Request for a school certificate or school file (France)
Published byDocMuse
This document is in French
The PDF you download is in French — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
For a parent, or an adult pupil, who needs a certificate of school attendance (for the CAF, an employer, a grant body), a leaving certificate after a move, the transfer of the school file to the new school, or a copy of the school report book. The certificate is often a free download from the school's digital workspace (ENT), and the report book from ÉduConnect: check there first. In French, the letter to the head identifies the pupil, the document wanted and who it is for.
- Made for use in France
- Last updated October 13, 2026
When to use this document
- The CAF or your employer in France asks for a certificate showing that your child attends school.
- You are moving house and the new school needs your child’s school file.
- You need a leaving certificate after taking your child out of a school.
- You cannot find the certificate online and want to ask the head teacher in writing.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Parent
- Parent's address
- School
- School's postal address
- City
- Date
- Document requested
- Pupil
- Child's date of birth
- Class
- School year
- New school (name and town)
- Office it is to be shown to
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- Where can a French school certificate be obtained without writing to the school?
- In most collèges and lycées it is a free download from the school's digital workspace; the school report book can be viewed on ÉduConnect with the legal guardian's account. At primary school, the head issues it on simple request, often through the home-school notebook. The certificate is free. The letter is for when these routes are not enough, for instance for a past year or a pupil who has left the school.
- Which documents should be asked of a French school when moving house?
- At primary school, ask the head for the leaving certificate (certificat de radiation): the new school asks for it with the enrolment certificate issued by the town hall of your new commune. The school report book follows the pupil. At collège and lycée, tell the school about the move, and it passes the school file to the new one; give its name in the letter. Make the request as soon as the departure date is known.
- Can an adult pupil or a separated parent ask for a school certificate in France?
- Yes. An adult pupil makes the request personally. Both parents with parental authority have the same right to be informed about their child's schooling, even if separated, and either can ask for a certificate. If an adult pupil sends the letter, adapt the sentence on parental authority. Hand the letter to the school or send it by ordinary post; registered post is only worth it if the document is slow to come.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
Related documents
- Request for an exception to the school catchment area (France)
For a parent who wants their child in a French state nursery or primary school other than the catchment one, in the same commune or another. If the town hall has its own form, free of charge, use it. Otherwise this letter in French to the mayor identifies the child, the catchment school and the school requested, and gives the ground: a brother or sister at the school, work constraints, medical reasons certified under separate cover, or another reason. No exception is a right. For collège and lycée, the request goes to the academic director.
- Note justifying a pupil's absence from school (France)
For a parent who must justify a child's absence from a French school, collège or lycée: a dated, signed note giving the pupil, class, dates and half-days missed, and the reason, chosen from those article L. 131-8 of the French Education Code recognises, with no health detail at all. The home-school notebook, the school's own slip or the ENT remain the usual free route; this template is for when they are not at hand or for an absence of several days. In French, handed to the school without delay.
- Request to the town hall to enrol a child at school (France)
For a parent enrolling a child in a French state nursery or primary school, for the first time or after a move. Many town halls have their own form or a free online portal: use it if there is one. Otherwise this letter in French to the school affairs department asks for enrolment and for the certificat d’inscription to show the head teacher (article L. 131-5 of the French Education Code), and lists the documents: family record book or birth certificate, proof of address, vaccinations.