Grandes écoles seen as ‘too elitist’ by majority of French

Perception largely down to stereotypes, insists president of representative body

More than two-thirds of French people think that France’s grandes écoles are “too elitist” and should reform their undergraduate admissions processes, according to a survey.

However, the survey undertaken by Ipsos for the CGE, the representative body for grandes écoles, also found that a similar proportion of people surveyed—71 per cent—had an overall positive impression of the institutions, and 61 per cent were against shutting them down.