France

Compulsory education starts at 3 and lasts until 16. The system is divided into kindergarten (maternelle), primary school (élémentaire), collège (4 years) and lycée (3 years).

The academic culture is fairly formal, with an emphasis on written work and logical argument.

The lycée ends with the exam for the baccalauréat diploma — not to be confused with a university degree. There are general, technological and vocational versions; the general one gives a direct path to university.

The strongest applicants go not to university after the lycée but to two years of preparatory classes (classes préparatoires) and enter the elite grandes écoles through a competitive exam.

Mass public universities charge only a registration fee — a few hundred euros a year. Degrees follow the Licence (3 years) — Master (2 years) — Doctorat (3 years) scheme.

In parallel there are grandes écoles (engineering and business schools) with competitive admission and more practical training, as well as technological institutes (IUT) with two-year applied diplomas.

Engineering and business schools increasingly offer programmes fully in English.

French-taught programmes require a DELF/DALF certificate at B2 level; English-taught ones require IELTS or TOEFL. Applicants from a number of countries apply through the central Études en France platform (the Campus France procedure).

A Russian school certificate is usually accepted for the first year of a bachelor’s after verification; a master’s requires a bachelor’s degree.

There is a separate system of state scholarships for international students (including the French government scholarship programme). Student status entitles you to a housing subsidy (CAF) and part-time work.

Paris is several times more expensive than the rest of the country; life is noticeably more affordable in Lyon, Toulouse and Montpellier.