Mandatory instruction
Verified 06 November 2025 - Public Service / Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
Your child is between 3 and 16 years old? It is then subjected to theobligation to instruct. It must be enrolled in a school (public or private). Your child may also, under certain conditions, receive this education in the family. Young people between the ages of 16 and 18 have an obligation to train. Local missions monitor compliance with this obligation. Here is the information to know about the obligation of instruction.
From 3 to 16 years old
Children between the ages of 3 and 16 are subject to compulsory education.
You can choose to enroll your child in a school or educational institution (public or private).
You may also be permitted to educate your child in the family. The grounds on which you can obtain this authorization are limited.
Please note
From 3 to 6 years old, children can, under certain conditions, follow their schooling in kindergarten.
From the age of 3 years, you must enroll your child in thekindergarten. You can also register it in kindergarten, under certain conditions.
Up to the age of 16, you must enroll in theprimary school, at college or at high school.
If you want your child to follow education in the family, you must ask the Dasen: titleContent.
In case of change of domicile, enrollment in the new school must be carried out within 8 days at the town hall of the new residence.
If your child is in the family, you must report the change of residence to the Dasen. You have to within 8 days that follow your move.
At the beginning of each school year, the mayor draws up a list of all children subject to compulsory education who live in his commune. This list is updated monthly.
If your child is attending school in the family, the mayor must conduct an investigation into the child, starting at 1re year. This survey is repeated every 2 years, until the child is 16 years old. The purpose of the survey is to check the reasons why you requested this method of instruction.
Throughout the year, the Mayor shall inform the Dasen: titleContent failure to comply with the obligation to enroll in an educational or family institution.
If you do not comply with the obligation to instruct, you risk a fine up to €1,500.
You are not affected by this penalty if your child receives a education in the family.
If you do not register your child in a school, without valid reason, you will receive a formal notice to do so on behalf of the Dasen: titleContent.
If you do not comply with the Dasen's formal notice to enroll the child in a school, you risk 6 months in prison and €7,500 of a fine.
If you educate your child in the family without permission, you risk a fine of €1,500.
From 16 to 18 years old
Young people between the ages of 16 and 18 have an obligation to train.
To meet the training obligation, young people aged 16 to 18 must be in one of the following situations :
- Employee
- In civic service
- In a path of support or social and professional integration. These include: second chance schools, voluntary contracts for integration or follow-ups set up by France Travail (formerly Pôle emploi) or a local mission.
- In apprenticeship
- Enrolled in a public or private school to continue his education. In this case, the young person must participate in training activities.
FYI
A young person with health-related difficulties is not required to train until the age of 18. A medical certificate must justify his health.
Local missions monitor compliance with the training obligation.
To do this, they collect information on the young person concerned from the institutions in which he or she attended school. Then, the local missions organize an interview with the young person and, if he is a minor, his legal representatives.
1Gathering information
Schools, apprenticeship training centers and public institutions first transmit information about their former pupils to local missions. This information may relate to their identity, contact details, the last schooling followed, as well as the solutions and support offered to young people.
Local missions monitor compliance with the training obligation.
This information should enable local missions to identify young people who do not comply with the training obligation.
2Maintenance
The local missions must then receive the young person and, if he is a minor, his legal representatives.
The aim is to inform them about the training obligation. The local missions must offer him a training solution, a return to school or the establishment of a support or integration system.
If the young person does not attend the interview without proof, the local mission will call him/her together with his/her legal representative.
The local mission must also summon the young person if he no longer responds to his requests or if he abandons his accompaniment course.
If the training obligation has not been complied with within 2 months of the convocation, the local mission shall transmit the information to the departments. New integration solutions are offered to young people.
Who can help me?
Find who can answer your questions in your region
Compulsory schooling
Control of registration
Automated processing for the identification of children subject to compulsory education and improved attendance monitoring
Obligation to train
Obligation to train
Penalty for failure to comply with the obligation to investigate
Penalty for failure to comply with the obligation to investigate
FAQ
Service-Public.fr
Ministry of Education
Ministry of Labor