How does admission to College Stanislas or Lycee Marie de France work?

Admission rests on the school record and, depending on the entry level and the previous school, on admission tests, mainly in mathematics and French. The exact arrangements vary by school, level and year, so they must be confirmed with the institution, and the student then prepared against the level actually expected.

Can a student from the Quebec system join a French school in Montreal?

Yes, and it is a move I prepare regularly. The French curriculum is ahead on certain points of mathematics (algebra, proof, written method) and the expectations for written French are different. Targeted preparation on those gaps, a few months before the tests, changes the student's level markedly on the day.

How long does preparing an admission test take?

Three to six months of regular preparation is a comfortable frame for closing the curriculum gaps without overloading the student. Shorter preparation still helps: we then prioritise the topics most likely to appear and the written method.

Stanislas, Marie de France, AEFE

Preparing Admission to Montreal's French Schools

Getting into College Stanislas or Lycee Marie de France turns on the school record and, depending on the entry level, on admission tests in mathematics and French. I know both schools' syllabuses from the inside, having worked with their students for more than 10 years as an AEFE tutor in Montreal: I prepare the student against the level actually expected, not against a generic syllabus.

Mathematics tests Written French Curriculum gaps closed ★ 5.0 · 11 Google reviews

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What the schools are really assessing

Beyond the administrative arrangements, admission measures one thing: will this student be able to keep the pace of the French curriculum at their entry level? In mathematics that means solid calculation (fractions, algebra, equations depending on the level), rigour in writing up solutions and, from college onward, the beginnings of justified reasoning. In French it means structured, correct and developed written expression, a notch above what the same age is asked for in other systems.

For a student coming from the Quebec or an English-language system, the difficulty is almost never ability: it is the curriculum gap. Certain ideas arrive earlier in the French sequence, the calculator plays a smaller part, and the expected presentation of a solution is different. Those gaps are precise, known and closable, provided they are worked on before the test rather than discovered inside it.

The exact arrangements (which levels involve a test, the content, the calendar, the record) vary by school, entry level and year. Confirm them directly with College Stanislas or Lycee Marie de France, then let us talk about preparation: I build the plan on the real expectations of the level being targeted.

Three profiles I prepare often

The student from the Quebec system joining the French curriculum

The most frequent case, and the one where preparation pays most. We map the gaps between their current level and the entry level being targeted (algebra, geometry with proof, written method), then close them one by one, with problems at the real level of the French syllabus.

The family arriving from France or another AEFE lycee

The syllabus is the same and admission turns mainly on the record. The stake lies elsewhere: arriving at the right level in September, and anticipating the local particularities such as the Quebec supplements at lycee, which weigh later on university admission in Quebec.

Understanding the Quebec supplements →

The student already admitted, to secure before September

Admission is not the end of the story: the first weeks in a new curriculum set the tone for the year. Summer work targeted on the remaining gaps turns a stressful start into an ordinary one.

How the admission preparation works

1

Mapping the gap

A first diagnostic session compares the student's current level with what the entry level of the French curriculum expects: what is solid, what is missing, what is written differently.
2

Closing the content, installing the written method

We work the missing ideas with progressive problems, and alongside them the French way of writing a solution: set it up, justify, conclude. That is often what separates two scripts of equal ability.
3

Practising under test conditions

In the final month, mock assessments against the clock, calibrated on the entry level being targeted: time management, re-reading, presentation. The student walks into the room on familiar ground.

An admission coming up?

Tell me the entry level being targeted, the school your child is coming from and the timing. I will tell you what has to be closed and how long it realistically takes. Quick reply by WhatsApp or email.

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Preparing Admission to Montreal's French Schools

What the schools are really assessing

Three profiles I prepare often

The student from the Quebec system joining the French curriculum

The family arriving from France or another AEFE lycee

The student already admitted, to secure before September

How the admission preparation works

Mapping the gap

Closing the content, installing the written method

Practising under test conditions

Also useful

Tutoring for College Stanislas

Tutoring for Lycee Marie de France

Parents' guide to the French school system

The Quebec supplements

An admission coming up?