Grandes Écoles

The Grandes Écoles (French pronunciation: ​[ɡʁɑ̃d.z‿ekɔl], literally in French "Grand Schools") of France are higher education establishments outside the main framework of the French university system. Most were established by branches of the state; the oldest, Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Techniques Avancées, in 1741. Most Grandes Écoles select students for admission at the third year of undergraduate level based chiefly on national ranking in competitive written and oral exams, while French public universities have a legal obligation to accept in the first year of undergraduate studies all candidates of the region who hold a corresponding baccalauréat.

Usually candidates for the national exams have completed two years of dedicated preparatory classes, although this is not always the case: some Grandes Écoles also have an admission process open to university students (bachelor or master), others have an integrated preparation. The Grandes Écoles do not have large student bodies: most have a few hundred students each year, 6,000 (1200 engineering graduates each year) at the largest establishment, Arts et Métiers ParisTech. Officially considered as public service, they usually require low fees, or even none, with the exception of business schools, and allow grants to poor students like universities do.

The phrase 'Grande École' originated in 1794 after the French Revolution, when the National Convention created the École Normale Supérieure, the mathematician Gaspard Monge and Lazare Carnot created the École Polytechnique and the abbot Henri Grégoire created the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers.

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