Good to know
Good to Know
- Several of Paris's best-known Anglophone schools (American School of Paris, British School of Paris, Marymount) are in the western suburbs, not central Paris — factor in a 20-40 minute commute or plan to live near Saint-Cloud/Neuilly/Croissy-sur-Seine.
- Application and capital/development fees at premium schools can add EUR 5,000-15,000 on top of first-year tuition — budget for this separately from the quoted annual tuition.
- AEFE-affiliated or 'sous contrat' bilingual French schools (like Ecole Jeannine Manuel) are typically 30-60% cheaper than fully private Anglophone schools because they receive partial French state subsidy.
- Demand for popular schools and year groups is intense in Paris — many families start the application process 12-18 months ahead of the desired start date.
- English-medium IB, American, and British schools generally accept children with no prior French and provide French-as-an-additional-language support.
- Start the school search at least 9-12 months before your intended move if you want a realistic shot at a central-Paris international or bilingual school for a September start; central arrondissements fill first, western suburbs (Neuilly, Saint-Cloud, Boulogne-Billancourt) tend to have more availability and shorter waitlists.
- Get certified/sworn translations of school reports and other foreign-language documents moving early — this step is often the bottleneck, especially for non-Latin alphabet documents.
- Don't sign a lease before your child's school place is confirmed — bus routes and catchment realities mean the school choice should drive the neighborhood choice, not the other way around.
- Homeschooling in France is legal but no longer a simple declaration — since 2022 it requires an annual authorization request to the DASEN (1 March-31 May) under one of four specific legal grounds, plus at least one yearly inspection, and this applies equally to foreign residents with valid visas/residence permits.
- If you're planning to homeschool in Paris, the L'école Delavie network and local Facebook groups (e.g. 'IEF Paris 75') are genuine, active ways to meet other homeschooling families in the region for outings, resource-sharing and moral support during the authorization/inspection process.
Schools And Curricula
- Overview
- Paris has a deep bench of English-medium and bilingual schools serving IB, American, British, and French-bilingual pathways. Several of the largest, most established Anglophone schools sit in the western suburbs (Saint-Cloud, Croissy-sur-Seine, Neuilly-sur-Seine) rather than central Paris, so commute time is a real factor in school choice; a few strong IB and bilingual options are inside the city itself (8th/15th/16th arrondissements).
Schools
American School of Paris (ASP)
- Location
- Saint-Cloud (western suburb, roughly 20-30 minutes from central Paris)
Tuition
- Other Fees
- Annual security fee and bus transportation fee also apply on top of tuition.
- Note
- 2024-2025 published rates
Bands
K3
- K3
- €21,270
K4
- K4
- €28,650
K5-Grade 5
- K5 Grade 5
- €34,020
Grades 6-8
- Grades 6 8
- €39,235
Grades 9-12 (Upper School)
- Grades 9 12 (Upper School)
- €39,910
One Time Fees
Application fee (non-refundable)
- Application Fee (Non Refundable)
- €1,450
Capital assessment (one-time, new students Grade 1+)
- Capital Assessment (One Time, New Students Grade 1+)
- €12,200
Curricula
- American High School Diploma with AP courses
- IB Diploma Programme at senior level
International School of Paris (ISP)
- Location
- 16th arrondissement, central Paris
Tuition
Bands
low end
- Low End
- €24,300
high end
- High End
- €36,750
Curricula
- IB Primary Years Programme (PYP)
- IB Middle Years Programme (MYP)
- IB Diploma Programme (DP)
British School of Paris (BSP)
- Location
- Croissy-sur-Seine, Yvelines (western suburb, about 14km/9 miles west of central Paris)
Tuition
Bands
low end
- Low End
- €20,082
high end
- High End
- €33,073
Curricula
- English National Curriculum
- IGCSE
- A-Level
Ecole Jeannine Manuel (EJM)
- Location
- 15th arrondissement, central Paris
- Academic Note
- Ecole Jeannine Manuel posted the highest average IB Diploma score in France in 2025 (38.1, versus a global average of 30.5).
Tuition
- Note
- EJM operates partly under contract (sous contrat) with the French Ministry of Education, which keeps fees well below fully private Anglophone schools; we could not find a single authoritative published fee schedule, so treat the figures below as an estimate pending direct confirmation with the school.
Estimated Range
- Amount USD Low
- 11400
- Currency Local
- EUR
- Amount USD High
- 28500
- Amount Local Low
- 10000
- Amount Local High
- 25000
Curricula
- French-English bilingual programme (roughly 50/50)
- French Baccalauréat (option internationale)
- IB Diploma Programme
ICS Paris
- Location
- Central Paris (sources place it in either the 8th or 15th arrondissement — see internal note)
- Student Body
- Diverse community representing over 60 nationalities.
Tuition
Bands
low end
- Low End
- €20,000
high end
- High End
- €33,000
Curricula
- IB Primary Years Programme (PYP)
- IB Middle Years Programme (MYP)
- IB Diploma Programme (DP)
Marymount International School Paris
- Founded
- 1923 — described as France's oldest international school.
- Location
- Neuilly-sur-Seine (adjacent to the 16th/17th arrondissements, close to central Paris)
- Grade Range
- PreK through Grade 8 only — no secondary school; families must transfer elsewhere afterward.
Tuition
- Note
- Approximate primary-level band from third-party aggregator; not independently confirmed against the school's own published fee schedule.
Estimated Range
- Amount USD Low
- 27360
- Currency Local
- EUR
- Amount USD High
- 34200
- Amount Local Low
- 24000
- Amount Local High
- 30000
Curricula
- American AERO curriculum
Lab School Paris
- Location
- Central Paris
- Grade Range
- Primary and lower secondary only
Tuition
- Amount USD Low
- 15960
- Currency Local
- EUR
- Amount USD High
- 25080
- Amount Local Low
- 14000
- Amount Local High
- 22000
Curricula
- IB, project-based/experiential approach
Ermitage International School
- Location
- Paris region
- Academic Note
- Posted an average IB Diploma score of 34.0 in 2025, among the strongest in the Paris area.
Tuition
- Note
- No reliably sourced published fee schedule found; not included to avoid inaccurate figures.
Curricula
- IB Diploma Programme
Lennen Bilingual School
- Location
- 16th arrondissement, central Paris
- Grade Range
- Nursery through end of primary only
Tuition
- Note
- No reliably sourced published fee schedule found for this specific school; general bilingual-school bands in Paris run roughly EUR 10,000-25,000/year but this should be confirmed directly with the school.
Curricula
- Genuine 50/50 French-English bilingual programme
Lycée International De Saint-Germain-en-Laye
- Location
- Saint-Germain-en-Laye, western Yvelines suburb — genuinely further out (roughly 25-30 minutes by RER from central Paris), included because it is a well-known, unusually low-cost option
Tuition
- Amount USD Low
- 1982
- Currency Local
- EUR
- Amount USD High
- 5964
- Amount Local Low
- 1739
- Amount Local High
- 5232
- Note
- State-subsidised (embedded in a French public school), so fees are far below private international schools.
Curricula
- French national curriculum with an American Section and a British Section taught substantially in English (up to 7 hours/week of English-medium instruction), leading to the French Baccalauréat with an international option
Typical Add On Fees
- Lunch
- EUR 1,500-3,000/year at many international schools (often included at French state schools)
- Bus Transport
- EUR 1,500-4,500/year, common for suburban campuses
- Application Fee
- EUR 100-2,500 depending on school, non-refundable
- Registration Deposit
- EUR 500-6,000 to confirm a place
- Capital Or Development Fee
- EUR 4,000-12,200 one-time at premium American/British/IB schools
Homeschooling
- Who Can Apply
- Children residing in France can homeschool regardless of nationality; non-EU foreign nationals holding a valid VLS-TS visa or carte de séjour are subject to the same authorization requirements and annual inspection regime as French families.
- Legal Status Summary
- Homeschooling ('instruction en famille' / IEF) is legal in France for all residents regardless of nationality, but since a 2021 law that took effect for new cases in September 2022, it requires prior state authorization rather than a simple declaration.
Authorization Process
- Since the reform, families must justify their request under one of four legally defined categories (e.g. the child's health, intensive sports/arts training, itinerant family situation, or a specific situation regarding the child) rather than simply declaring intent.
- The request is submitted to the DASEN (Direction des Services Départementaux de l'Éducation Nationale) for the family's département — in Paris this is the Académie de Paris — between 1 March and 31 May for the following school year.
- The DASEN acknowledges receipt and can ask for missing information within 15 days; a decision is due within two months of the complete file being received, and if no reply comes within that period the request is treated as accepted.
- Authorization is granted for one school year only and must be re-applied for annually — it is not automatically renewed.
- An academy inspector carries out at least one individual check per year (from the third month after authorization is granted) to verify the child's educational progress against the national curriculum; this inspection can occur without advance notice.
- Parents do not need teaching qualifications but must show they can provide adequate instruction, covering core subjects including French, mathematics, history, geography, civics, science and physical education.
Local Community And Support
- Local Facebook Group
- An active 'IEF Paris 75' Facebook group exists as a meeting point for Paris-based homeschooling families, alongside the broader Delavie network.
- Paris Region Network
- L'école Delavie is a cooperative resource network specifically for homeschooling families in Paris and the Île-de-France region (covering Paris/75 and the surrounding départements 77, 78, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95), organizing meetups, outings, visits and resource-sharing through a private collaborative site and associated Facebook groups.
- National Support Organizations With Paris Relays
- National organizations such as Les Enfants d'Abord (LEDA) and UNIE provide legal support, information and local relay contacts for families going through the authorization or inspection process, including families in the Paris region, though these organizations are national in scope rather than Paris-specific.
International Bilingual School Enrollment
- Overview
- Paris and the wider Île-de-France region have a large cluster of international and bilingual schools, and most are oversubscribed for at least some year groups, so timing and documentation matter more than in many other cities.
- Waitlist Realism
- Paris bilingual schools are oversubscribed for most year groups, and families should apply at least nine months before the desired start date and prepare to join a waitlist for Collège and Lycée entry points. Choice is high in central Paris (7th, 8th, 16th arrondissements) but seats fill early there; schools in the western suburbs (Neuilly, Saint-Cloud, Boulogne-Billancourt) generally offer more space and shorter waitlists.
- Recommended Lead Time
- Apply at least 9 to 12 months before your desired start date for the best chance at central-Paris schools; for Collège/Lycée entry points in particular, budget for a waitlist even with early application.
Practical Notes
- For sections internationales at state lycées (e.g. Lycée Montaigne), catchment and the centralized Affelnet placement system apply in addition to standard admissions criteria, and residence in a specific arrondissement group is required.
- Families relocating from far time zones (Australia, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong) find the process harder logistically, since admissions offices operate on Paris business hours and assessment-day slots can fill quickly.
- Avoid signing a long-term lease before a school offer is confirmed, since bus routes and catchment realistically constrain which arrondissement makes sense.
Required Documents
- Child's passport copy
- Parents' passport and visa or carte de séjour (residence permit) copies
- Child's last two to three years of school reports, with a sworn/certified translation into French or English if originally in another language
- Certificat de radiation from the child's previous French school (mandatory for any transfer from within the French system) or an equivalent 'confirmation of end of enrolment' letter from a foreign previous school
- Birth certificate
- Vaccination record matching the French vaccination calendar (DTP and others are compulsory)
- Recent passport-style photograph
- Proof of address in Paris (utility bill, lease or employer letter)
- Proof of French language level for entry into a 'section internationale' at a state lycée
- Teacher recommendation letter (requested by some bilingual schools, if applicable)
Application Timeline
Applications open
- Typical Window
- October to December for premium/flagship international schools; some bilingual schools open as early as December and continue to March
- Note
- Premium international schools open applications between October and December for the September intake. Most private bilingual schools open applications from October to March for September entry, and several are already full with active waitlists well before the school year starts.
Assessments, entrance tests and parent interviews
- Typical Window
- January to April
- Note
- Assessments and parent interviews are typically scheduled January to March, with offers issued February to April.
Offer and deposit
- Typical Window
- February to May
- Note
- An offer is contingent on returning a signed enrolment contract and paying a deposit within 2 to 4 weeks of the offer being issued.
Mid-year / rolling entry
- Note
- Several schools (e.g. ISP, ICS Paris) run genuinely rolling admissions and will review complete files and admit mid-year if a grade has space, but the recommended safe window for a January start is to apply by the previous September, and mid-year seats are far less certain than September-intake seats.
Process Related Costs
Application Fee
- Low
- €150
- High
- €500
- Note
- Non-refundable, paid at time of application submission.
Enrollment Deposit
- Low
- €1,500
- High
- €6,000
- Note
- Non-refundable in most cases; due within 2 to 4 weeks of receiving an offer to secure the place.
One Off Entrance Fee
- Low
- €1,000
- High
- €9,000
- Note
- Top-tier schools charge toward the higher end; smaller bilingual schools toward the lower end.
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
This section has no cited sources.
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Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.