Ecole Jeannine Manuel Paris

The flagship of French bilingual education, founded by Jeannine Manuel in 1954, around 1,600 pupils on the Paris campus, ranked first among French lycées for ten consecutive years and offering the French Bac, BFI, IB Diploma and IGCSE.

EJM is the most academically selective bilingual school in Paris and the choice for families wanting elite French academics with serious English. Eighty nationalities, a competitive admissions test, and graduates landing at top French, UK and US universities. The Pre-K to 12 programme uses the French national curriculum as the spine with English layered through specialist subjects, and the senior school offers IB Diploma and BFI alongside the Bac.

This is a high-pressure school. Strong students thrive. Children needing slow time can struggle, and admissions screen for academic potential. The parent association helps expats landing in Paris, and the school provides multilingual support at intake. Families wanting a softer ride should look at ASP or Cours Molière. Families wanting results and a full bilingual diploma stack should put EJM at the top of the list.

• The bilingual flagship founded in 1954 in the 15th arrondissement, running French national programme alongside an international option leading to OIB and IB Diploma. Routinely sits at or near the top of French annual high-school rankings.
• Demand is structural. Senior bankers relocating after Brexit publicly complained about the lack of EJM places for their children, with Financial News reporting €28,000 fees and one banker telling the paper "it's becoming very hard and complicated to get in".
• Parent and ex-student opinion is polarised by what kind of family the school suits. One parent called it the place to send a child to meet "les fils/filles de ministres, grands patrons, émirs". A 2008 ex-student described it as a "highly competitive and toxic atmosphere". A separate French parent wrote the school had moved from Jeannine Manuel's resistance-era ideals "pour finalement ne brasser que du pognon et fermer les enfants au monde".
• Bilingual cohort and academic outcomes draw the most consistent praise. Parents of bilingual children describe English level holding up, fast adaptation and strong placement to top-tier universities, alongside a wellbeing programme that parents single out as unusual for a French elite school.
• The recurring concern is fit. Parents and ex-students say the school is unforgiving for less driven children. One parent reported that children who fall behind are deliberately left without attention to push them out.