Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague, known to everyone as Franklin, is the Jesuit school of Paris. A private school under contract with the French state, in the 16th arrondissement, it takes pupils from nursery to preparatory classes. It follows the French national curriculum, with no international section, and its demands show even in the timetable: in the lycée (the last three years of secondary school), supervised tests take place on Saturday mornings.
In maths, this has two consequences. The pace of tests leaves little room for a gap to settle in. And the next step is decided early, because Franklin has its own preparatory class, and the prépas (the French two-year intensive programmes for the grandes écoles), like other selective routes, look first at the level in mathematics.
Maths at Franklin: what the school expects
The syllabus is the same as in every French lycée: same chapters, same proofs, same baccalauréat. What changes is the density. The Saturday tests add to the week's assessments, and a student who falls behind on a chapter meets it again in the next test before having had time to catch up.
Franklin also pushes its strongest students beyond the syllabus: the lycée says it prepares students for competitions, including the Concours général and maths competitions. For a confident student, it is a chance to work on more open problems, in the style of the olympiads. For a fragile one, it is a sign that the class level pulls upwards, and that the pace has to be kept.
Choosing specialisms, and Franklin's ECG prépa
In the penultimate year (première), students choose three specialisms, then keep two in the final year. For maths, this is the moment that decides what comes next.
Franklin trains its own students in an ECG prépa, the preparatory class for business schools, with two tracks: applied mathematics and advanced mathematics. The school states clearly what it expects: the maths specialism in première, then maths in the final year, as a specialism or through the complementary maths option. The expert maths option is not required, but it is valued, especially for the advanced track. I set out the grades of admitted students for the ECG prépa and for MPSI.
A student who drops maths at the end of première therefore rules out their own school's prépa, along with most scientific prépas and business schools. That choice is prepared in the year before, looking honestly at the level and the plan.
The difficulties I see most often
Written reasoning. Teachers expect a complete proof, not just a result. A student who finds the right answer without justifying it loses a large share of the marks, and does not always understand why.
The step from seconde to première. With the specialism, the pace doubles: quadratics, differentiation, sequences, conditional probability arrive within a few months. This is often where a student who was good in middle school meets their first real difficulties.
Handling long tests. A two-hour supervised test requires managing time, not getting stuck on one question, and presenting work carefully. It can be learnt, and practised on timed papers.
Students arriving from elsewhere. Franklin also admits students mid-course, on file and interview. A student coming from another system, or from a less demanding school, has to catch up on both chapters and method.
What I do with a Franklin student
I always start from an assessment of the student's actual tests: where marks are lost, on content or on written reasoning. Then I work on three things in parallel: weak chapters, the expected way of writing up, and practice on full timed papers before the Saturday deadlines. For the most confident students, I add competition problems, with Fields, our free olympiad tool.
Lessons take place in Paris or online. And because maths often decides what comes next, I connect them to the student's plans: ECG or scientific prépa, university abroad, choice of specialisms. With Carmine, this work is part of support all the way to the admissions file. To get into Franklin, see our article Getting into Franklin.