Families moving to Paris from London or New York often arrive expecting something like the British 4+ or 11+ interview, or the American parent interview. Some Paris private schools work that way. Many do not. At the École alsacienne, a twelve-year-old sits alone with a teacher for about ten minutes. At Stanislas, the student and both parents are received together by the head of the school section. In the youngest classes, it is often the parents who do most of the talking. So the first thing to find out is who will actually be in the room.
The bilingual oral at École Jeannine Manuel is a case of its own, covered in preparing for the Jeannine Manuel admission interview. This article looks at what the other selective schools say about their interview in their own documents, and at what parents report afterwards.
Who meets whom: what the schools publish
A quick note on French year names, since schools use them everywhere: CP is the first year of primary school, at age six (Year 2 in England, first grade in the US); CE1 follows at seven; CM1 at nine; collège is middle school, from age eleven.
| School | Who is interviewed | What the school says |
|---|---|---|
| École alsacienne, 6th arr. | Nursery and CP: the parents. From CE1 on, no longer the parents, except in particular situations. From CM1, every student whose file passes the first sift. | For parents, it wants "partner parents" who clearly support the school's project. For middle and high school students, about ten minutes with a teacher, to gauge personality and motivation. |
| Stanislas, 6th arr. | Student and parents together, with the head of the middle or high school, or the director, and only if admission looks possible. | No enrolment without this meeting. Parents then accept the school's educational project in writing. |
| Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague (Franklin), 16th arr. | On the 2025-2026 application form for CP, the interview box lists father, mother and child. | Families bring the child's everyday exercise book to the meeting; the file itself includes two drawings by the child. |
| Saint-Jean de Passy, 16th arr. | The family, received by the head or a deputy. | The application fee is kept once the family has been received: the meeting is part of the assessment. |
The École alsacienne puts it bluntly on its admissions page: from CE1 on, it recruits students, not their parents. Catholic schools such as Stanislas or Franklin see things differently. There, the family's project is part of what is assessed, and parents speak as much as the child. Each school's full procedure is in École alsacienne admission and Stanislas admission.
The child: what changes with age
English-speaking schools in Paris interview in a style British parents will recognise. On Mumsnet, London families have listed the questions put to ten- and eleven-year-olds at independent school interviews: what would you do if you found a penguin in your lounge, describe yellow to a blind person, are zoos a good thing, how many footballs are there in the UK. And the classic: what are you reading, and how do you choose your books. The same parents note that these questions are meant to start a conversation, and that a child who has rehearsed too much sounds coached. Saying "I need a moment to think", thinking out loud, or asking for clarification goes down well.
What the school looks for in the parents
Support for the school's project. That is the schools' own phrase. Stanislas has parents accept its educational project in writing. The Saint-Jean de Passy form goes further and offers two boxes: "we adhere" or "we do not adhere" to the project, the second followed by a commitment to respect it. So the school openly allows for a family that does not share its faith. Parents who claim a religious practice they do not have are on weaker ground than those who simply say what they accept. In a thread on Doctissimo, a large French parenting forum, a mother described answering the question about religious practice awkwardly, then realising the head mostly wanted a sense of the family's values.
Consistency. Between the letter and what is said in the office, between the two parents, between how the child is described and what the school reports show. Franklin's form asks about the "social, civic, religious" commitments of parents and children alike, and both Franklin and Saint-Jean de Passy ask for each parent's occupation and employer. A parent on Mumsnet was surprised that an independent school head asked what they did for a living. The school is forming a view of the whole family.
A future partner. Ten or fifteen years of schooling means a lot of meetings. British parents on Mumsnet are frank about it: at an oversubscribed school, sky-high expectations can make the head worry about getting "that parent". A teacher at a French Catholic school, writing on Doctissimo, said much the same: a request driven mainly by wanting to escape the state school irritates, and promising to attend catechism classes does not move anyone up the list.
The missteps parents describe most often
Answering for the child. With a six-year-old it is almost a reflex, and the school is watching for it. Leaving three seconds of silence takes effort.
Asking what the website already answers. Mumsnet parents advise reading the prospectus first and asking only what is not in it.
Keeping a need quiet. A learning difficulty, speech therapy, a hard year. The International School of Paris asks for this documentation with the application and states that its learning support and wellbeing teams review it confidentially.
Criticising the current school. It may be deserved, but it tells the head how the family will talk about them a few years on.
What can be practised, and what cannot
At home, a child can practise talking about a book, describing a school day, explaining a choice. Prepared answers are another matter. For parents, I suggest rereading the educational project and the letter you sent together, and agreeing on what you expect from the school. Some version of that question comes up everywhere.
Entry into sixième, the first year of collège, has its own rules, with written tests at some schools; I cover them in preparing for sixième at a selective middle school.
At Carmine, we prepare these meetings with families: choosing the schools where the family's project makes sense, writing the letter, helping the child talk without freezing, and getting both parents aligned before they sit down. Our school entry page describes the support.