Admissions

The admissions procedure

We offer children who are fluent or nearly fluent in English an education that is unique in the Fontainebleau region: specialised English teaching within the French state system. By following the next steps carefully, the admissions process becomes straightforward for all those involved.

The process normally starts in January of the year of admission i.e. in January 2024 for enrolment in September 2024. We do admissions throughout the year on condition that place is available in the requested year group.

The first step in the admissions procedure is to complete the online enrolment for testing form and to submit it together with the latest school report/report card. It is important to provide accurate information as it will be used by the Section for the preliminary admission. When applying for Seconde admission, please go to the Lycée website to download the administrative enrolment dossier. Students applying for admission to Première should send a motivation letter to the Proviseur of the Lycée accompanied by the latest school reports (current year and previous year). Collège and Primary students do not need to complete additional paperwork at this stage.

There is no deadline by which admission testing applications are to be submitted but students who miss the official testing dates have less chance of obtaining a place as available places will be offered to those who are ranked highest based on their results in the admissions test. We strongly encourage candidates to sign up at the latest two weeks before the testing date.

The second step is the paying of the testing fee of 150€. An email of acknowledgement of the online enrolment will be sent to parents, requesting the payment of the fee. This can be done by bank transfer or Paypal (a service fee will be charged).

The third step is the entrance test itself. Ideally candidates should be signed up by the middle of February for admission testing. For all levels except CP and CE1, testing currently consists of two rounds. The first round comprises an online multiple-choice reading and comprehension test of around 40 minutes, administered via remote video supervision. This round will normally take place during the Winter school break for Zone C (between 12th and 23rd February). Potential candidates will have several slots to choose from.

Only successful first round candidates will be admitted to the next round of testing. The second round consists of a Writing task and an Oral test with a teacher. It normally takes place on a Wednesday afternoon in March. All Secondary (6e – 1e) and upper Primary (CE2 – CM2) candidates will be supervised and tested remotely for this component. Upper Primary testing will take place on 13th March 2024. Secondary testing will take place on 16th March (written) and 20th March 2024 (oral). Candidates who cannot make these dates and times because of timezone constraints, will be contacted individually.

In CP and CE1, the admission test is done in a single round consisting of comprehension test and interview with a teacher, either in person or remotely. This normally takes place on the Wednesday before or after the Winter school break (6th March 2024) for in situ testing and remotely depending on teacher and parent schedules.

There is no absolute deadline for testing but because we are part of the state school system, there are dates by which the lists of successful candidates are submitted to the Académie de Créteil: end of March for 6e, early May for 5e, 4e, 3e; end of March and again early May for Seconde. All those who successfully pass the test after these dates are placed on a waiting list that will be used in case there are still places available after the official ‘affectation’ or place assignment by the education authorities (see fith step hereafter) or in case of cancellations.

The fourth step is the results of the test. These will be communicated to parents soon after all the aspects of the test have been completed. There are three possible responses: the candidate has the necessary level (strong candidate); the candidate meets the minimum requirements of the Section (conditional candidate); or the candidate does not yet have the necessary level. The first two responses mean that the prospective student will be considered for a place in the Section. In the case of a very limited number of places, priority will be given to strong candidates.

The fifth step is the place assignment. The number of places in the school is limited. Admission may depend on the number of places available. In the Collège the Anglophone Section has a quota of 50 places per year group, in the other schools this number varies year on year.

• In Primary, the number of places available to Anglophone students who successfully passed the admission test are known towards the middle of May sometimes earlier. Candidates will be informed by email by the Section. They will be requested to formally enroll at the Espace Famille (the Fontainebleau town council’s service for school-related matters) with the acceptance letter from the Primary Head that accompanies the Section email. If residing outside the catchment area of the Léonard de Vinci school, a dérogation may need to be obtained from the family’s local mayor’s office. Following the administrative enrolment, parents are requested to make an appointment with the Primary Head to finalize the enrolment of their child.
• In Collège, sixième candidates will normally know during the first half of June at the latest if their request has been successful. Parents will be informed directly by the Inspection Académique. Cinquièmes, quatrièmes and troisièmes will be informed by the middle of May by the Section. Successful candidates will be invited to fill in a dossier d’inscription.
• In Lycée, the number of places in Seconde will be known towards the beginning of June and in Première during the second half of June. Seconde parents will receive notification directly from the Académie de Créteil requesting to accept the offered place by responding to the Lycée François 1er. Première candidates will be informed by email by the Section. Candidates will be invited to fill in a dossier d’inscription at the Lycée.

The sixth step is the place acceptance. Parents are requested to pay the 250€ non-refundable initial enrolment fee to accept the place that their child has been offered.

The seventh step is the signing of the enrolment agreement. This contract between the new student’s parents and the Section stipulates the fee structure and rules and provides the Section with the necessary information to prepare the tuition invoice for the new school year.

Once all these steps have been completed, the new student and his or her family can rightfully be considered as part of the Anglophone Section. We will be delighted to welcome your child into the school and to have you as valuable member of our community!