# Number of Schools in France: 47,800 Preschools and Elementary Schools in 2026

> Number of schools in France: 47,837 open as of November 6, 2026. Explore public, private and fully private schools, buyers, sizes, networks and regions.

Source: https://scalon.fr/en/observatory/number-of-schools-in-france

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[← The Observatory](/en/observatory)

Observatory · Education and Training

A school-by-school market count using the November 6, 2026 Annuaire de l'éducation: school numbers, purchasing decision-makers, account sizes and locations, for suppliers of school supplies, furniture, meals, technology, construction services or insurance.

By [Nicolas Morillot](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-morillot-22b656174/) · Co-founder of Scalon

Annuaire de l'éducation of November 6, 2026 · Enrollment per school, start of the 2025 school year · Purchasing structure and Sirene register data reviewed on November 2, 2026 · DEPP, 2025 school year

The short answer

France has 47,837 open schools as of November 6, 2026, according to the Education Ministry's school directory (Annuaire de l'éducation): 42,128 public, 4,559 private under state contract and 1,150 fully private. Without the fully private schools, you get the scope of the ministry's official count: 46,687 schools, versus 46,979 in fall 2025. For suppliers, the 46,484 schools linked to the business register represent 24,809 purchasing decision-makers: 20,535 local authorities for public schools and 4,274 private decision-makers, each either a managing body or a network of managing bodies (4,377 bodies in the register). And 15,434 local authorities, almost all of them communes (French municipalities), have only one school: for a supplier, each is a single-school customer.

Get the list of the 47,800 schools in France, with the contact details available.

Published on November 2, 2026 · Updated on November 6, 2026

Key figures

47,837

Open schools

Annuaire de l'éducation as of November 6, 2026, fully private schools included

46,687

Public and private contract schools

The scope of the ministry's official count (46,979 at the start of the 2025 school year)

24,809

Purchasing decision-makers

20,535 local authorities for public schools, 4,274 private decision-makers (managing bodies or networks)

15,434

Local authorities with only one school

36.8% of the public schools linked to the register; half of their schools have 61 students or fewer

534

Local authorities with 10 schools or more

12,829 public schools and 42.1% of public school students: the key accounts

## In this article

- Why does the number of schools vary by source?
- How big is the school market in euros?
- What NAF code applies to a school?
- Market vocabulary
- Level 1. The school universe: 62,535 institutions
- Level 2. Schools: preschool, elementary, primary
- Level 3. Sector: public, private contract, fully private
- Level 4. Size: how many students per school?
- Level 5. Who decides? Local authorities, bodies and networks
- Private networks by type
- Specialties: what schools offer
- Level 6. Where are the schools?
- Is the market changing?
- School submarkets
- How do you use these figures in a market study?
- How do you build a school prospect list?
- Frequently asked questions
- Method
- Key takeaways

## How many schools are there in France: the answer depends on your question

| Question | Key figure |
| --- | --- |
| How many open schools in France? | 47,837 |
| How many public schools? | 42,128 |
| How many private contract schools? | 4,559 |
| How many fully private schools? | 1,150 |
| How many preschools, elementary schools, primary schools? | 11,944, 12,638 and 23,241 |
| How many students? | 6,154,899 (start of the 2025 school year, public and private contract) |
| How many purchasing decision-makers? | 20,535 local authorities and 4,274 private decision-makers |
| How many educational institutions in total, including schools, middle schools, high schools and EREA (regional schools for adapted education)? | 62,535 |

The right answer therefore depends on the question. To know how many sites to visit or call, the benchmark is 47,837. To compare with the ministry's official count, it is 46,687. To sell to local authorities, look at the 20,535 public buyers, not the 42,128 schools. To sell to private schools, it is the 4,274 private decision-makers. To tailor an offering to customer size, use enrollment: 6,154,899 students at the start of the 2025 school year. For the whole school universe, middle schools and high schools included, the census covers 62,535 institutions.

## Why does the number of schools vary by source?

At the start of the 2025 school year, France has 46,979 primary-level schools (premier degré, preschool through fifth grade), public and private under contract with the state. The Ministry of National Education rounds this to 47,000. The figure comes from the DEPP (the ministry's statistics office), in its Repères et références statistiques 2026 (its annual statistical yearbook).

As of November 6, 2026, our school-by-school count in the Annuaire de l'éducation, the ministry's official directory of open schools, finds 46,687 schools within the same scope: about 300 fewer in a little over a year. The DEPP count for the 2026 school year has not been published yet.

For the 2025 school year, the count within this scope is 46,979 schools, not 47,400. The "47,400" you see elsewhere is the figure for the 2024 school year (47,413): it is a year out of date.

The breakdown: 42,396 public schools and 4,583 private contract schools. Fully private schools are not included in this number.

The gaps come from three things: the date, the scope counted and the unit. The DEPP surveys schools at the start of each school year. The directory lists the schools open on the day of download. INSEE's Sirene register (INSEE is France's national statistics office) classifies business locations by activity code, not schools.

| Publication | Published figure | What it counts | Why it differs from 47,837 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DEPP, Repères et références statistiques 2026 | 46,979 schools at the start of the 2025 school year; 48,087 with 1,108 fully private schools | Public and private contract schools, survey at the start of the school year | Different method (a survey at the start of each school year), different date, and fully private schools counted separately |
| L'Éducation nationale en chiffres 2026 | "47,000" schools | The same scope, rounded | A rounding, not another count |
| Annuaire de l'éducation, Scalon count of November 6, 2026 | 47,837 open schools; 48,338 including the overseas collectivities, a separate category of French overseas territory | Schools open on the download date, fully private schools included | Our benchmark: the complete market to date |
| An unofficial online directory | 48,343 schools | Overseas collectivities included, same official source, different date | Wider scope (501 schools in the overseas collectivities) and earlier date: 506 more schools |
| Fully private school associations | 1,873 primary-level institutions (2026 school year), versus 1,150 schools in the directory | Preschool and elementary sections of the same school complex counted separately (1,324 school complexes across all levels in March 2026) | Unit: a school complex is one school in the directory, two institutions in their count |
| Sirene register, codes 85.20Z and 85.10Z, read on November 2, 2026 | 58,230 open business locations, of which 11,966 are not schools in the directory (1 in 5) | Locations filed with a primary or pre-primary education activity code | An activity code is not an open school (see below) |
| Automated company directories | 5,154 "companies" classified 85.20Z | Bodies (SIREN number, the French company ID) | A body can run several schools, or none |

There is therefore no single "right number" that invalidates the others. The 46,979 answers "how many schools did the DEPP count at the start of the 2025 school year?": it is a survey taken at the start of the school year. The 47,837 answers "how many schools are open today, fully private schools included?": it is the complete market for anyone selling to schools.

What other sources say

- The DEPP counts 46,979 public and private contract schools at the start of the 2025 school year, and 48,087 when the 1,108 fully private schools are added (Repères et références statistiques 2026, sheets "Les écoles" and "Les structures de formation initiale"). It is a survey run at the start of each school year.
- The Annuaire de l'éducation lists the schools open on the day of download. As of November 6, 2026, it gives 47,837 in France, fully private schools included, and 48,338 with the 501 schools of the overseas collectivities (French Polynesia, New Caledonia…).
- The ministry publishes rounded figures: "47,000 schools" and "57,700 schools and 2nd-level (secondary) institutions" in L'Éducation nationale en chiffres 2026.
- The two official sources measure the same scope one year apart: the gap between them comes mostly from the date (closures and mergers at the start of the 2026 school year), but the two counts are not made the same way: fully private schools, for example, are slightly more numerous in the directory (1,150) than in the DEPP count (1,108).
- Fully private school associations count the preschool and the elementary school of the same complex separately. Créer son école lists 2,665 fully private institutions at the start of the 2026 school year, of which 1,873 at the primary level, and 1,324 school complexes in March 2026.

## How big is the school market in euros?

Education spending for the primary level reaches €58.5 billion in 2024, according to the DEPP's Repères et références statistiques 2026. In 2025, a primary-level student costs €9,440 on average (DEPP information note 26.42, September 2026).

This total covers the whole primary level: it cannot be divided by the number of schools. Teacher salaries are paid by the state, not by the school, and a small school does not have the budget of a large one.

For anyone selling to schools, the useful question is who the buyer is. Local authorities fund 38% of primary-level spending. For public schools, that is the commune: "La commune a la charge des écoles publiques. Elle est propriétaire des locaux et en assure la construction, la reconstruction, l'extension, les grosses réparations, l'équipement et le fonctionnement" (the commune is responsible for public schools; it owns the buildings and handles their construction, rebuilding, extension, major repairs, equipment and operation; Code de l'éducation, article L212-4). It also pays for the preschool assistants (Atsem, municipal staff specialized in preschools), school meals and maintenance.

Communes' investment in education grew 5.1% in 2025, driven by the school renovation plan launched in 2023: this is the spending category for construction work, furniture and equipment.

For private contract schools, the commune pays the school a municipal subsidy (forfait communal), based on the cost of a public school student (article L. 442-5 of the Code de l'éducation). Its amount varies from one local authority to another: €817.70 per student for an intercommunal subsidy in Vals de Saintonge in 2024, €723.37 in preschool and €321.64 in elementary school in Raismes. We did not find a published national total; a senator judged in 2026, in a written question, that "determining this reference cost remains too heterogeneous and insufficiently objective."

Revenue is not a usable measure of private school size: among the published accounts we reviewed, recent revenue figures are available for only 20 school managing bodies, since associations generally are not required to file accounts with the register. Account size is therefore measured by enrollment (level 4).

## What NAF code applies to a school?

INSEE classifies primary education under NAF code 85.20Z (a French business activity code, also called an APE code), "Enseignement primaire" (primary education). Preschools fall under 85.10Z, "Enseignement pré-primaire" (pre-primary education). NAF 2025, published on September 4, 2026, keeps a class 85.20 "Enseignement primaire."

A count in [Sirene](/en/blog/sirene-database), INSEE's business register, counts declared business locations, not schools in the DEPP sense. The two numbers do not measure the same scope.

A public school is a location of its commune in the register: it carries the commune's SIRET number (the French ID of a business location), not that of a separate entity.

We ran that count on November 2, 2026, with code 85.20Z and the preschool code, 85.10Z: 58,230 open business locations. Of these, 46,264 are schools in the directory, matched by their SIRET number. The other 11,966, or 1 in 5, are not.

What these register rows are: our reading of 80 of them

We read 80 of these rows, picked at random, with their public listings and the list of schools in their commune. About 45% carry a school name with no sign of activity: most often former schools that closed or merged and whose number stayed open. About 1 in 5 is a directory school registered under another number or merged with a neighboring school, and 11% are a managing body or a head office; for the rest, the listings do not settle the question. No operating school missing from the directory was found: the 5 rows that our first reading classified that way are all in it, under another number, with no number, or merged with a primary school in the same commune (checked on November 6, 2026). Even without reviewing individual records, we can identify at least 2,172 active registration numbers belonging to communes with no school, classified under "primary" or "pre-primary education."

The register also misses some: 1 private contract school in 15, and nearly half of fully private schools, are filed under another code, for example that of a middle school (85.31Z) or of an association (94.99Z).

The [addressable market calculator](/en/blog/tam-sam-som) starts from the same idea: a market is sized on a real count, with its scope written down.

## Market vocabulary

Sixteen terms come up in this study; the most useful ones for selling are "managing local authority" and "managing body": they are the buyers.

The sixteen market terms, explained simply

| Term | Simple definition |
| --- | --- |
| Preschool (école maternelle) | School for children from the first to the last year of preschool. |
| Elementary school (école élémentaire) | School for first through fifth grade (CP to CM2). |
| Primary school (école primaire) | School that combines preschool and elementary classes. The directory recognizes it by the levels it has. |
| RPI | Regroupement pédagogique intercommunal: several communes share the classes of their schools. |
| Private contract (sous contrat) | Private school tied to the state by a contract: its teachers are paid by the state and it follows the official curriculum of the public school. The school usually has a contrat d'association (association contract with the state), though a contrat simple (simple contract with the state) is another option. |
| Fully private (hors contrat) | Private school with no contract with the state: it funds itself, with no municipal subsidy. |
| OGEC | Organisme de gestion de l'enseignement catholique: the association that manages the operations, finances and staffing of one or more private Catholic schools. |
| Managing body | Association, foundation or company that owns and runs a private school. It is the buyer. |
| UAI | School number: the school's ID in the Annuaire de l'éducation. |
| SIRET, SIREN | IDs in the business register: the SIREN designates the body (9 digits), the SIRET a location (14 digits). |
| Managing local authority | The commune, intercommunal body or joint municipal authority responsible for a public school. It is the buyer. |
| REP, REP+ | Réseau d'éducation prioritaire (priority education network), with additional support under REP+: schools where classes for the final preschool year (grande section), first grade (CP) and second grade (CE1) are split into two smaller classes. |
| ULIS | A class for students with disabilities within a regular school. |
| Municipal subsidy (forfait communal) | Amount per student that the commune pays to a private contract school. |
| Atsem | Agent territorial spécialisé des écoles maternelles: a municipal employee who assists in preschools, employed by the commune. |
| Independent | A school outside any network: not part of a chain, franchise, banner or buying group, nor of a religious network such as Catholic education. A school whose managing body runs only that school is therefore not necessarily independent. |

## Level 1. The school universe: 62,535 institutions

The starting point is the 62,535 educational institutions listed as open in the Annuaire de l'éducation, including 47,837 preschools and elementary schools. Preschools and elementary schools differ from middle schools: the markets for cafeterias, schools and textbooks vary by education level.

| Type of institution | Open as of November 6, 2026 | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Schools | 47,837 | 76.5% |
| Middle schools (collèges) | 9,040 | 14.5% |
| High schools (lycées) | 5,578 | 8.9% |
| EREA (regional schools for adapted education) | 80 | 0.1% |
| Total | 62,535 | 100% |

The rest of the study covers the 47,837 schools, the denominator in the title. The directory also lists 5,251 sites outside the school, middle school and high school categories (medical and social services, administrative offices, information and guidance centers, and other or unspecified categories); these are excluded from the total.

Secondary education is counted separately: the DEPP counts 10,678 middle schools, high schools and EREA at the start of the 2025 school year, with 7,821 public institutions and 2,857 private contract ones. The directory's total is different because it also counts 1,078 fully private middle schools and high schools, and because a high school can carry several numbers there. Combining schools and secondary institutions, the ministry counts about 57,700. Higher education, another level of the French education system, is not counted in any of these numbers.

## Level 2. Schools: preschool, elementary, primary

In the public sector, the DEPP distinguishes three types of school. A primary school (école primaire) combines preschool (maternelle) and elementary classes. At the start of the 2025 school year, there are 12,065 public preschools, 13,914 public elementary schools and 16,417 public primary schools.

The directory classifies schools by the levels they have: a school with preschool and elementary classes is a primary school. Under this classification, the market has 11,944 preschools, 12,638 elementary schools and 23,241 primary schools, all sectors. In the public sector alone, the directory lists 11,768 preschools, 12,405 elementary schools and 17,941 primary schools, versus 12,065, 13,914 and 16,417 for the DEPP: the gap comes from the date and the classification rule.

| Type of school, Annuaire of November 6, 2026 | Public | Private contract | Fully private | Total | Share |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Preschools | 11,768 | 33 | 143 | 11,944 | 25.0% |
| Elementary schools | 12,405 | 86 | 147 | 12,638 | 26.4% |
| Primary schools | 17,941 | 4,440 | 860 | 23,241 | 48.6% |
| Level not stated | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0.0% |
| Total | 42,128 | 4,559 | 1,150 | 47,837 | 100% |

The total is falling. France had 52,586 schools in 2012, 47,413 in 2024, then 46,979 in 2025: 434 fewer in one year.

Part of the decline comes from administrative mergers. The DEPP cites "notably" those "between preschools and elementary schools that are geographically very close, in order to form a primary school."

Fewer schools does not mean few students: the primary level serves 6,154,900 students at the start of the 2025 school year, according to the DEPP. In the public sector, 8% of schools have only one class (level 4).

## Level 3. Sector: public, private contract, fully private

The sector tells who buys and how. A public school buys through its commune, under public procurement rules. A private school buys through its managing body.

| Sector | Schools | Share of schools | Students |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Public | 42,128 | 88.1% | 5,315,615 |
| Private contract | 4,559 | 9.5% | 839,284 |
| Fully private | 1,150 | 2.4% | 59,800 (DEPP, start of the 2025 school year) |
| Total | 47,837 | 100% |  |

Enrollment figures for public and private contract schools come from the file for the start of the 2025 school year; figures for fully private schools come from the DEPP, which counts 59,800 students in 1,108 schools. Of the 4,559 private contract schools, 4,385 have an association contract for all their classes.

The fully private sector is changing. The DEPP counted 1,108 in 2025 and 502 in 2015: their number has more than doubled in ten years, partly thanks to better counting according to the DEPP, with a slight decline in 2025 (1,134 in 2024). They make up only 2.4% of schools, but 44 of the 74 schools opened in the directory in twelve months (see "Is the market changing?"). Paris has the most: 109.

**Selling to schools in France?** Get the list for your area and your target, ready to call.

## Level 4. Size: how many students per school?

To sell to a school, the number of students matters more than the number of schools. A typical public school has 106 students and 5 classes; a typical private contract school has 149, in 6 classes. Across all schools, half have 108 students or fewer.

These sizes come from the enrollment file for the start of the 2025 school year (data.education.gouv.fr), which counts 42,396 public schools and 4,583 private contract schools, or the DEPP's 46,979.

| Students per school | Public schools | Share | Public school students | Private contract schools | Share | Private contract students |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Under 50 | 8,399 | 19.8% | 259,129 | 453 | 9.9% | 15,760 |
| 50 to 99 | 11,506 | 27.1% | 861,819 | 1,042 | 22.7% | 78,205 |
| 100 to 199 | 14,873 | 35.1% | 2,100,898 | 1,400 | 30.5% | 202,596 |
| 200 to 299 | 5,408 | 12.8% | 1,306,369 | 886 | 19.3% | 210,226 |
| 300 and over | 2,210 | 5.2% | 787,400 | 802 | 17.5% | 332,497 |
| Total | 42,396 | 100% | 5,315,615 | 4,583 | 100% | 839,284 |

From the enrollment file to the 47,837 schools in the title: 46,979 schools at the start of the 2025 school year, minus 399 that are no longer in the directory (closed or merged since) and 3 that became fully private, plus 110 public or private contract schools with no published enrollment (most often opened since the start of the 2025 school year) and the 1,150 fully private schools, for which no school-level enrollment figures are available.

Caption: public schools with 100 to 199 students are the most numerous (14,873); nearly 1 public school in 5 has under 50 students. Enrollment per school, start of the 2025 school year, public schools. Scalon Observatory, November 2026.

Chart data

| Students per public school, start of the 2025 school year | Public schools |
| --- | --- |
| Under 50 | 8,399 |
| 50 to 99 | 11,506 |
| 100 to 199 | 14,873 |
| 200 to 299 | 5,408 |
| 300 and over | 2,210 |

8,399 public schools (19.8%) have under 50 students, and 3,309 have only one class (the DEPP counts 3,300). These are small accounts, often in rural communes. At the other end, 7,742 public schools with 10 classes or more enroll 2,076,735 students, or 39.1% of public school students: for suppliers of meals, furniture or digital equipment, these schools represent a disproportionately large market.

Size also varies by region. A school in Île-de-France has 189 students on average, a school in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté 88. The largest schools are in Mayotte (295 students per school on average) and in French Guiana (266).

Students per school by region, start of the 2025 school year

Public and private contract schools, enrollment at the start of the 2025 school year.

| Region | Schools | Students per school |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Mayotte | 221 | 295 |
| Guyane | 190 | 266 |
| La Réunion | 520 | 215 |
| Île-de-France | 6,548 | 189 |
| Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | 2,977 | 158 |
| Guadeloupe | 257 | 138 |
| Martinique | 225 | 132 |
| Pays de la Loire | 2,665 | 130 |
| Bretagne | 2,238 | 129 |
| Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | 5,812 | 128 |
| Normandie | 2,371 | 121 |
| Hauts-de-France | 4,780 | 117 |
| Occitanie | 4,378 | 114 |
| Grand Est | 4,015 | 114 |
| Centre-Val de Loire | 2,012 | 111 |
| Nouvelle-Aquitaine | 4,587 | 103 |
| Corse | 243 | 99 |
| Bourgogne-Franche-Comté | 2,541 | 88 |

## Level 5. Who decides? Local authorities, bodies and networks

We define a player as a group of schools with the same decision-maker: the same body (SIREN number), the same network name or the same website. A school whose managing body runs only that school is not necessarily independent: it may belong to a network such as Catholic education. The structure covers 46,484 locations, that is, SIRET numbers open in the business register as of November 2, 2026: 41,940 public and 4,544 private.

From the 47,837 schools in the title to these 46,484 locations: 1,128 private schools and 171 public schools have no open SIRET number in the directory (including 540 fully private schools with no number at all); 46 schools share the SIRET number of another school (9 public, 37 private); 8 public schools have a number that was merged or changed between November 2 and 6.

### Public schools: 20,535 local authorities

For a public school, the customer who pays is the commune. The 41,940 public locations depend on 20,535 local authorities. Reviewing the November 6 directory school by school, we find that, of the 41,957 linked public schools (a few share a location), 41,659 are managed directly by a commune, 270 by an intercommunal body or joint municipal authority, and 28 by another public body, according to the employer's legal category in the register.

For anyone selling to communes, account sizes vary widely. 15,434 local authorities have only one school: they account for 36.8% of linked public schools, but 23.0% of students. At the other end, 534 local authorities with 10 schools or more run 12,829 schools enrolling 42.1% of public school students: these are the key accounts.

| Local authority size | Local authorities | Schools | Share of schools | Share of students |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 school | 15,434 | 15,434 | 36.8% | 23.0% |
| 2 to 9 schools | 4,567 | 13,677 | 32.6% | 34.9% |
| 10 to 49 schools | 494 | 8,847 | 21.1% | 29.1% |
| 50 schools and over | 40 | 3,982 | 9.5% | 13.0% |
| Total | 20,535 | 41,940 | 100% | 100% |

Caption: 40 local authorities each run 50 schools or more and bring together 13.0% of public school students; the 15,434 single-school authorities bring together 23.0%. Player structure as of November 2, 2026, students at the start of the 2025 school year. Scalon Observatory, November 2026.

Chart data

| Local authority size | Share of schools | Share of students |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 school | 36.8% | 23.0% |
| 2 to 9 schools | 32.6% | 34.9% |
| 10 to 49 schools | 21.1% | 29.1% |
| 50 schools and over | 9.5% | 13.0% |

The ten biggest public accounts are cities.

| Local authority | Schools | Students |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Paris | 617 | 100,678 |
| Marseille | 442 | 73,798 |
| Toulouse | 186 | 31,348 |
| Lyon | 158 | 31,383 |
| Nice | 149 | 27,989 |
| Nantes | 112 | 19,863 |
| Montpellier | 108 | 19,195 |
| Strasbourg | 103 | 22,994 |
| Bordeaux | 99 | 16,680 |
| Reims | 94 | 13,156 |

### Private schools: 4,274 decision-makers

In the private sector, the 4,544 locations are grouped under 4,274 decision-makers: individual managing bodies or networks of managing bodies (a federation counts as one decision-maker even when each school has its own association). They bring together 4,377 bodies in the register (SIREN numbers). 4,163 decision-makers have only one school: 91.6% of linked private schools. Applying the same rule to the November 6 directory and enrollment data from the start of the 2025 school year shows that 90.7% of private contract students attend a school whose decision-maker has only one private school.

| Decision-maker size | Decision-makers | Locations | Share |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 school | 4,163 | 4,163 | 91.6% |
| 2 to 9 schools | 105 | 243 | 5.3% |
| 10 to 49 schools | 6 | 138 | 3.0% |
| Total | 4,274 | 4,544 | 100% |

Private contract education is almost entirely Catholic: Catholic education (Enseignement catholique) reports 802,380 students at the primary level, or 95.6% of the 839,284 private contract students. Its managing bodies are OGECs; their national federation, FNOGEC, reports "more than 4,200" of them.

Fully private schools are the exception: 1 body in 5 there is a commercial company (104 SAS and SARL, France's two main company forms, out of 491). Nearly half of fully private schools (540 out of 1,150, or 47%) also have no SIRET number in the directory: to find them, you have to start from the directory, not from the business register.

## Private networks by type

In the private sector, networks are few. Out of the 4,544 private school locations whose SIRET number is open, at least 381 (8.4%) belong to a network of several schools, grouped by managing body, network name or shared website. Suppliers approach these three types of network differently because each has a different buyer.

| Type of network | Networks | Locations | Share | Evidence |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Branches: one body, several schools under one SIREN | 96 | 240 | 5.3% | Multi-school OGECs, Diwan Breizh, ABCM Zweisprachigkeit, Douces Maternelles, foundations |
| Federations of associations: each school has its own association | 4 | 108 | 2.4% | Diwan, Calandreta, Seaska, La Bressola: the federation says so publicly |
| Networks by shared website | 11 | 33 | 0.7% | Congregations (Dominicaines de Fanjeaux 10, Fraternité Saint-Pie X 4), Espérance banlieues 3; legal type not established |
| Franchise | none found | none found |  | Search on the networks' websites, no result; absence is not proven |
| Company groups | not established | not established |  | Three commercial companies each run several schools, the largest being Douces Maternelles; their link to a group is not established, so they count here as branches |
| Religious network: Catholic education (diocesan offices, OGECs federated by FNOGEC) | 1 | to be calculated |  | 95.6% of private contract students; "more than 4,200" OGECs according to FNOGEC; its schools are counted in the other rows, as they are not yet linked school by school |
| Single-school bodies, outside any network identified here | 4,163 | 4,163 | 91.6% | Player structure as of November 2, 2026; they include Catholic OGECs, which are not independents |
| Total | 4,274 decision-makers | 4,544 | 100% | 381 locations in an identified network (8.4%) and 4,163 single-school bodies (91.6%), Catholic education not linked |

The largest networks bring together regional-language schools: Diwan (39 locations), Calandreta (36) and Seaska (28).

The ten largest private networks

| Network | Locations |
| --- | --- |
| Diwan (19 associations) | 39 |
| Calandreta (32 associations) | 36 |
| Seaska (28 associations) | 28 |
| Douces Maternelles | 13 |
| ABCM Zweisprachigkeit | 12 |
| Dominicaines de Fanjeaux (scholae-fanjeaux) | 10 |
| École et Famille de Roubaix | 8 |
| La Bressola | 5 |
| Fondation Providence de Ribeauvillé | 5 |
| Apprentis d'Auteuil | 4 |

Networks sometimes publish larger figures: Diwan reports 48 schools, Seaska 33 ikastolas (Basque-language schools), and Calandreta 67 schools. They do not count the same unit as the directory and the register; the gap has not been measured school by school. Sharing a diocesan Catholic education office's website does not cause schools to be grouped together in our count, so the number of private schools identified as belonging to a network is a minimum, and the number of truly independent private schools remains to be calculated.

## Specialties: what schools offer

The Annuaire de l'éducation also shows what each school offers.

| What the school offers | Public schools | Private contract schools | Fully private schools |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| A school cafeteria | 41,038 out of 42,128 (97.4%) | 4,193 out of 4,559 (92.0%) | 298 out of 1,150 (25.9%) |
| A ULIS class (students with disabilities) | 4,914 | 423 | 7 |
| A priority education designation (REP or REP+) | 6,521 (4,084 REP, 2,437 REP+) | not applicable | not applicable |

The cafeteria is almost everywhere: 97% of public schools and 92% of private contract schools. Among fully private schools, only 298 out of 1,150 offer one. Priority education covers 15.5% of public schools, where the final preschool year (grande section), first grade (CP) and second grade (CE1) classes are split in two.

Fully private schools stand out by their teaching approach. We checked each fully private school's official name against a predefined list of keywords (Montessori, Steiner, Freinet…), and Scalon reviewed every name assigned to a category. The result is a minimum: a name does not say everything.

| What the official name of a fully private school says | Schools | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Montessori | 172 | 15.0% |
| Bilingual or international | 65 | 5.7% |
| Freinet, democratic or outdoor | 11 | 1.0% |
| Regional language | 8 | 0.7% |
| Steiner-Waldorf | 5 | 0.4% |
| Teaching approach not indicated in the name | 889 | 77.3% |
| Total | 1,150 | 100% |

Caption: 172 fully private schools have Montessori in their official name, or 15% of the 1,150; this is a minimum. Annuaire de l'éducation of November 6, 2026, official name of the school. Scalon Observatory, November 2026.

Chart data

| Teaching approach read from the official name | Fully private schools |
| --- | --- |
| Montessori | 172 |
| Bilingual or international | 65 |
| Freinet, democratic or outdoor | 11 |
| Regional language | 8 |
| Steiner-Waldorf | 5 |

Names also show religious affiliation: 128 Catholic or Christian schools, 21 Jewish, 14 Muslim and 2 Protestant. Other counts exist, with other units: Créer son école lists 391 school complexes that are "exclusively Montessori" in March 2026 (all levels), and the Association Montessori de France counts about 420 Montessori schools, of which 160 are members. Private contract schools belong mostly to Catholic education (95.6% of students).

## Level 6. Where are the schools?

As of November 6, 2026, Île-de-France has the most schools: 6,878. Next come Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (5,980) and Hauts-de-France (4,815).

| Region | Schools | Share | Public | Private contract | Fully private |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Île-de-France | 6,878 | 14.4% | 6,207 | 356 | 315 |
| Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | 5,980 | 12.5% | 5,192 | 633 | 155 |
| Hauts-de-France | 4,815 | 10.1% | 4,381 | 399 | 35 |
| Nouvelle-Aquitaine | 4,707 | 9.8% | 4,244 | 353 | 110 |
| Occitanie | 4,509 | 9.4% | 4,042 | 350 | 117 |
| Grand Est | 4,093 | 8.6% | 3,879 | 144 | 70 |
| Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | 3,086 | 6.5% | 2,803 | 183 | 100 |
| Pays de la Loire | 2,713 | 5.7% | 1,841 | 830 | 42 |
| Bourgogne-Franche-Comté | 2,585 | 5.4% | 2,443 | 106 | 36 |
| Normandie | 2,394 | 5.0% | 2,190 | 188 | 16 |
| Bretagne | 2,271 | 4.7% | 1,416 | 827 | 28 |
| Centre-Val de Loire | 2,050 | 4.3% | 1,893 | 123 | 34 |
| La Réunion | 545 | 1.1% | 496 | 26 | 23 |
| Guadeloupe | 276 | 0.6% | 244 | 13 | 19 |
| Corse | 250 | 0.5% | 238 | 7 | 5 |
| Mayotte | 246 | 0.5% | 222 | 0 | 24 |
| Martinique | 246 | 0.5% | 214 | 12 | 20 |
| Guyane | 193 | 0.4% | 183 | 9 | 1 |
| Total | 47,837 | 100% | 42,128 | 4,559 | 1,150 |

By department, Nord has the most schools: 1,774, according to the Annuaire de l'éducation. Next come Pas-de-Calais (1,249) and Bouches-du-Rhône (1,239). Lozère (103) and Corse-du-Sud (106) have the fewest.

Private contract education accounts for 45.8% of the public and private contract schools of Morbihan and 41.9% of those of Vendée, versus less than 3% in Seine-et-Marne or Moselle. Mayotte has none.

Caption: the top 8 départements are in western France, from Brittany to Vendée, where the share of private contract schools is 3 to 5 times the national share. Annuaire de l'éducation as of November 6, 2026, open public and private contract schools; all of France: 4,559 private contract schools out of 46,687. Scalon Observatory, November 2026.

Fully private schools are concentrated in large urban areas: Paris has 109, Hauts-de-Seine 54 and Rhône 51.

Out of 34,881 communes, 13,783 have no open school on their territory, or 4 in 10. Their children go to school in a neighboring commune, often within an intercommunal school grouping (RPI, regroupement pédagogique intercommunal): a member of the National Assembly cited 4,745 of them for the 2025-2026 school year, in a session of the Assemblée nationale, covering 15,784 communes. A Senate report counts, at the start of the 2022 school year, "nearly 7,000 communes without a school of their own" in these groupings: our count takes all communes without an open school, grouped or not.

The schools in each department

Annuaire de l'éducation as of November 6, 2026; départements ranked by number of open schools, from most to fewest. The share of private contract schools is calculated on public and private contract schools.

| Department | Schools | Share | Public | Private contract | Share of private contract | Fully private |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Nord (59) | 1,774 | 3.7% | 1,521 | 240 | 13.6% | 13 |
| Pas-de-Calais (62) | 1,249 | 2.6% | 1,152 | 93 | 7.5% | 4 |
| Bouches-du-Rhône (13) | 1,239 | 2.6% | 1,108 | 93 | 7.7% | 38 |
| Seine-et-Marne (77) | 1,104 | 2.3% | 1,058 | 26 | 2.4% | 20 |
| Rhône (69) | 1,029 | 2.2% | 841 | 137 | 14.0% | 51 |
| Yvelines (78) | 1,008 | 2.1% | 912 | 46 | 4.8% | 50 |
| Gironde (33) | 991 | 2.1% | 899 | 59 | 6.2% | 33 |
| Seine-Maritime (76) | 986 | 2.1% | 927 | 55 | 5.6% | 4 |
| Isère (38) | 945 | 2.0% | 860 | 66 | 7.1% | 19 |
| Seine-Saint-Denis (93) | 919 | 1.9% | 861 | 35 | 3.9% | 23 |
| Haute-Garonne (31) | 868 | 1.8% | 788 | 50 | 6.0% | 30 |
| Moselle (57) | 868 | 1.8% | 840 | 16 | 1.9% | 12 |
| Essonne (91) | 851 | 1.8% | 806 | 29 | 3.5% | 16 |
| Paris (75) | 833 | 1.7% | 617 | 107 | 14.8% | 109 |
| Oise (60) | 830 | 1.7% | 802 | 18 | 2.2% | 10 |
| Val-d'Oise (95) | 813 | 1.7% | 766 | 25 | 3.2% | 22 |
| Loire-Atlantique (44) | 806 | 1.7% | 541 | 248 | 31.4% | 17 |
| Bas-Rhin (67) | 742 | 1.6% | 697 | 23 | 3.2% | 22 |
| Hauts-de-Seine (92) | 681 | 1.4% | 576 | 51 | 8.1% | 54 |
| Hérault (34) | 680 | 1.4% | 597 | 56 | 8.6% | 27 |
| Ille-et-Vilaine (35) | 674 | 1.4% | 416 | 247 | 37.3% | 11 |
| Val-de-Marne (94) | 669 | 1.4% | 611 | 37 | 5.7% | 21 |
| Maine-et-Loire (49) | 643 | 1.3% | 411 | 221 | 35.0% | 11 |
| Pyrénées-Atlantiques (64) | 605 | 1.3% | 482 | 111 | 18.7% | 12 |
| Alpes-Maritimes (06) | 603 | 1.3% | 543 | 30 | 5.2% | 30 |
| Gard (30) | 585 | 1.2% | 528 | 39 | 6.9% | 18 |
| Finistère (29) | 580 | 1.2% | 374 | 200 | 34.8% | 6 |
| Loire (42) | 577 | 1.2% | 460 | 106 | 18.7% | 11 |
| Var (83) | 560 | 1.2% | 515 | 22 | 4.1% | 23 |
| La Réunion (974) | 545 | 1.1% | 496 | 26 | 5.0% | 23 |
| Meurthe-et-Moselle (54) | 532 | 1.1% | 508 | 19 | 3.6% | 5 |
| Morbihan (56) | 528 | 1.1% | 282 | 238 | 45.8% | 8 |
| Puy-de-Dôme (63) | 521 | 1.1% | 483 | 32 | 6.2% | 6 |
| Saône-et-Loire (71) | 520 | 1.1% | 494 | 20 | 3.9% | 6 |
| Haute-Savoie (74) | 518 | 1.1% | 445 | 50 | 10.1% | 23 |
| Haut-Rhin (68) | 510 | 1.1% | 479 | 14 | 2.8% | 17 |
| Vendée (85) | 508 | 1.1% | 291 | 210 | 41.9% | 7 |
| Côte-d'Or (21) | 507 | 1.1% | 475 | 21 | 4.2% | 11 |
| Eure (27) | 503 | 1.1% | 479 | 20 | 4.0% | 4 |
| Somme (80) | 492 | 1.0% | 459 | 31 | 6.3% | 2 |
| Côtes-d'Armor (22) | 489 | 1.0% | 344 | 142 | 29.2% | 3 |
| Ain (01) | 486 | 1.0% | 440 | 34 | 7.2% | 12 |
| Loiret (45) | 475 | 1.0% | 438 | 28 | 6.0% | 9 |
| Charente-Maritime (17) | 474 | 1.0% | 445 | 22 | 4.7% | 7 |
| Aisne (02) | 470 | 1.0% | 447 | 17 | 3.7% | 6 |
| Sarthe (72) | 465 | 1.0% | 400 | 62 | 13.4% | 3 |
| Drôme (26) | 461 | 1.0% | 408 | 39 | 8.7% | 14 |
| Doubs (25) | 429 | 0.9% | 401 | 24 | 5.6% | 4 |
| Indre-et-Loire (37) | 427 | 0.9% | 392 | 29 | 6.9% | 6 |
| Marne (51) | 411 | 0.9% | 380 | 25 | 6.2% | 6 |
| Savoie (73) | 409 | 0.9% | 384 | 19 | 4.7% | 6 |
| Vaucluse (84) | 390 | 0.8% | 354 | 28 | 7.3% | 8 |
| Dordogne (24) | 378 | 0.8% | 355 | 13 | 3.5% | 10 |
| Calvados (14) | 366 | 0.8% | 324 | 37 | 10.2% | 5 |
| Yonne (89) | 361 | 0.8% | 349 | 8 | 2.2% | 4 |
| Landes (40) | 360 | 0.8% | 331 | 17 | 4.9% | 12 |
| Aude (11) | 355 | 0.7% | 333 | 13 | 3.8% | 9 |
| Manche (50) | 346 | 0.7% | 298 | 46 | 13.4% | 2 |
| Ardèche (07) | 342 | 0.7% | 267 | 71 | 21.0% | 4 |
| Vienne (86) | 334 | 0.7% | 300 | 28 | 8.5% | 6 |
| Deux-Sèvres (79) | 330 | 0.7% | 267 | 55 | 17.1% | 8 |
| Eure-et-Loir (28) | 329 | 0.7% | 298 | 23 | 7.2% | 8 |
| Lot-et-Garonne (47) | 322 | 0.7% | 303 | 15 | 4.7% | 4 |
| Allier (03) | 316 | 0.7% | 301 | 11 | 3.5% | 4 |
| Vosges (88) | 315 | 0.7% | 298 | 13 | 4.2% | 4 |
| Pyrénées-Orientales (66) | 312 | 0.7% | 285 | 15 | 5.0% | 12 |
| Tarn (81) | 312 | 0.7% | 270 | 36 | 11.8% | 6 |
| Loir-et-Cher (41) | 308 | 0.6% | 279 | 25 | 8.2% | 4 |
| Aveyron (12) | 307 | 0.6% | 248 | 59 | 19.2% | 0 |
| Cher (18) | 301 | 0.6% | 288 | 10 | 3.4% | 3 |
| Charente (16) | 294 | 0.6% | 271 | 15 | 5.2% | 8 |
| Mayenne (53) | 291 | 0.6% | 198 | 89 | 31.0% | 4 |
| Guadeloupe (971) | 276 | 0.6% | 244 | 13 | 5.1% | 19 |
| Haute-Vienne (87) | 252 | 0.5% | 239 | 8 | 3.2% | 5 |
| Mayotte (976) | 246 | 0.5% | 222 | 0 | 0.0% | 24 |
| Martinique (972) | 246 | 0.5% | 214 | 12 | 5.3% | 20 |
| Jura (39) | 240 | 0.5% | 221 | 14 | 6.0% | 5 |
| Aube (10) | 233 | 0.5% | 217 | 14 | 6.1% | 2 |
| Haute-Loire (43) | 229 | 0.5% | 167 | 57 | 25.4% | 5 |
| Hautes-Pyrénées (65) | 225 | 0.5% | 205 | 16 | 7.2% | 4 |
| Tarn-et-Garonne (82) | 224 | 0.5% | 205 | 16 | 7.2% | 3 |
| Corrèze (19) | 217 | 0.5% | 206 | 7 | 3.3% | 4 |
| Indre (36) | 210 | 0.4% | 198 | 8 | 3.9% | 4 |
| Haute-Saône (70) | 198 | 0.4% | 191 | 7 | 3.5% | 0 |
| Gers (32) | 197 | 0.4% | 183 | 11 | 5.7% | 3 |
| Nièvre (58) | 196 | 0.4% | 185 | 6 | 3.1% | 5 |
| Guyane (973) | 193 | 0.4% | 183 | 9 | 4.7% | 1 |
| Orne (61) | 193 | 0.4% | 162 | 30 | 15.6% | 1 |
| Ardennes (08) | 192 | 0.4% | 180 | 10 | 5.3% | 2 |
| Lot (46) | 174 | 0.4% | 165 | 8 | 4.6% | 1 |
| Ariège (09) | 167 | 0.3% | 155 | 8 | 4.9% | 4 |
| Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (04) | 160 | 0.3% | 156 | 4 | 2.5% | 0 |
| Creuse (23) | 150 | 0.3% | 146 | 3 | 2.0% | 1 |
| Cantal (15) | 147 | 0.3% | 136 | 11 | 7.5% | 0 |
| Haute-Marne (52) | 147 | 0.3% | 144 | 3 | 2.0% | 0 |
| Haute-Corse (2B) | 144 | 0.3% | 139 | 4 | 2.8% | 1 |
| Meuse (55) | 143 | 0.3% | 136 | 7 | 4.9% | 0 |
| Hautes-Alpes (05) | 134 | 0.3% | 127 | 6 | 4.5% | 1 |
| Territoire de Belfort (90) | 134 | 0.3% | 127 | 6 | 4.5% | 1 |
| Corse-du-Sud (2A) | 106 | 0.2% | 99 | 3 | 2.9% | 4 |
| Lozère (48) | 103 | 0.2% | 80 | 23 | 22.3% | 0 |
| Total | 47,837 | 100% | 42,128 | 4,559 | 9.8% | 1,150 |

## Is the market changing?

Little, and often through preschool mergers. Between the 2024 and 2025 school years, 512 schools disappeared from the enrollment list and 78 appeared in it: the balance is minus 434, the same as the DEPP's. Of the 512 schools that disappeared, 287 (56%) were preschools. For 238 of them (83%), a school with the same postal code has preschool students at the start of the 2025 school year that it did not have before, or has just appeared: the sign of a merger with a neighboring school.

Over ten years, from 2015 to 2025, 5,033 schools disappeared, 783 appeared, and schools lost 621,497 students. The DEPP forecasts 6,024,100 students at the start of the 2026 school year, a drop of 2.0% according to its projections.

The directory records 74 school openings in the twelve months from November 6, 2025 to November 6, 2026, including 44 fully private schools (59.5%). This count depends on the dates entered in the directory: it records 22 public school openings in September 2026, versus 60 in September 2025, and some of the openings at the start of the 2026 school year may not be in it yet. An opening is the opening date of a school that is still open: a school that opened then closed within the year does not appear.

For a supplier, the school market therefore does not grow through the number of schools. Suppliers win business at existing schools and track the market as schools merge.

## School submarkets

Each submarket is counted with the same rule and the same dates: 11,944 preschools, 12,638 elementary schools and 23,241 primary schools; 5,709 private schools, of which 4,559 private contract and 1,150 fully private; at least 172 fully private Montessori schools. Beyond schools, the directory counts 9,040 middle schools and 5,578 high schools. Adult training is a separate market, covered in our guide to the [list of training organizations in France](/en/blog/training-organizations-france-list).

## How do you use these figures in a market study?

### Size an addressable market

Start from what your offer really serves. An offering of furniture, supplies or digital products for public schools targets 42,128 schools but 20,535 buyers. A school meal service targets only schools with a cafeteria: 41,038 public schools and 4,193 private contract schools. An accessibility offer targets the 5,344 schools that have a ULIS class.

### Segment

Public and private are two purchasing routes: a commune's public procurement on one side, a managing body on the other. Also segment by enrollment: schools with 300 students or more (2,210 public schools) have different needs from those with under 50 students (8,399). The 15,434 local authorities with only one school are approached one by one; the 40 local authorities with 50 schools or more are handled as key accounts.

### Plan sales territories

Regional volumes give the scale; the split between public, private contract and fully private tells you who to talk to. Private contract schools account for nearly half of schools in Morbihan and very few in Moselle, so a supplier's customer mix varies by département.

### Track changes in the market

The total is declining slightly: 512 schools disappeared and 78 appeared between 2024 and 2025. Fully private schools provide 44 of the 74 openings of the last twelve months. A snapshot quickly becomes outdated: a prospecting list reflects a specific date and needs to be refreshed.

Need the list of schools in France? We send it with the contact details available, for the scope you choose.

## How do you build a school prospect list?

Start from the Annuaire de l'éducation, not from Sirene. It can be downloaded for free on data.education.gouv.fr. It gives an email address for 47,782 schools (99.9%) and a phone number for 47,448 (99.2%). In the public sector, 40,705 schools (96.6%) have an official address in the form "ce.", the school's number, "@ac-" and the name of the académie (the regional education authority).

The website is not listed there: among the schools our database links to a public business listing, 3 private contract schools in 4 show a website, versus 1 public school in 5.

For a public school, the buyer is the town hall, not the principal: the school's address opens the door, but the order goes through the commune. For fully private schools, 540 schools have no SIRET number in the directory: you have to start from the directory to find them. Our guide to [prospect lists](/en/blog/b2b-prospect-list) explains how to build and check such a list.

## Frequently asked questions

### How many primary schools are there in France?

23,241 primary schools, which combine preschool and elementary, as of November 6, 2026 in the Annuaire de l'éducation, fully private schools included. The DEPP counts 20,852 (public and private contract) at the start of the 2025 school year, of which 16,417 are public.

### How many private schools are there in France?

5,709 private schools: 4,559 private contract and 1,150 fully private, as of November 6, 2026. Private contract education accounts for 9.5% of schools.

### How many preschools are there in France?

11,944 preschools in the Annuaire of November 6, 2026, of which 11,768 are public. The DEPP counts 12,065 public preschools at the start of the 2025 school year: the difference reflects the date and the classification, since the directory classifies schools by the levels they offer.

### How many students are there in schools?

6,154,899 students at the start of the 2025 school year in public schools (5,315,615) and private contract schools (839,284), plus 59,800 in fully private schools according to the DEPP. The DEPP forecasts 6,024,100 students at the start of the 2026 school year (a drop of 2.0%).

### How many schools close each year?

Between the 2024 and 2025 school years, 512 schools disappeared from the enrollment list and 78 appeared in it: the balance is minus 434. For 238 of the 287 preschools that disappeared, a school with the same postal code takes over preschool students or has just appeared: these are mostly mergers.

### What is the NAF code for a school?

85.20Z for primary education, 85.10Z for pre-primary. These codes do not reliably identify schools: for 1 row in 5 under these codes in the register, the registration number does not match any school in the directory.

### Why do the figures differ from one source to another?

Because they use different dates and scopes: the DEPP counts 46,979 schools at the start of the 2025 school year, the directory counts 47,837 open schools as of November 6, 2026, including fully private schools, and the Sirene register counts 58,230 business locations under two activity codes. Each figure is right for its own question.

## Method

The number of schools comes from the Annuaire de l'éducation (Ministry of National Education, data.education.gouv.fr), downloaded on November 6, 2026: establishments of type "Ecole" in open status, including 1 flagged "to be closed" (a fully private school in the Landes département). To compare with the DEPP, we remove the overseas collectivities and fully private schools. Enrollment comes from the "Effectifs d'élèves par école" file for the start of the 2025 school year. The decision-maker structure dates from November 2, 2026.

**Quality check.** Scalon randomly selected 100 schools from the November 6, 2026 Annuaire and arranged two independent reviews of an evidence file for each school (directory record, enrollment data from the start of the 2025 school year, Sirene register and public listings), asking whether the school was operating, its sector and decision-maker were correctly identified, and its listed levels matched its enrollment. The two reviews agree on all four questions for 97 schools out of 100; Scalon resolved the remaining 3 cases using the evidence, including a web search for the two fully private schools. Results: no closed schools among the 98 cases resolved (2 fully private schools remain uncertain because there is no evidence of activity dated November 2026), corresponding to an upper error limit of 3.8% for the school count at 95% confidence; no incorrect sector classifications among 100 schools (upper limit: 3.7%); no incorrect decision-maker assignments among 97 schools (upper limit: 3.8%); and 2 of 98 schools list preschool classes but have no enrolled preschool students (2.0%; upper limit: 7.1%), affecting school-type classification rather than the total. This check verifies that the schools listed exist; it does not see a school missing from the directory. For that, our reading of 80 Sirene register rows that are not directory schools found no operating school that had been overlooked. The check relies on enrollment data from the start of the 2025 school year, so it will miss a closure at the start of the 2026 school year that has not yet been recorded in the directory.

Method details and limits

**Unit of count.** A school is an establishment of type "Ecole" in the Annuaire de l'éducation, in open status, as of November 6, 2026. Communes come from the geo.api.gouv.fr reference list read on November 2, 2026.

**Enrollment.** Enrollment per school is that of the start of the 2025 school year (data.education.gouv.fr, dataset "Effectifs d'élèves par école"), for public and private contract schools. A school that "disappeared" or "appeared" has an ID present in the enrollment file at the start of one school year and absent at the start of the other. School-level enrollment figures are unavailable for fully private schools; their total enrollment (59,800) comes from the DEPP.

**Sirene register.** The Sirene register was read in the Scalon graph on November 2, 2026: the most recent version of each business location that has carried code 85.20Z or 85.10Z (68,070 SIRET numbers), and of each SIRET of a school in the directory. A location is counted if it is neither closed nor withdrawn. The match with the directory uses the SIRET number the directory gives for each school.

**Local authorities.** The local authorities that run public schools are counted by SIREN number (the first 9 digits of the SIRET); their type (commune, intercommunal body or joint municipal authority) is determined by their legal category in the Sirene register (INSEE data snapshot dated September 24, 2026), rather than by the number's prefix. A commune that hands its schools to its intercommunal body is counted once, under that body. Communes without a school are those in the reference list (34,881, overseas collectivities excluded) on whose territory the directory places no open school; the city districts (arrondissements) of Paris, Lyon and Marseille are counted within their commune.

**Register rows that are not schools.** The 11,966 "85.20Z or 85.10Z" business locations that are not directory schools were split into two groups: 8,705 local authority numbers and 3,261 others. We read 40 from each group, picked at random, using the Claude Haiku 5.5 model (Anthropic): the name in the register, public business listings and business directories for the same place, and the list of schools in the commune. Results are reweighted to each group's actual size. Scalon reread 20 of these rows a second time and got the same answer 17 times. For 12 answers, the quote from the listing was not found word for word because of quotation marks; we keep their answer: removing them from the calculation, the share "school name with no sign of activity" would be 44% instead of 45%. Over 80 readings, the share "school name with no sign of activity" (45%) can vary by about ten points either way. The check without reading (2,172 local authority numbers in communes without a school) is a minimum: it misses schools that closed in a commune that still has another one.

**Decision-makers.** The structure covers the schools in the directory whose SIRET number is open in the Sirene register as of November 2, 2026: 46,484 schools, of which 41,940 public and 4,544 private (including 507 fully private). A school is linked by its SIRET number, which a few schools share. Scalon groups them by player with its market structure tool, without any reading by artificial intelligence: same body (SIREN number), same website or same email domain, or same network name in the school's official name (Diwan, Calandreta, ikastola, ABCM Zweisprachigkeit, La Bressola, Douces Maternelles, Montessori 21). Schools are not grouped together on the basis of shared websites belonging to académies, diocesan Catholic education offices, school website hosts or directories, so the count of private schools in networks is a minimum. The legal form of each body comes from Sirene. The shares of students by local authority size are recalculated using the enrollment file for the start of the 2025 school year.

**Fully private school specialties.** Teaching approaches and religious affiliations are identified by checking each school's official name against a predefined list of keywords. Scalon reread each classified name. A name does not say everything: the figures are minimums.

**Rounding.** Shares are calculated on the displayed figures, then rounded to one decimal; their sum can differ from 100% by a few tenths of a point.

**Edition history.** November 2, 2026: first publication (46,687 public and private contract schools in the title). November 6, 2026: full market study, title on all open schools (47,837, fully private schools included). Correction: the first edition stated that nearly 1 public school in 20 (1,981) was managed by an intercommunal body, based on the SIREN prefix (20); new communes created since 2015 also use that prefix, while the employer's legal category in the register identifies 270 schools managed by intercommunal bodies. Openings: 160 schools opened in the directory since September 1, 2025 (89 public, 69 fully private, 2 private contract). November 9, 2026: "independent" now has its market meaning, a school outside any network, Catholic education included; the 4,163 private schools whose managing body runs only one school are no longer called independent, and Catholic education appears as a network in the private-sector structure.

**Revenue.** Among the published accounts we reviewed, recent revenue figures are available for only 20 school managing bodies, since associations generally are not required to file their accounts with the register. We therefore do not publish a typical school revenue figure.

**Websites and contacts.** Websites come from the public business listings that the graph links to the SIRET number of a school: 6,912 schools out of 46,985 in the graph. Many schools have a public listing we have not linked yet; the absence of a listing is therefore not measured, and the "with a website" shares are rough estimates. School cafeteria, ULIS classes and priority education are fields of the directory as of November 6, 2026. Openings are the opening dates of schools still open: a school that opened then closed during the year is not included. The commands that reproduce each figure are kept with the article.

The other Observatory counts follow the same rule: one figure, one date, one method. See for example [the number of nursing homes (Ehpad) in France](/en/observatory/number-of-nursing-homes-in-france).

## Key takeaways

France has 47,837 open schools as of November 6, 2026, of which 46,687 are public and private contract, the scope of the ministry's count (46,979 at the start of the 2025 school year). To sell to schools, the useful question is not "how many?" but "to whom?": 20,535 local authorities and 4,274 private decision-makers, or 24,809 decision-makers. 15,434 local authorities have only one school; 40 local authorities run 50 or more. Fully private schools, 1,150 of them, provide 44 of the 74 openings of the last twelve months. The activity code of the business register does not replace the Annuaire for building a list.

The full study · PDF

## The study runs to 47 pages, we will send it

Everything is on this page, and you can cite it without asking. The PDF holds the whole study, tables, figures, method and sources, in one document to keep, print or pass on. It goes out by email, right away.

1. 01How many schools are there in France: the answer depends on your question
2. 02Why does the number of schools vary by source?
3. 03How big is the school market in euros?
4. 04What NAF code applies to a school?
5. 05Market vocabulary
6. 06Level 1. The school universe: 62,535 institutions
7. 07Level 2. Schools: preschool, elementary, primary
8. 08Level 3. Sector: public, private contract, fully private
9. 09Level 4. Size: how many students per school?
10. 10Level 5. Who decides? Local authorities, bodies and networks
11. 11Private networks by type
12. 12Specialties: what schools offer
13. 13Level 6. Where are the schools?
14. 14Is the market changing?
15. 15School submarkets
16. 16How do you use these figures in a market study?
17. 17How do you build a school prospect list?
18. 18Frequently asked questions
19. 19Method
20. 20Key takeaways

Free, no conditions. To cite a figure, use the reference given under “Cite this study”, with Scalon and the date of the edition.

## Cite the study

The full citation, with counts

> Observatoire Scalon, "Number of Schools in France: 47,800 Preschools and Elementary Schools in 2026," updated November 6, 2026: 47,837 schools open in France as of November 6, 2026 (Annuaire de l'éducation), including 42,128 public, 4,559 private contract and 1,150 fully private schools; 24,809 purchasing decision-makers (structure as of November 2, 2026); 58,230 business locations open under codes 85.20Z and 85.10Z in the Sirene register, of which 46,264 are schools in the directory. [https://scalon.fr/en/observatory/number-of-schools-in-france](/en/observatory/number-of-schools-in-france)

## Sources

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- [Repères et références statistiques 2026, chapitre 1, fiche « Les structures de formation initiale », DEPP](https://www.education.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/document/1-le-systeme-educatifpdf-519276.pdf)
- [Repères et références statistiques 2026, chapitre 3, « Les élèves du premier degré », DEPP](https://www.education.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/document/3-les-eleves-du-premier-degrepdf-519282.pdf)
- [Repères et références statistiques 2026, chapitre 10 « Budget, coûts et financement », DEPP](https://www.education.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/document/10-budget-couts-et-financementpdf-519303.pdf)
- [Repères et références statistiques 2026, page de présentation, DEPP](https://www.education.gouv.fr/depp/reperes-et-references-statistiques-2026-505320)
- [L'Éducation nationale en chiffres 2026, DEPP](https://www.education.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/document/enc-2026pdf-519886.pdf)
- [Note d'information 26.42, dépense d'éducation en 2025, DEPP, September 23, 2026](https://www.education.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/document/educationnationaledepp-ni-2026-42pdf-520993.pdf)
- [Primary-level enrollment: 6.155 million students at the start of the 2025 school year (Les effectifs dans le premier degré), DEPP, October 31, 2025](https://www.education.gouv.fr/depp/les-effectifs-dans-le-premier-degre-6155-millions-d-eleves-scolarises-la-rentree-2025-467612)
- [Projections d'effectifs d'élèves dans les premier et second degrés, horizon 2035, DEPP, April 7, 2026](https://www.education.gouv.fr/depp/projections-d-effectifs-d-eleves-dans-les-premier-et-second-degres-horizon-2035-504275)
- [Repères et références statistiques 2025, évolution du nombre d'écoles, DEPP](https://rers.depp.education.fr/2025/details/02_ETAB/01_ECOL/02)
- [Annuaire de l'éducation, ministère de l'Éducation nationale, data.education.gouv.fr](https://data.education.gouv.fr/explore/dataset/fr-en-annuaire-education/information/)
- Effectifs d'élèves par école, rentrée 2025, ministère de l'Éducation nationale, data.education.gouv.fr
- [L'éducation prioritaire, ministère de l'Éducation nationale](https://www.education.gouv.fr/l-education-prioritaire-3140)
- [Article L212-4 du Code de l'éducation, Légifrance](https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000045293752)
- [Question écrite n° 08065 sur le forfait communal, Sénat, March 19, 2026](https://www.senat.fr/questions/base/2026/qSEQ260308065.html)
- Article L442-5 du Code de l'éducation, Légifrance
- [Forfait intercommunal de l'école Sainte-Sophie, délibération des Vals de Saintonge, 2025](https://www.valsdesaintonge.fr/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/CC2025_074_Forfait_ecole_Ste_Sophie.pdf)
- [Contribution aux frais de scolarité de l'école Sainte-Famille, délibération D2025.10.13, ville de Raismes](https://www.ville-raismes.fr/fileadmin/Public/Actes_administratifs/Deliberations_du_conseil_municipal/2025/D2025.10.13_contribution_frais_de_scolarite_ecole_Sainte_Famille.pdf)
- [Qu'est-ce qu'une Calandreta ?, site de la Calandreta del Pastel (Lavaur)](https://cominfocompastel.wixsite.com/calandretadelpastel)
- [Rapport d'information n° 186 (2024-2025) sur l'école en milieu rural, Sénat](https://www.senat.fr/rap/r25-186/r25-186_mono.html)
- [Sous-classe 85.20Z, Enseignement primaire, NAF rév. 2, Insee](https://www.insee.fr/fr/metadonnees/nafr2/sousClasse/85.20Z)
- [Sous-classe 85.10Z, Enseignement pré-primaire, NAF rév. 2, Insee](https://www.insee.fr/fr/metadonnees/nafr2/sousClasse/85.10Z)
- [Classe 85.20, Enseignement primaire, NAF 2025, Insee](https://www.insee.fr/fr/metadonnees/naf2025/classe/85.20)
- [Communes, API Découpage administratif, geo.api.gouv.fr](https://geo.api.gouv.fr/communes)
- [Compte rendu de la séance de l'Assemblée nationale du 9 avril 2026, intervention sur les regroupements pédagogiques intercommunaux](https://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/dyn/17/comptes-rendus/seance/session-ordinaire-de-2025-2026/premiere-seance-du-jeudi-09-avril-2026)
- [ECmag hors-série 431, Enseignement catholique, March 2026](https://ddec40.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/HORS_SERIE431.pdf)
- [Qui sommes-nous, FNOGEC](https://www.fnogec.org/qui-sommes-nous)
- [Statistiques et chiffres clés de la liberté scolaire, Créer son école](https://creer-son-ecole.com/sinformer/observatoire-de-la-liberte-denseignement/statistiques-chiffres-cles-de-la-liberte-scolaire)
- [Dans la ruralité, les écoles hors contrat poursuivent leur lente croissance, Banque des Territoires, September 22, 2026](https://www.banquedesterritoires.fr/dans-la-ruralite-les-ecoles-hors-contrat-poursuivent-leur-lente-croissance)
- [Présentation, Association Montessori de France](https://www.montessori-france.asso.fr/page/155438-presentation)
- [Diwan en bref, Diwan](https://www.diwan.bzh/fr/diwan-en-bref)
- [Bilan de la rentrée 2025, Seaska et OPLB (Mintzaira)](https://www.mintzaira.fr/fileadmin/documents/Aktualitateak/Irakaskuntza/Bilan_rentree_2025_et_evolutions.pdf)

## Do you sell to schools?

Educational publishers, school furniture manufacturers and school food service providers: Scalon links each school to the commune or body that runs it and to its public contact details, and shows whether it has a cafeteria, a ULIS class or a priority education designation.

[Professionals: get 100 schools in my area](/en#call)

More on this topic

- [List of training organizations in France: 153,700 in 2026](/en/blog/training-organizations-france-list) : Where to find the list, declared and Qualiopi-certified providers alike.
- [NAF code, APE code: what it is for and how to find yours](/en/blog/naf-ape-code) : Where to read your code and what it is used for day to day.

[All studies →](/en/observatory)