When a family mentions Jeannine Manuel to me, another school almost always comes up in the same sentence. EIB, because it is bilingual too. Saint-Germain-en-Laye, because it is a state school. The American School, because the family may move back to the United States in three years.
I prepare children for the Jeannine Manuel entry tests, and with their parents I also build the list of other schools. We make these comparisons in the very first meeting. They are rarely decided on reputation, which all these schools have. They are decided on the child, on how long the family will stay in Paris, and on where the child will study after secondary school.
This article compares Jeannine Manuel with bilingual and international schools. If you are hesitating instead with the École alsacienne, Stanislas, Franklin or a top state lycée, the question is a different one, and I cover it in Jeannine Manuel vs the leading Paris schools.
Is Jeannine Manuel private or state?
This is the first thing parents search for, and it explains most of the comparisons. École Jeannine Manuel is a private school that has held a contract with the French state for more than sixty years. In France, a private school "sous contrat" follows the national curriculum and has its teachers paid by the state, which keeps fees low. Jeannine Manuel follows the French programme except in English, science and Chinese, where it has its own. Students sit the French baccalauréat in its international version (the BFI), and the school also offers the IB Diploma in the final years, as a separate, more expensive track.
The contract is what makes the price. A year of primary school costs just over €10,000, while the English-speaking schools west of Paris charge three times as much. That is why Jeannine Manuel draws French families, bi-national families and expats alike: it is bilingual for the price of a French private school. The school describes itself as highly oversubscribed, and its waiting list is not ranked, so there is no such thing as being "first on the list".
| School | Status and diploma | For which child |
|---|---|---|
| Jeannine Manuel (Paris 15th) | Private, state contract, bilingual; French international bac (BFI) or IB | A child who needs to become truly bilingual, to study in France or abroad; a child arriving without French, through the adaptation programme |
| EIB (eight schools, Paris and west) | Private, state contract for the French track; BFI or IB | The same profile, for a family that wants a school close to home or a cheaper IB |
| Lycée international de Saint-Germain-en-Laye | State school, sections run by associations; BFI | A child who already has a second language of culture: bi-national, or back from abroad |
| State international sections in Paris (Balzac, Camille-Sée…) | State; BFI | The same profile as Saint-Germain, for a family living in Paris |
| American School of Paris (Saint-Cloud) | Private; US diploma, IB | A child whose family will move back into the American system |
| International School of Paris (16th) | Private; IB throughout | A child whose family moves often and wants the same programme everywhere |
| Marymount (Neuilly) | Private, American; up to middle school | A young child from an English-speaking family |
| British School of Paris (Croissy) | Private; GCSE, A-levels | A child who will continue in the British system |
On fees, the gap is wide. In 2026-2027, Jeannine Manuel charges €10,260 a year in primary and €10,275 in the BFI lycée, and EIB €10,200 in collège and lycée. The English-speaking schools range from €31,000 to €41,000, with entry fees of €10,000 to €12,400 in the first year. At Saint-Germain, every student belongs to a section, and the section charges for its teaching: €5,100 to €6,750 a year in the American section. The international sections in Paris cost nothing.
Jeannine Manuel or EIB
This is the closest comparison, because on paper the two schools look alike: private, bilingual, under state contract for the French track, with the BFI or the IB in the final years and similar fees. They differ in shape. Jeannine Manuel is a single Paris school from kindergarten to the baccalauréat, where a child spends their whole schooling in one place. EIB is a group of eight schools, from the 7th to the 17th arrondissement and out to La Jonchère, and its primary schools do not all practise the same kind of bilingualism: Grenelle, Trocadéro and Wagram teach half in French and half in English, while Lamartine and Monceau follow the French programme with English added.
Two differences matter in practice. The IB is much cheaper at EIB than at Jeannine Manuel. And Jeannine Manuel runs an adaptation programme for children who speak little or no French, from 2nd to 9th Grade, which often makes it the best way in for a family arriving from abroad. For a family already living in Paris, I almost always advise applying to both.
Jeannine Manuel or a state international section
The Lycée international de Saint-Germain-en-Laye and the international sections in Paris, at Balzac, Camille-Sée or Montaigne, lead to the same diploma as Jeannine Manuel: the French international baccalauréat. They are state schools; in Saint-Germain, the sections are run by parents' associations that charge for their teaching.
They do not recruit the same child, though. An international section looks for a pupil who already has a second language of culture, strong enough to study literature and history in it, and checks this with a written and an oral exam. Jeannine Manuel is more open to a French-speaking child whose English is still being built, provided they can keep up. I compare Jeannine Manuel and Saint-Germain in detail in a separate article; for the Paris sections, see the British international section.
Jeannine Manuel or an English-speaking school
The American School of Paris, the International School of Paris, Marymount and the British School of Paris are not direct rivals of Jeannine Manuel. They teach in English, follow an American or British programme or the IB, and cost three to four times as much, before the entry fees added in the first year.
The choice between the two worlds depends above all on the system in which the child will go on studying. A family moving on to London or New York in two or three years is often better off staying in an English-language programme, so the child does not change systems twice. A family settling for the long term, or whose child will study in France, gains from a school that leads to the French baccalauréat. Jeannine Manuel keeps both doors open: according to the Good Schools Guide, its class of 2024 went on to France (65 students), the United Kingdom (63) and the United States (23). Each of these schools has its own page on the blog: American School of Paris, ISP and Marymount, British School of Paris.
How I decide with families
I start from three questions. How long will the family stay in Paris? Where will the child study after the baccalauréat? And what is the child's real level of English in reading and writing, not only in speaking? The third one surprises parents most. Many children speak very fluent English and still struggle with a long text, and that is exactly what the Jeannine Manuel tests measure. I see it in the children I prepare.
With those answers, we build a list of three or four schools in the right order, with a calendar for each. Applying only to Jeannine Manuel, at a school that describes itself as highly oversubscribed, is a risk I advise no one to take. This is the work we do at Carmine: assess the child, choose the schools with the family, then prepare the tests and interview for each one.
Example: the admissions round for September 2027. Jeannine Manuel closes applications on 12 January 2027 for families living in France, with no deadline for families moving from abroad. The American School opens admissions in October and handles them on a rolling basis. The International School of Paris reviews files from January, then continuously. Marymount advises applying in January or February for September.
Sources. Official school websites and the 2026-2027 fee schedules published by each school (Jeannine Manuel, EIB, the American section of the Lycée international de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, American School of Paris, International School of Paris, Marymount, British School of Paris); the IB school directory (ibo.org); Good Schools Guide (2026) for the destinations of the class of 2024; Paris education authority for international sections. Fees change every year: check the schedule for the year you are applying for.