Best Primary Schools in Paris

Paris primary divides cleanly. The French état does élémentaire well, free and to a serious academic standard, but in French. International families pick between French elementary with English at home, a bilingual school sharing both languages across the day, or full English-medium primary inside a through-school continuum to age 18.

The international and bilingual segment is small. Around a dozen schools cover ages 6 to 11, splitting four ways: through-school primary at the anglophone anchors, French-English bilingual primaries, the section internationale of the Lycée International, and small specialist primaries that hand off at age 11.

The top tier

Schools that run primary as the middle of a continuous pipeline to age 18.

American School of Paris

Saint-Cloud. Ages 3 to 18. Fees EUR 25,000 to 41,400. Founded 1946. MSA-CESS and CIS accredited. Around 760 pupils.

The grand old American school in Paris, founded 1946 as the first American school in postwar Europe. Grade 1 from age 6 inside a dedicated elementary wing on a four-hectare Saint-Cloud campus, large by Paris standards. American model with daily specialist French. Senior end runs AP and IB Diploma.

International School of Paris

16th Arrondissement. Ages 3 to 18. Fees EUR 25,500 to 39,000. Founded 1964. CIS and NEASC accredited. Around 900 pupils.

The only three-programme IB World School in France, running PYP, MYP and DP across three sites in the 16th. Primary inside the PYP framework: transdisciplinary inquiry, no external exams, culminating in the PYP Exhibition at Grade 5. IB-accredited since 1982. One of two central-Paris primaries inside the Périphérique at this fee point.

British School of Paris

Croissy-sur-Seine. Ages 3 to 18. Fees EUR 20,684 to 34,065. Founded 1954. COBIS Patrons member. Around 650 pupils.

The British-curriculum mainstay of the Paris expat scene, on the banks of the Seine at Croissy. English National Curriculum from Year 1 to Year 6, then unbroken progression to IGCSE and A Level. *2025 results: 28% A/A at A Level, 67% 9-7 at GCSE.** Croissy is a school-bus morning for central-Paris addresses.

Marymount International School Paris

Neuilly-sur-Seine. Ages 2 to 14. Fees EUR 23,250 to 38,500. Founded 2000. MSA-CESS and CIS accredited. Around 360 pupils.

A Catholic American school in Neuilly, part of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary Marymount network. Lower School covers Pre-K to Grade 5. American curriculum with daily French. Single-form entry in most year groups. The school runs only to age 14, so primary precedes a transfer at the end of Grade 8.

ICS Paris

15th Arrondissement. Ages 2 to 18. Fees EUR 20,994 to 32,976. Founded 2003. Operated by Globeducate. Around 600 pupils.

A full IB continuum school inside Paris itself, on rue de Cronstadt in the 15th. Primary follows the IB PYP end to end. ICS and ISP are the two central-Paris IB primaries. 2025 IB DP average of 32.7 at the senior end.

Ermitage International School

Maisons-Laffitte. Ages 3 to 18. Fees EUR 7,500 to 28,950. Founded 1941. NEASC accredited. Around 1,500 pupils.

One of the longest-established international schools in the Paris region. Primary in two streams: an international stream in English (IB PYP) and a French stream (French national curriculum). Senior end ranks #3 IB school in France (2025 DP average 34). Fee floor is materially below the other anchors. Day and boarding from primary.

Strong mid-tier

Ecole Jeannine Manuel Paris

15th Arrondissement and rue de la Pompe. Ages 6 to 18. Fees EUR 10,260 to 32,560. Founded 1954. CIS and NEASC accredited. Around 1,600 pupils.

Ranked #1 IB school in France (2025 DP average 38.1), the most academically serious bilingual school in the country. Primary from age 6 (CP), French-English bilingual, around half the day in each language. Selective entry, long waitlists. Fees are markedly lower than the anglophone anchors; the school is a non-profit foundation.

EIB Paris

8e Arrondissement and western suburbs. Ages 3 to 18. Fees EUR 14,100 to 16,995. Founded 1954. CIS accredited. Around 3,000 pupils across the group.

The umbrella for the EIB Paris group, eight bilingual French-English campuses across Paris and the western suburbs, owned by Globeducate since 2012. French national curriculum with a structured English strand, leading into French Bac, BFI, IB and A Level at the senior end. Brevet pass rate 100%, Bac with honours 98%.

Lennen Bilingual School

7th Arrondissement. Ages 2 to 11. Fees EUR 10,700 to 20,700. Founded 1960. Around 200 pupils.

Paris's oldest French-American bilingual school, near Les Invalides. Classes capped near 15 with a 50-50 French-English split from maternelle to CM2. The school exits at age 11, so families plan the secondary handoff. Fees sit well below the bigger anchors.

Forest International School Paris

Mareil-Marly, Yvelines. Ages 2 to 14. Fees EUR 12,500 to 28,500. Founded 2003.

A small English-curriculum primary and lower-secondary built around the Forêt Domaniale de Marly with daily outdoor learning. English National Curriculum with the International Primary Curriculum layered in.

Best for British (ENC) primary

• British School of Paris is the through-school: full ENC from Reception to Year 13, COBIS Patrons, the largest British primary cohort in the Paris region.
• Forest International School runs ENC with the IPC layer in a small, outdoors-anchored setting in the Yvelines.
• Malherbe International School in Le Vésinet runs ENC primary after a Montessori AMI pre-primary phase.

Best for American Elementary

• American School of Paris is the through-school for ages 3 to 18, the only American school in the region with both AP and IB Diploma.
• Marymount International School Paris in Neuilly is the small, single-form-entry alternative to age 14.
• Lennen Bilingual School sits between American and French at a 50-50 split.

Best for French-English bilingual

• Ecole Jeannine Manuel is the academic benchmark. Selective entry, ranked first in France for IB.
• EIB Paris is the multi-campus alternative across the 8th, the 7th (Grenelle) and La Jonchère. Less selective than Jeannine Manuel.
• Lennen Bilingual is the small specialist in the 7th.
• The Lycée International British Section in Saint-Germain-en-Laye runs section internationale at primary, ten hours a week of English alongside the French national curriculum. Fees EUR 3,746 to 9,090.

At a glance

Fees are 2025/26 indicative annual top-of-band figures. Verify current figures with each school before applying.

The age labels and routes

The French école élémentaire runs CP to CM2, ages 6 to 11. Free, secular, and compulsory. CP is the reading year; CE1 and CE2 consolidate; CM1 and CM2 add history, geography and science. The state école élémentaire is good. Most French children stay in it, and many international families do too.

Bilingual private primary. Runs the French national programme with a parallel English programme inside the school day. Ecole Jeannine Manuel and EIB are the best-known; Lennen runs a 50-50 model. The default expat compromise: the child becomes genuinely bilingual, the family stays inside the French system, and fees sit below full-English internationals.

Full English-medium primary. The anglophone anchors use the English National Curriculum (BSP, Forest, Malherbe), the American elementary model (ASP, Marymount), or the IB Primary Years Programme (ISP, ICS, Ermitage). French is daily but a subject, not the medium. Fees EUR 20,000 to 30,000.

The section internationale. The Lycée International in Saint-Germain-en-Laye runs a French élémentaire alongside fifteen section internationale strands. A child in the British section gets six hours of English language and arts plus four hours of English-language history-geography weekly, taught by native-speaking teachers, inside an otherwise French primary day. Selective, fees state-school low for the French part and around EUR 3,700 to 9,090 a year for the section element. Unique in France at this scale.

Most French private schools are sous contrat: partly state-funded, French national programme, state-paid teachers. They are local-stream, not designed for English-pathway families. The schools above are either fully private (hors contrat) or attached to a Lycée's section internationale.

How to choose between them

Five inputs decide the primary school.

The pathway after primary. Most families stay at the school they enter for CP or Year 1 through the end of secondary. Moving at age 11 means re-application and often a curriculum change. Primary is a ten-year decision in disguise.

French exposure. The state école élémentaire and the bilingual privates deliver French inside the school day. The full-English internationals deliver French as a daily subject, which is competent but not the same. Long-stay families more often pick bilingual or French; short-stay families pick full English.

Curriculum fit at the senior end. ENC feeds IGCSE and A Level cleanly at BSP and Forest. IB PYP feeds MYP and DP at ISP, ICS and Ermitage. American elementary feeds AP and IB at ASP, Marymount and Lennen. Bilingual French private feeds the French Bac, BFI, or IB at Jeannine Manuel, EIB and the Lycée International.

Selectivity and admissions pressure. Ecole Jeannine Manuel is selective; ISP, BSP and ASP fill primary places well ahead through sibling priority and continuing enrolment. The 12-month-ahead application norm is real at the anchors. Ermitage, ICS and EIB have more flex.

Location. ASP (Saint-Cloud), BSP (Croissy), Marymount (Neuilly) and Ermitage (Maisons-Laffitte) sit in the western suburbs. ISP, ICS Paris, Ecole Jeannine Manuel, Lennen and EIB Grenelle are inside the Périphérique. A 45 to 60 minute school-bus morning is normal at age 6 from central Paris.

Related reading

• Best international schools in Paris (pillar)
• Best early years schools in Paris
• English National Curriculum and Key Stages

FAQs

Is the French école élémentaire good enough for an international child? For most families with the time, yes. Structured, academically serious primary in French, free, with trained teachers. A child arriving with no French at age 6 needs a settling-in term and possibly an FLE support strand. A child arriving at age 8 or 9 with no French faces a harder transition.

Will my child become bilingual in a bilingual primary? At a serious bilingual school, yes, by the end of primary. Ecole Jeannine Manuel, EIB and Lennen deliver enough French and English in the school day that most children leave Year 6 functionally bilingual. The variables are home-language environment, year of entry, and the school's actual ratio in each language.

British, IB or American at primary, which is best? None is inherently better. ENC is the most codified, with phonics sequences and SATs milestones. IB PYP is the most concept-driven, with transdisciplinary inquiry and no external exams until the PYP Exhibition. American elementary is the least prescriptive. Pick by destination: the senior school determines the most coherent primary.

Can we move from a bilingual to a full-English school later? Yes. Children finishing CM2 at Jeannine Manuel or EIB regularly transfer into Year 7 at ASP, ISP, BSP or ICS, usually with a placement test. The reverse direction, full English at primary then into a French Bac stream at 11, is harder because French academic literacy lags.

When should we apply for international primary in Paris? For ASP, ISP, BSP, Marymount and Ecole Jeannine Manuel, 12 months ahead of the September start is the working norm. Sibling priority and continuing enrolment fill most primary places before the open-application window.

Sources: Ministère de l'Éducation Nationale (école élémentaire framework and compulsory schooling), school fee schedules and admissions pages, IB Organisation programme listings, Council of International Schools and NEASC accreditation records, MSA Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools, COBIS Patrons membership directory, Lycée International section internationale documentation.