French school age calculator
Enter a child's date of birth to find, for each grade from preschool (maternelle) through the final year of high school (terminale), the school year they start, based on the French rule for children born before December 31. No data is sent to a server.
How it works
In France, entry into a given grade depends on the age reached (or to be reached) on December 31 of the year school starts in September, not on the age at the start of the school year itself. A child born in April, for example, will already be the required age at the start of the year, while a child born in December will only just reach it before the end of the calendar year. This tool applies that rule to each level, from the youngest preschool class to the final year of high school.
What happens for a child born late in the year?
A child born on December 31 starts school in the same year as a child born on January 1 of the same calendar year: it's the birth year, not the exact month, that determines the cohort under this simple rule, with December 31 as the cutoff date.
Does this calculation account for exceptions (skipping or repeating a year)?
No, it shows the "standard" path with no repeated or skipped year, which is the situation of the vast majority of students. A waiver request to the school or the local education authority can shift some grades by a year in either direction.
The calculation runs entirely in your browser: the date of birth you enter is never sent to a server.