Enrollment in the college
Verified 20 March 2026 - Public Service / Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
Your child will enter college and you wonder how to enroll him in his future school? Assignment to the public sector college, exemption to enroll it in another public college, enrollment in the private sector: we present you the information to know.
Audience
The assignment procedure depends on your situation:
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General case
Your child is affected in the establishment of your sector, according to the school card of your department of residence. This is usually the college closest to your home.
Passage from private to public
The procedure for assigning your child to a public college depends on the type of private institution in which he or she is enrolled:
Private school under contract
You must contact the Dasen: titleContent to find out the assignment college.
Non-contract private school
Your child must pass an admission exam to be able to enroll in a public college.
Contact the Department of National Education of your place of residence to find out the procedures and the date of passage of the exam.
Parents living abroad
The domicile of parents abroad cannot be a reason for refusing to enroll a child subject to compulsory education.
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 who is caring for the child
- Municipality where there is an establishment for the children of French people living abroad.
Contact the Department of National Education of the child's place of residence to find out about his or her school of assignment.
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 register your child in the sector college of the future home.
Request for exemption
If you want your child to be admitted to a public college different from your sector, you must apply for an exemption from the Dasen: titleContent.
You must apply for a waiver before enrolling 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 form of flexibility to the school card. They vary depending on the academy and the reason for the waiver request.
The application must be submitted, as the case may be, 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.
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, the exemptions shall be granted in the following order of priority:
- Pupil with a disability, who has a top priority
- Pupil requiring significant medical care near the requested college
- Scholarship student on merit
- Scholarship student on social criteria
- A student whose sibling is already enrolled in the desired college
- Student who must 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 apply for exemption before your child enrolls in the desired establishment. Once the assignment is decided by the Dasen: titleContent (sector college or other college), you must register it in the institution.
The procedures differ according to the type of registration:
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Registration at the entrance in 6th grade
You can register your child at the college secretariat. Some establishments also offer online registration. Check with the college to see if you have this option.
To the secretariat of the college
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 submit it to the college secretariat.
This file may consist of the following documents:
- Application form for registration
- Parent and child ID
- Photocopy of family record book
- Proof of address
- 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
You must log in to the EduConnect portal. Prepare your FranceConnect identifiers or EduConnect.
When the registration is validated, theother legal representative of the child can log in to do the following:
- Learn the details of the child's registration (training, options, etc.)
- Verify and update, if necessary, its own administrative information
- Ask for an automatic study of your scholarship entitlement, if you have not already done so.
Please note
At the end of the process, an email is sent to you. It confirms that registration has been taken into account, summarizes your wishes and specifies the documents to be provided.
Re-enrollment in the same college
When your child does not change school, re-enrollment for the following year is automatic.
However, you must refresh certain information about your personal situation. You can also choose optional courses, if the school offers them.
You can also give your consent 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 card, indicating the information to be provided.
You can also do it online by logging into the EduConnect portal. Prepare your FranceConnect identifiers or EduConnect.
Change of college
At the end of the school year, if you want to enroll your child in a college other than the one in your area, you must first obtain a waiver from the Dasen: titleContent.
Once you have obtained the waiver, you must then register your child by removing a registration file from the college secretariat.
The composition of the registration file varies from one institution to another.
You must complete it and submit it to the college secretariat.
This file may consist of the following documents:
- Application form for registration
- Parent and child ID
- Photocopy of family record book
- Proof of address
- 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 establishment during the year.
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Enrollment in the college
5 key questions about your child's assignment
Your child enters 6th grade and you are wondering about the choice of his future institution.
For entry into 6th grade, is my child automatically assigned to a college?
Yes. It is guaranteed a place in the college of your area, according to the school card of your department of residence. It is usually the closest to your home.
Can I choose another public college?
Yes. You must apply for a waiver to the Academic Director of the 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 Department of National Education Services of your place of residence.
Is my request for exemption necessarily accepted?
No. It depends on the capacity of the college concerned. If there are more requests for derogations than the places available, there is an order of priority (criteria of health, resources, family, educational background).
Is my child automatically enrolled in his/her assignment college?
No. Once the assignment has been decided by the Dasen (sector college or other college), you must proceed with its registration in the institution.
Please note: details on registration for the college and services to contact are on Service-Public.fr.
Private
To enroll your child in private contract or non-contract education, you must contact directly with the establishment you have chosen.
He will tell you the registration procedure to follow.
You will have to in particular provide the following documents:
- Guidance Decision
- Quarterly bulletins for the past year
- Compulsory vaccination certificates
- Fact Sheet (for parents)
- Proof of address.
Please note
The procedure is different if your child needs to change establishment during the year.
Who can help me?
Find who can answer your questions in your region
Compulsory education
Control of school enrollment
School card and sector college
Online service
Online service
FAQ
Service Public
Ministry of Education
Ministry of Education