Grande école

A grande école (French: [ɡʁɑ̃d ekɔl]; lit. 'great school') is a specialized top-level educational institution in France and some other countries such as Algeria and Morocco. Grandes écoles are part of an alternative educational system that operates alongside the mainstream French public university system, and are dedicated to teaching, research and professional training in either pure natural and social sciences, or applied sciences such as engineering, architecture, business administration, or public policy and administration.

Similar to the Ivy League in the United States, the Golden Triangle in the UK, Designated National Universities in Japan and C9 League in China, Grandes écoles are elite academic institutions that admit students through an extremely competitive process. Grandes écoles primarily admit students based on their national ranking in written and oral exams called concours, which are organized annually by the French Ministry of Education. While anyone can register for concours, successful candidates have almost always completed two or three years of dedicated preparatory classes (classes préparatoires) prior to admission.

As they are separate from universities, most of them do not deliver the undergraduate degree of the Licence (the university bachelor's degree in France) or the university master's degree, but deliver :

• the Accredited Diploma awarding a grade de master (for example, delivered with a Programme Grande École or for Master in Management in business schools) or grade de licence;
• the Engineer's Diploma (Diplôme d'Ingénieur) awarding a grade de master;

Admission to the grandes écoles is extremely selective. Grandes écoles are generally publicly funded and therefore have limited tuition costs. Some, especially business schools (Écoles de commerce) and specialized schools, are organised privately and therefore have more costly tuition.