Boarding schools of excellence allow motivated middle and high school students to express their potential and develop their academic ambitions, by offering them optimal working conditions and a reinforced educational project.
The educational and pedagogical project of the boarding school is built in coherence with the establishment project and/or the contract of objectives. It aims to decompartmentalize the boarding school from the rest of the students’ activities by favoring educational continuity and consistency between the actions proposed on school time and educational time. The project is based on a collective development process involving all the players in the educational community. Teachers could, for example, be involved in helping boarding students with their homework. Thus, interns benefit from personalized educational supportin parallel with their week of lessons: school remediation, support for personal work. Sports and cultural activities to be enjoyed collectively are also offered to students.
The “Boarding school of excellence” label is granted to boarding schools that engage in a project approach, in compliance with the 6 criteria defined in the label’s specifications:
a strong territorial anchoring ;
a pedagogical and educational project that aims for excellence;
clearly defined procedures for recruiting and welcoming boarding students ;
efficient management and teams trained in boarding professions ;
attractive and safe reception and accommodation conditions for interns;
formalized management around the project that mobilizes the entire educational community.
The labeling procedure guarantees the quality of the project , particularly with regard to its pedagogical and educational objectives and its methods of development, implementation and evaluation. The label is granted for a period of five years, after which the project will be evaluated.
Projects must be established in close collaboration with local authorities and mobilize all local resources . This local anchoring and the mobilization of numerous partnerships bring to each boarding school its own colour. The boarding school of excellence will then be able to distinguish itself according to whether it has a rural or professional coloring with “trades” courses in professional boarding schools for example, or within thematic residences (arts and culture, sport, digital, openness international, environment and sustainable development, science).
The colors or themes thus defined must make it possible to aim for equal access for all to a wide range of activities and areas of personal expression, while contributing to the development of social and human skills.
In total, 307 boarding schools of excellence labeled on the national territory will be able to accommodate at least 30,000 students by the start of the 2022 school year, with a target of at least one boarding school of excellence per department.
Consult the map of boarding schools of excellence
Zoom in-zoom out to access boarding schools outside mainland France or open the map in full screen .
The boarding school is aimed at all motivated middle and high school students who wish to change their living environment in order to succeed in their studies, build their professional project, develop their sense of community life and responsibilities.
These boarding schools can also respond to specific difficulties encountered by students who do not benefit from a favorable environment for successful studies. These difficulties can be social, economic or familial.
All students can apply to join a boarding school of excellence : thanks to the variety of courses offered, they can choose the one that interests them, even if they are located far from their home.
If the boarding school of excellence adapts to the needs of each, it is a schooling choice resulting from a common reflection , born from the will to succeed. It therefore involves both the educational community (teachers, supervisory staff, etc.) and the families and boarders themselves. The link between all these actors is therefore essential.
Applications for boarding school are submitted from March-April according to the procedures and timetables defined at the level of each academy. The file can be compiled with the help of the establishment attended by the student. The answers are communicated to the families at the end of May or the beginning of June.
For any information relating to the boarding school admission calendar, consult the webpage of your academy rectorate.
Consult the page on Internats d’excellence on the education.gouv.fr websiteConsult the page on Internats d’excellence on the education.gouv.fr website
Financial assistance allows families to pay boarding school fees. The flat-rate annual boarding school bonus was revised at the start of the 2021 school year ( OJ of 07/14/2021 ).
The boarding school bonus is progressive and is awarded according to the level of scholarship granted to the boarding student. This aid, amounting to between €327 (1 st level) and €672 (6 th level), is allocated to all boarding students with scholarships (in middle school, high school or in a regional adapted education establishment – EREA). This is paid in 3 instalments, each quarter, automatically deducted from the bill for pension costs. The families therefore have no file to compile.
Depending on the authorities to which the establishment is attached, additional aid may be granted to families. For more information, contact the administrator or social worker of your establishment.
Financial mobilization of the France Recovery Plan
As part of the “Cohesion” component of the Recovery Plan, an envelope of 50 million euros is planned to support the investment of local authorities in the creation, extension or rehabilitation of boarding schools of excellence.
Among the projects submitted as part of the France Relance call for projects, 54 were selected and labeled in March 2021 , representing nearly 1,500 places created and more than 3,000 places rehabilitated . In May 2021, a new phase of labeling enabled 253 new boarding schools of excellence to see the light of day. At the start of the 2021 school year, they can accommodate 30,000 students.