page_title: Classe préparatoire aux grandes écoles
hierarchical_section_title: Classe préparatoire aux grandes écoles
caption_attribution_description: Entrée du Lycée Henri IV, rue Clovis.
context_page_description: The classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles, commonly called classes prépas or prépas, are part of the French post-secondary education system. They consist of two years of study which act as an intensive preparatory course with the main goal of training students for enrolment in one of the grandes écoles. The workload is one of the highest in Europe.
  Unlike most students in France who enroll in public universities directly after receiving a high school diploma, students from CPGE have to take national competitive exams to be allowed to enrol in one of the Grandes Écoles. These Grandes Écoles are higher education establishments delivering master's degrees and/or doctorates. They include science and engineering schools, business schools, the four veterinary colleges and the four écoles normales supérieures but do not include medical or law schools, nor architecture schools. Their competitive entrance exams make having attended one of the grandes écoles being often regarded as a status symbol as they have traditionally produced most of France's scientists, executives and intellectuals.
  Hence, there are three kinds of different prépas: scientific, economic and literary CPGE.
context_section_description: The classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles (CPGE) (English: Higher School Preparatory Classes), commonly called classes prépas or prépas, are part of the French post-secondary education system. They consist of two years of study (extendable to three or exceptionally four years) which act as an intensive preparatory course (or cram school) with the main goal of training students for enrolment in one of the grandes écoles. The workload is one of the highest in Europe (29 to 45 contact hours a week, with up to 10 hours of guided tutorials and oral exam sessions).
  Unlike most students in France who enroll in public universities directly after receiving a high school diploma, students from CPGE have to take national competitive exams to be allowed to enrol in one of the Grandes Écoles. These Grandes Écoles are higher education establishments (graduate schools) delivering master's degrees and/or doctorates. They include science and engineering schools, business schools, the four veterinary colleges and the four écoles normales supérieures but do not include medical or law schools, nor architecture schools. Their competitive entrance exams make having attended one of the grandes écoles being often regarded as a status symbol as they have traditionally produced most of France's scientists, executives and intellectuals (École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers, Écoles Normales Supérieures, École Polytechnique, Écoles des Mines, Écoles Centrales, ESTP Paris, Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace, ParisTech Schools, HEC Paris, ESSEC Business School, ESCP Business School, EMLYON Business School, EDHEC Business School...).
  Hence, there are three kinds of different prépas: scientific, economic and literary CPGE. Each of them prepare to pass the competitive exams of those grandes écoles.
caption: Front entrance of Lycée Henri-IV, in Paris, one of the famous Lycées providing access to Grandes écoles.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "NIKON", "Image Model": "E8800", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS2 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2006:04:01 14:07:37", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "236", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "998", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7257", "EXIF ExposureTime": "5/733", "EXIF FNumber": "63/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "50", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2005:09:18 13:44:37", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2005:09:18 13:44:37", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "7", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "31/10", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "24", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1000", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "750", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "872", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "94", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}