College enrollment

Verified 26 June 2024 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Your child is going to go to college and you wonder how to enroll him in his future school? Your child is assigned to the public college in your area, usually the closest to your home. You can also apply for admission to another public college. To do this, you must obtain a waiver from the Dasen: titleContent before enrolling your child in the desired college. If you want to register privately, you must contact the chosen college. Here's the information you need to know.

Audience

The assignment process depends on your situation.

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General case

Your child is going to middle school. He's assigned to your area's establishment, according to the school card from your home department. This is usually the college closest to your home.

Transition from private to public

The procedure for assigning your child to a public college depends on the type of private school in which he or she is enrolled.

Private school under contract

You must contact the Dasen: titleContent to find out who the college is:

Who shall I contact
Non-contract private school

Your child will have to pass an entrance examination to be able to enroll in a public college.

Contact the departmental department of national education of your place of residence to know the procedures and the date of the examination.

Who shall I contact

Foreign-domiciled parents

The residence of parents abroad cannot be a reason for refusal of enrollment of a child subject to compulsory schooling.

If you are domiciled abroad, your child must be registered in one of the following municipalities :

  • Municipality where you have a residence
  • Municipality of the home of the person caring for the child
  • Municipality where there is an establishment for French children living abroad.

Contact the departmental department of national education of the child's place of residence to find out about the child's college of assignment.

Who shall I contact

FYI  

if you change your home before the start of the school year (for example if you move during the summer holidays), you must ask to enroll your child in the sector college of the future home.

Request for derogation

If you want your child to be admitted to a public college different from your sector's, you must apply for a waiver of the Dasen: titleContent.

You must make the request for exemption before registering your child in the desired establishment.

You must make the request using a form. You can pick up the document from the Department of National Education Services of your place of residence.

The supporting documents to be provided are indicated in the school card flexibility form. They vary according to the academy and the reason for the request for exemption.

The application must be submitted, depending on the case, to your child's school or to the department of national education of your place of residence.

In some departments, the request is made online on the website of the Directorate of Departmental Services of National Education.

Who shall I contact

Processing of the request for derogation

Your request will be accepted if the desired establishment has sufficient capacity.

If the number of applications exceeds the capacity of an establishment, derogations shall be granted in the following order of priority:

  1. Student with a disability, who is given top priority
  2. Pupil requiring significant medical attention near the requested college
  3. Merit Scholar
  4. Scholar on social criteria
  5. Pupil whose brother or sister is already enrolled in the desired school
  6. Pupil who has to follow a particular school path (integration of a sports section or an international class in particular).

You can specify multiple reasons simultaneously in the waiver request.

Warning  

you must make your request for an exemption before registering your child in the desired establishment. After the assignment is decided by the Dasen: titleContent (sector college or other college), you must register it in the institution.

The steps differ depending on the type of registration.

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Entrance registration in 6th grade

You can enroll your child in the college secretariat. Some schools also offer online registration. Check with the college to find out if you are offered this opportunity.

To the College Secretariat

You must remove a registration file from the College Secretariat.

The composition of the registration file varies from one institution to another.

You must complete it and hand it over to the College Secretariat.

This file may consist of the following documents:

  • Application Form
  • Parent and child identification
  • Photocopy of the family booklet
  • Proof of domicile
  • Pictures of the child's identity.

At the time of registration, you can give your consent to the automatic study of your right to the college scholarship.

Online

Some colleges offer online registration.

You must log in to the EduConnect portal. Prepare your FranceConnect IDs or EduConnect.

6th Class Registration

Online registration allows you to:

  • Administratively enroll your child in his/her assignment college
  • Express your wish for optional education and accommodation (day school, half board, boarding school)
  • Read additional documents, some of which are to be submitted to the College.
  • File the requested documents (if the institution has opened this possibility).

When the registration is validated, theanother child's legal representative can log in to do the following

  • Read the details of the child's registration (training, options...)
  • Verify and update, as necessary, its own administrative information
  • Request automatic study of his/her scholarship, if you have not already done so.

Please note

At the end of the process, an email is sent to you. It confirms that the registration has been taken into account, summarizes your wishes and specifies the documents to be provided.

If you need help with online registration, you can contact the dedicated platform:

Who shall I contact

Re-enrollment in the same college

When your child does not change school, re-registration for the following year is automatic.

However, you must refresh some information about your personal situation. You can also choose optional courses, if the school offers them.

You can also agree to the automatic study of your right to the college scholarship.

This information may be transmitted in paper format. You receive a file, called shuttle plug, which tells you what information to provide.

You can do it too online by logging into the EduConnect portal. Prepare your FranceConnect IDs or EduConnect.

Update your personal situation

Change of college

At the end of the school year, if you want to enroll your child in a college other than your sector, you must first obtain a waiver from the Dasen: titleContent.

Once the exemption is obtained, you must then register your child by withdrawing a registration file from the college secretariat.

The composition of the registration file varies from one institution to another.

You must complete it and hand it over to the College Secretariat.

This file may consist of the following documents:

  • Application Form
  • Parent and child identification
  • Photocopy of the family booklet
  • Proof of domicile
  • Pictures of the child's identity.

At the time of registration, you can give your consent to the automatic study of your right to the college scholarship.

Please note

the procedure is different if your child needs to change of establishment in the course of the year.

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College enrollment 

5 key questions about your child's assignment

Your child enters 6th grade and you wonder about the choice of his future establishment.

For entry into sixth grade, is my child automatically assigned to a college?

Yeah. Yeah. He is guaranteed a place in the college of your sector, according to the school card of your department of residence. It's usually closest to your home.

Can I choose another public college?

Yeah. Yeah. You must make a request for a waiver to the Academic Director of National Education Services (Dasen). But your child's place is not guaranteed until the final answer.

Can I apply for a waiver directly on the internet?

Yes and no. Depending on your department, you must complete a paper or online document. This is indicated on the website of the Directorate of Departmental Services of National Education of your place of residence.

Is my request for a derogation necessarily accepted?

No, no, no. It depends on the capacity of the college. If the number of requests for derogations exceeds the number of places available, there is an order of priority (health, resource, family, educational path criteria).

Is my child automatically enrolled in his assignment college?

No, no, no. Once the assignment has been decided by the Dasen (sector college or other college), you must proceed to its registration in the establishment.

Please note: details on college registration and contact details are available on Service-Public.fr.

Private

To enroll your child in private education under or outside the contract, you must contact the college you have chosen directly.

The college will tell you the registration procedure to follow.

In particular, you must provide the following documents:

Please note

the procedure is different if your child needs to change of establishment in the course of the year.

Who can help me?

Find who can answer your questions in your region