Request to the town hall to enrol a child at school (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 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.
- Made for use in France
- Last updated October 13, 2026
When to use this document
- Your child is starting nursery or primary school in France and you need to enrol them at the town hall.
- You have moved to a new town and need a place for your child at the local school.
- Your town hall has no enrolment form or online portal of its own.
- You want to ask in writing for a school place and the enrolment certificate to show the head teacher.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Parent
- Parent's address
- Town hall (e.g. Mairie de Lyon)
- Town hall's postal address
- City
- Date
- School year
- Child
- Child's date of birth
- Class level requested (e.g. petite section, CP)
- School attended until now
- The child's other legal guardian (name and address)
- Attachments
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- How does enrolment at a French nursery or primary school work?
- In two steps: the town hall of your home enrols the child and gives you a certificat d’inscription naming the catchment school; you then show it to the head teacher, who admits the child. Schooling is compulsory from 3 to 16. Each commune sets its enrolment period, often in spring for the September start: check its website, and use its own form or online portal if there is one, free of charge.
- Can one parent alone enrol a child at school in France?
- As a rule, yes: towards third parties acting in good faith, each parent is deemed to act with the other's agreement for usual acts of parental authority (article 372-2 of the French Civil Code), and a first enrolment is generally one. The letter has a line for the other legal guardian. If the parents disagree about the school or the other parent has objected, the town hall may ask for both parents' agreement, and the family judge settles the dispute.
- For a French collège or lycée, does enrolment go through the town hall?
- No. The town hall deals only with nursery and primary school. Entry to a state collège or lycée goes through the school and the education authority's services, under the academic director (DASEN), on a calendar set each year; after a move, contact the catchment collège or lycée of your new address. To change school without moving home, a request for an exception is needed.
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
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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.
- Request for a school certificate or school file (France)
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.
- 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.