Jeannine Manuel is under contract, and the State pays its teachers.
What primary school decides for later
The choice of primary school commits the language of writing. A child who learns to read and write in English will later have a gap in written French to close if they join the French system; the reverse is true for English. It also commits maths: French programmes set precise expectations every year, and a child arriving from another system in CM1 or CM2 may be ahead on some points and behind on others.
Finally, primary school prepares entry into collège (middle school), which in Paris is the moment of greatest choice. Leading private collèges take most of their pupils in sixième, on a file and sometimes on tests, with applications starting in the autumn of CM2. A family arriving in CE2 or CM1 has time to prepare; I explain how in Middle schools in Paris.
Four questions to choose a primary school
- How long is the family staying? Two or three years before another move: an English-speaking or IB school keeps continuity. A lasting move: the French system, bilingual if possible.
- In which language will the child learn to write? This decision weighs most on what follows.
- Where is the family settling? The address gives the state school; Croissy, Saint-Cloud or Neuilly change the commute to English-speaking schools.
- What budget over the whole school career? An English-speaking school from nursery to the end of secondary costs several hundred thousand euros per child.
Measure before you choose
With families who are arriving, I start with three tests at home, in French, maths and English, marked and commented, then an interview with the child and one with the parents. The child's real level, more than a school's reputation, shows where they will thrive and what needs work before they start. For the general rules of French schools when you arrive, see Schools in Paris for expat families.