School Admissions in Monaco: How International Families Get a Place

The date matters more than the school

Families relocating to Monaco usually start by comparing curricula. In practice the decision that shapes the year is administrative: each sector opens and closes its enrolment at a different moment, and missing a window pushes you into a waiver procedure or a year of waiting.

There are three separate calendars:

For the 2026-2027 year, the government window for primary and contracted schools ran from 5 January to 13 March 2026, and the state collège window from 1 May to 19 June 2026. The rhythm repeats: if you are planning for September 2027, treat the first week of January 2027 as your real deadline for anything in the state or contracted sector.

Schooling is compulsory from 6 to 16 for every child who is Monegasque or living in Monaco, and it must take place in an establishment inside the Principality unless the DENJS agrees otherwise.

Who gets a place first

Monaco does not run a lottery or a first-come queue. It applies a priority ladder, and knowing where you sit on it tells you how much to worry:

1. Monegasque children, or children with at least one Monegasque parent — admitted to a state or contracted school on request. This is a right, not an allocation.
2. Children of Monaco residents — admitted subject to available places. Within that, primary places go first to children of the district whose application arrived inside the window. Living in Fontvieille and applying in February is a very different position from living in Fontvieille and applying in June.
3. Everyone else — non-residents, including families in Beausoleil, Cap-d'Ail, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin or Menton — must request a dérogation from the DENJS. For 2026-2027 that request had to be filed between 1 January and 1 May 2026.

The practical consequence for an international family: get your residence card application moving before your school application, because your position on this ladder is set by residency, not by intention to move.

The online procedure and the paperwork

State and contracted enrolments run through the government teleservice at teleservice.gouv.mc/inscription-primaire, which covers both public schools and the private schools under contract in a single form.

For nursery, a child must be 3 by the end of the first term; nursery itself is not compulsory. Assemble before you start:

• Birth certificate showing filiation (not a short-form extract)
• Copy of the vaccination record
• Most recent school report or results
• Custody or separation documents, where relevant
• Monegasque families: identity document + proof of residence less than 3 months old
• Resident families: identity document + residence certificate or residence-card copy less than 6 months old
• Moving up to collège: add the certificat de radiation from the previous school, and, for paper applications, three ID photos and stamped envelopes

Everything is in French, and reports issued abroad are generally accepted without sworn translation at this stage — but a translation speeds up placement decisions when the school has to judge a foreign grade level.

Three ways to be taught in English

This is where Monaco surprises newcomers: English-language education is not confined to the fee-paying sector.

The independent international schools

International School of Monaco (ISM) — 43 avenue Princesse Grace, Larvotto, in the Testimonio II complex since September 2024. Founded 1994, over 850 pupils aged 3-18 from more than 60 nationalities. It is a full IB Continuum school, running all four programmes: Primary Years, Middle Years, Diploma and the Career-related Programme. Primary teaching is bilingual French-English; from Year 7 the language of instruction is English with compulsory French. Fees are not published — request the current schedule from admissions. Sibling reductions apply from the third child.

The British School of Monaco — opened November 2022, family-run and deliberately small, teaching the English National Curriculum as a Cambridge school through to A level. Early Years and secondary sit at 31 avenue Hector Otto; the primary school is at 8 avenue de Fontvieille. Published 2026-2027 rates: €32,000 for ages 3-4, €39,500 from age 5 up to Grade 8, €41,000 for Grades 9-10, plus a €600 application fee and a €3,000 one-off registration fee. Several year groups carry waiting lists.

The international sections inside the state system

Free for residents, and often overlooked:

• Lycée Albert Ier (2 Place de la Visitation) runs an International Option Baccalaureate, American section, alongside a European-English section, plus the general and technological baccalauréats (STMG, STI2D).
• Collège Charles III (avenue de l'Annonciade) offers English and international sections as well as music and sport streams.

These are academically selective and the working language remains French, so they suit bilingual children or families settling for the long term rather than a two-year posting. See the Monaco school system guide for how the French curriculum is structured.

The French-curriculum private route

FANB and Cours Saint-Maur teach the French national curriculum at moderate cost and sit inside the same January-March enrolment window as the state schools. FANB's lycée also runs a European-Italian section — relevant for Italian families, who are the Principality's largest foreign community after the French. Details of each school are in the international schools in Monaco comparison.

Arriving mid-year, or out of cycle

Relocations rarely land in January. If you arrive in, say, October:

• Contact the DENJS directly rather than waiting for the next teleservice window — out-of-cycle admissions are handled case by case.
• Expect placement to depend on the specific class's headcount, not on the school as a whole. A school "full" in Year 4 may have room in Year 6.
• The independent schools are usually the faster route mid-year because they admit on a rolling basis, subject to their own waiting lists.
• If nothing opens immediately, families commonly place the child in a French school across the border for a term and re-apply for the following September inside the normal window.

Budgeting realistically

• State schools are free for residents. Costs are limited to meals, supplies and optional activities.
• Private under contract sits between the two extremes; both FANB and Cours Saint-Maur publish their tariffs on request rather than online, so ask before you assume.
• Independent international is the expensive tier. Budget beyond tuition for registration, uniform, coach transport, trips and the wraparound care that makes two working parents possible.
• Neither ISM nor the British School publishes a bursary scheme, so do not plan around one.

For a broader view of household costs in the Principality, see cost of living in Monaco.

If you live outside Monaco

A large share of Monaco's workforce lives in the French communes next door, and without a dérogation the Principality's state schools are closed to them. Two workable options:

• The French public system in your own commune — free, and the curriculum is identical to Monaco's, since Monegasque state schools follow the French syllabus and award the French brevet and baccalauréat.
• An international school in the Alpes-Maritimes. The International School of Nice is the nearest all-English IB school and operates coach routes with two Monaco stops, Fontvieille and Grimaldi, which makes it viable for families working in the Principality. Mougins British International School (founded 1964, ages 3-18, English National Curriculum to IGCSE and A level) is a considerably longer commute from the Monaco side.

Who to contact

Direction de l'Éducation Nationale, de la Jeunesse et des Sports (DENJS) 5 Promenade Honoré II, Hall A, 2nd floor, 98000 Monaco Tel. (+377) 98 98 80 05 · denjs@gouv.mc · Monday-Friday, 9:30am-5:00pm

The DENJS handles enrolment, dérogations and placement questions. It is the only body that can confirm whether a class has room.

Welcome Office (Invest Monaco) 2a boulevard des Moulins, 98000 Monaco · Tel. (+377) 98 98 94 94 By appointment, Monday-Friday 9:00-17:00, in French or English. It orients new and future residents and can point you to the right department — but it does not enrol children or reserve places. See the Welcome Office guide.

Next steps

Sequence the move in this order and the school year falls into place: secure your residence permit → identify your district and its schools → apply inside the January window → arrange French language support for the first year. Families with younger children should read the childcare in Monaco guide, since crèche places follow their own separate calendar.