There are three different concours, one for each type of specialized school: the concours X/ENS, the concours Centrale-Supélec and the concours Mines-Ponts. Students seeking admission into any of these specialized schools must do them all and spend nearly a month taking strenuous and long exams.
Students are ranked based on the score they receive. Admission to the École Polytechnique (similar to the US Naval Academy, US Air Force Academy, etc.) and one of the four École normale supérieure (no US equivalent) generally requires exceptionally high marks. Upon admission via the concours, students enter as élèves fonctionnaires stagiaires (FS). These students are paid during all four years of study, but in return must work in the public sector for ten years.
Students can also be admitted “sur dossier” by submitting a lengthy application to avoid the concours. These students are known as normaliens étudiants, who receive the same teaching as the others but are not paid nor are required to work in the public sector. This means of admission is also extremely competitive.
Overall, around 1 in 1,000 high school students eventually come to an ENS.
The Life at an ENS
Each École normale supérieure is designed to train students to become researchers (chercheurs) or teachers (enseignants-chercheurs) through active participation in research.
