The list of the best public and private high schools in France for the year 2026 has just been revealed. Find out in detail which schools are recognized for their baccalaureate success rate and their added value.
Each year, the Ministry of National Education publishes its ranking of the best high schools in France. It includes all general, technological and professional establishments, whether public or private under contract. To establish this ranking, several criteria are analyzed, in particular the baccalaureate results and the educational background of the students. Useful indicators that allow families to identify high schools where the chances of success in the baccalaureate are the highest, in order to guide the choice of their children’s future establishment. Or simply to check where his class is at their old high school! Here is the official ranking of best high schools in France for 2026.
What are the 5 best high schools in France in 2026?
According to the new classification of The Internet user which is based on figures from the Ministry of National Education, it is Jeannine Manuel bilingual active schoolprivate high school located in the XVe district of Paris, which this year obtained the first place. With 100% success in the baccalaureate and 99% of mentionsit dominates the ranking with an overall score of 19.9/20!
Two schools then came in second place: the Stanislas high school and the Notre-Dame de Sion high school, both private and located in the VIe district of the capital. In third place, we find the public high school Louis Le Grand du Ve Parisian district as well as the Saint-Dominique high school, a private establishment in Neuilly-sur-Seine. The Education House of the Legion of Honor, a public high school in Saint-Denis, then comes in fourth place. Finally, four establishments are tied for fifth place: the international high school (public, Saint-Germain-en-Laye), the Fénelon Sainte-Marie high school (private, Paris VIIIe), the Gymnase Jean Sturm high school (private, Strasbourg), and the Blomet high school (private, Paris XVe).
What is the worst high school in France in 2026?
As in any ranking, when there is a top student… there is also a bad student. It is unfortunately the Larivot vocational high schoola public establishment located in Matoury in Guyana, which comes last on the list with an overall score of 8.25/20. Only 49% of candidates graduated in 2025, including 31% with honors. Just above, we find the Jean Moulin vocational high school in Roubaix, with a score of 8.3/20. Remember, however, that only establishments having presented more than 100 candidates for the bac exam were retained in the list of The Internet user. Some high schools therefore arrive even lower, but are not taken into account.
The map of the best high schools by department
► Consult our guide to high schools in France depending on your city or department, as well as our interactive map. You can also search directly for the name of your high school with our search engine:
What criteria are taken into account in the ranking?
The ministry takes into account “IVALs”, in other words “high school added value indicators” to evaluate each establishment. There are three of them:
- The success rate for baccalaureate results, that is to say the share of baccalaureate holders among those who took the exam, which represents 50% of the mark.
- The rate of baccalaureate mentions is one of the criteria taken into account in the ranking of the best French high schools, which accounts for 25% of the score. This is the share of baccalaureate graduates received with a distinction, whatever it may be (fairly good, good, or very good)
- The baccalaureate access rate corresponds to the probability that a student will obtain their diploma after completing their high school education, from second to final year, including if they have repeated a year. This criterion also represents 25% of the establishment’s score.
These criteria thus make it possible to assess the establishment’s capacity to support a student from entry into high school until obtaining their baccalaureate. Finally, the added value of a high school measures the difference between the results obtained and those expected, taking into account the academic and socio-demographic characteristics of the students. Thus, the rate of access to the baccalaureate allows certain high schools from disadvantaged backgrounds to be as well placed as high schools that only accept students with good results.
