France changed the rules in 2022, and much of what is written online about homeschooling there has not caught up. Instruction en famille now requires prior authorization from the education authority, granted on four narrow grounds only — and a preference for an international curriculum is explicitly not one of them. We are an online school, and it would be commercially convenient for us to blur that. We would rather state it plainly and then show you where a virtual school genuinely fits in France, because there are real, legitimate fits — they are just not the ones most providers imply.
What changed in 2022
The loi confortant le respect des principes de la Republique (August 2021, fully effective for new cases from September 2022) replaced France's old declaration system with prior authorization from the DASEN. The four qualifying grounds: the child's health, intensive sport or artistic training, family travel or itinerant lifestyle, and a specific documented situation such as genuine distance from any school. Rejection rates are meaningfully high, including for families who homeschooled without issue before the reform. Authorized families face an annual academic inspection.
What does not qualify — and what that means
Wanting Cambridge, IB, or American curriculum instead of the French system is not a recognised ground, and no online school's enrolment changes that legal test. Any provider suggesting its programme helps you "get approved" on curriculum-preference grounds is selling you a misunderstanding of French law. This matters because the consequences of unauthorized non-attendance in France are real.
Fit one: supplementary alongside a school enrolment
The most common and cleanest arrangement: the child remains enrolled at a French or international school, and the virtual school runs as structured supplementary curriculum — maintaining a Cambridge trajectory toward IGCSE and A-Level, extending STEM depth, or holding continuity with a previous country's system. This is unaffected by the IEF authorization question entirely, and it is how most of our France families work with us.
Fit two: authorized families — especially itinerant ones
Family travel or itinerant lifestyle is a recognised ground, which is directly relevant to genuinely mobile families: diplomatic postings, and the EU-institution rotations concentrated around Strasbourg's European Parliament, Council of Europe, and Court of Human Rights. Authorization still requires the family's own DASEN application and documentation — we do not handle or guarantee that process — but for families who hold it, a live, documented curriculum with teaching records and progress reports is exactly what the annual academic inspection wants to see.
The infrastructure is the best we serve anywhere
Whatever the K-12 constraints, France's exam and university logistics are outstanding: the British Council operates in nine cities — Paris, Lyon, Toulouse, Nice, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Lille, Marseille, Nantes — the widest exam-centre network in any country we serve, and Cambridge International publishes an official guide confirming that IGCSE and A-Level results feed directly into Parcoursup, France's national university admission platform, alongside the Baccalaureat and IB. The pathway from a Cambridge programme into French universities is real and documented by Cambridge itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can we homeschool in France just because we prefer an international curriculum?+
No. Since 2022, IEF authorization is granted only for health, intensive sport or arts, family travel, or a specific documented situation. Curriculum preference alone does not qualify, and we will not suggest otherwise.
So is a virtual school pointless in France?+
Not at all — it just fits differently: as supplementary curriculum alongside a school enrolment (the most common arrangement), or as primary delivery for families who already hold DASEN authorization on a recognised ground, such as itinerant diplomatic and EU-institution families.
We are an EU-institution family in Strasbourg — do we qualify?+
Itinerant lifestyle is a recognised ground and genuinely relevant to EU-institution rotations, but authorization still requires your own DASEN application and documentation. We provide the structured curriculum; the application is yours to make.
Where do students in France sit Cambridge exams?+
Through the British Council's nine-city network — the best domestic exam coverage of any country Smartious serves — or at Cambridge-authorised French international schools accepting private candidates.
ONLINE-SCHOOL
ONLINE-SCHOOL
ONLINE-SCHOOL