All applications for the International Section, a ‘Cursus Spécifique,’ are to be completed online and processed by the Rectorat.
Application links for the academic year 2023/2024: these will be updated for the 2024/25 intake as soon as they are available
https://www.ac-paris.fr/sections-internationales-au-lycee-127774
and
https://www.ac-paris.fr/sections-internationales-au-college-122569
The application process must be undertaken by those applying externally and existing students in 3ème Camille Sée pupils wishing to make the transition into lycée.
Please always refer to the rectorat website there https://www.ac-paris.fr/sections-internationales-au-lycee-127774 or there https://www.ac-paris.fr/sections-internationales-au-college-122569 for up-to-date information. Information subject to change.
Application deadline 2025: March 2nd
Written test 2025: March 12th at 8h15.
Oral tests 2025: between April 8 and May 9.
Results: June 27
The written and oral tests are undertaken on separate days. If Camille Sée is your first choice, the tests take place at Collège-Lycée Camille Sée, 11 rue Léon Lhermitte, 75015 Paris.
For candidates who live abroad and are unable to take the test at the school, it’s possible to take a ‘test à distance’. If your child attends a lycée français abroad, you will be requested to name someone to supervise the test connected to the school. If it’s an English-speaking (or other) school, whether state or private, you will need to contact the Consulate, the Embassy or the Alliance Française and then provide the name of a referee who will be responsible for overseeing this exam.
If your child attends a private school ‘hors contrat’ or is in another state school system outside France, please contact the Rectorat for more information.
There may be places available in several grade levels from 5ème through to Première, although this is not always guaranteed in any one given year, with the exception of 6ème. However, it is definitely worth applying if your child is bilingual and would benefit from native English teaching. The school tries to welcome as many students as possible but the number of spaces available will vary from year to year.
For lycée, there are usually more places available in 2nde – there is naturally some movement in this class as some students in 3ème decide that they don’t want to study Shakespeare for their baccalaureate! The Baccalauréat Français International (BFI) involves an increased workload and is not for everyone. Also, owing to the new reforms, all the students, including those who are already in the section are now assessed (alongside new applicants) to enter the lycée.
No. As the BFI is continual assessment from in 1er and Terminale, it’s not possible to admit a child for the last year of lycée. If your child is already enrolled in a BFI course in a recognised International School, they will be accepted, but they will have to catch up all the work done in 1ère (often ⅔ of the written programme and most of Connaissance du Monde) and may have a very different programme from their present school.
Although it’s a state school, the test has to be taken by every candidate: it’s the same process for each school in the Paris sector with an English Section. All these Sections are oversubscribed as demand exceeds the number of places available; testing is perceived as the only fair way of assessing which child is awarded a place. However, Camille Sée does endeavour to accommodate all children with the right academic level and language proficiency.
Camille Sée offers a class for non-francophone children arriving from abroad who do not speak French. Some children in the Section have made the transition into the International Section once they have improved their French. However, the transition from the UPE2A class to the International Section cannot be guaranteed: it would depend upon the student’s academic level overall and the number of spaces in the International Section available in the year group for which they would be applying. They would have to take the test to make the transition to the International Section.
In order to get placed in one of these sections, they would need to take an exam through the CASNAV office.
There are a number of Collèges around the city that have UPE2A classes for newly arrived students. Students are placed in a program based on the collège that is nearest to their residence and it is not possible to request a specific school.
Once a student has been placed in a UPE2A class (or NF as it is called at Camile Sée) they would start in a class with students who are all new arrivals in France. Little by little they would be integrated into regular classes until they eventually are fully assimilated into a regular program. The goal is to have all students fully integrated into the general section after one year, although this may depend upon the individual child’s ability to reach the required level of French.
The Rectorat looks at the date of birth (DOB) to determine the child’s class.
US Grade 6 = IB – MYP 1 = 6ème
US Grade 7 = IB – MYP 2 = 5ème
US Grade 8 = IB – MYP 3 = 4ème
US Grade 9 = IB – MYP 4 = 3ème
US Grade 10 = 2nde
US Grade 11 = 1er
US Grade 12 = T
Please note: if your child has entered the French system but was put behind a year to catch up with language skills, the adjustment cannot be made at Camille Sée. They need to stay in the same year when transitioning to Camille Sée (even if they are technically too old for the class).
All pupils wishing to join the International Section should submit an application form, usually at the end of March / beginning of April. The dates for 2025 will be confirmed by the Rectorat in January 2025.
All pupils wishing to join the International Section should submit an application on the Rectorat website.
Camille Sée is no longer able to test or accept children outside the fixed testing dates as the process and dates are controlled by the Rectorat. The only exception might be where there are school year differences such as the Australian system, but even in this case, the decision would be made by the Rectorat.
The school will not be able to confirm the number of spaces available in any one year group before the application deadline. The number of available spaces fluctuate slightly from year to year, depending on whether families leave (and owing to the international composition of the families, work commitments abroad), and the school does not know how many students will be returning until after the application deadline.
Firstly, it’s useful to read the following:
https://www.ac-paris.fr/portail/jcms/p2_1996841/sections-internationales
You will be asked to provide on the Rectorat website : http://www.ac-paris.fr/parents-eleves
The child’s results + reports for the current and previous years
For each subject, each year and each term (or semester) you must give:
· Your child’s average
· The overall class average
· The lowest average grade in the class
· The highest average grade in the class
If your child is in a school abroad, the academic records (current grades and reports) can be submitted in English; for other languages the Rectorate will need an official translation.
· Photocopy of the ‘livret de famille’ or birth certificate
· The custody certificate if you are divorced.
· Two proofs of a Paris or Paris suburb address (tax, insurance etc).
Please note, if you are relocating and do not yet have a fixed address, it’s advisable to find a friend or relative who would be able to give you a letter attesting to temporary residence. Any work contract showing proof of your relocation to Paris would also be useful. All correspondence concerning the application from the Rectorate will be directed to this Paris address and not an overseas address. Of course, once you have settled in France, this address can be updated. However, if this is impossible, please contact the parents’ association camilleseeenglishsection@gmail.com and we will advise.
Your school choices
As requested on the application form, you must indicate your first choice of school, but it is strongly recommended to provide your second and third choices. If your first choice is oversubscribed, your child may be allocated a place in one of the other Parisian schools which offer the same IS curriculum.
Assignment to one establishment rather than another is based on the child’s final test score. Pupils who achieve the highest overall marks should obtain their first choice.
Transport time and means from home to school.
This information is non-discriminatory: the recruitment in international sections is inter-academic. Children living in the suburbs can apply.
The “Déclaration de pratique linguistique”
This can be downloaded from the page: https://www.ac-paris.fr/media/47700/download
You must complete the “Déclaration de pratique linguistique” form to inform the Rectorate about where and how your child has learnt English (or Italian for Italian SI). This enables the Rectorate (and school) to get a more complete picture of your child’s linguistic studies and assess their level accordingly.
Languages
On the form you will be asked for two “langues Vivantes” : LVA (LV1) + LVB (LV2)
LVA or LV =: ‘Langue vivante A’: English (or Italian for the Italian SI).
French is not considered a Langue Vivante.
LV2 or LVB: this is for children applying for 4ème and upwards. It will depend on the LV2 language learnt at the collège. Your child must continue with the same language.
For 6e and 5e applications, the LVB can be left blank but can be completed if your child has been studying another language in school or outside. The Rectorate doesn’t expect children entering in 6ème to have studied another language. Children in the International Section at Camille Sée start learning another language in 5ème.
Confusing acronyms!
LVA = Langue Vivante A (first language)
LVB = Langue Vivante B (second language)
CLG = collège général
LG = Lycée Général
If you have submitted your application via the Rectorat, please anticipate a ‘convocation’ letter via email. Often the window between the application deadline and scheduled dates for the written test is relatively narrow. The convocation letter may arrive less than a week before the tests.
If they can’t be physically present, the convocation letter from the Rectorat for the written test requests the families to contact the school (email address provided). The school will set up the overseas tests.
If your child is not selected for the admission in 6e, your child will be allocated to their school in their catchment area (secteur).
https://www.paris.fr/pages/colleges-2090#la-sectorisation
The waiting list is controlled by the Rectorat but it is not made readily available, either to the school administration or parents. You will be contacted by the Rectorat if a place is made available.
The official policy states that no papers will be shown or sent to candidates, but marks can be provided through the principal. Parents are not allowed to request individual meetings with teachers either before or after the selection process. The section is oversubscribed every year, and sadly, there aren’t enough places for everyone.
Any other questions? Contact us at camilleseeenglishsection@gmail.com