The French educational system in engineering is comparable to those in the rest of Continental Europe, but quite different from those in English-speaking countries. Engineering studies in Continental Europe produce two different profiles of engineering degrees: one with a short curriculum (three to four years long) based on an applied approach, and one with a long curriculum (five to six years long) based on a theoretical and conceptual approach. In contrast with the Bachelor/Master in which the shorter curriculum is commonly part of the longer one, the two curricula are different from the outset.

In France, the best students of an age class are attracted by engineering studies, and consequently the potential of the student audience differs from that of engineering departments in most other countries. Most engineering schools in France, called Grandes Ecoles d'Ingénieurs, are independent of universities and train top industrial and administrative managers.

The Classes Préparatoires correspond to two years of post high-school education with heavy emphasis on mathematics and physics. The first year of the Classes Préparatoires is termed Mathématiques Supérieures and corresponds to the freshman year at US universities. The second year is called Mathématiques Spéciales and corresponds to the sophomore year. At the end of the second year, students take the nation-wide competitive entrance examinations for the Grandes Ecoles, including Ecole Centrale Paris. Students generally take the examinations to more than one group of schools, and if they do not gain admission to the Grande Ecole of their choice, they are usually allowed to repeat Mathématiques Spéciales and attempt the examinations again. This is the case for approximately 50% of the students. Thus, all students who enter Ecole Centrale Paris have at least two years of advanced-level post-high school education.

Admission to the engineering schools in France is a very selective process: of the 800,000 young people of an age class, approximately 400,000 pass the Baccalauréat, the French secondary school final examination, each year. The best students normally take the Baccalauréat S (previously called the Baccalauréat C) in fundamental sciences, and of these 100,000 pass. Students who are awarded the Baccalauréat S with honors can go on to the Classes Préparatoires. After two years of university level study, 13,000 of them take the entrance examination to Ecole Centrale Paris. ECP admits 320 students a year from among the top 700 science students in France. Fifty additional students are taken from scientific universities in several European countries on an accredited transfer exchange scheme.

There are five main streams of study over two years in the classes préparatoires which lead up to the nation-wide competitive entrance examinations:

i) Mathematics, Physics and Engineering Sciences (MP);

ii) Physics, Chemistry and Engineering Sciences (PC);

iii) Physics, Technology and Engineering Sciences (PSI);

iv) Technology and Industrial Sciences (TSI);

v) Technology, Physics and Chemistry (PT).

The curriculum of each of these streams is made up of a combination of most of the following subjects and sub-divisions with varying importance and weighting attached to each, depending on the stream. The weekly number of hours per subject over two years comprises coursework (c), class exercises and testing (t) and laboratory or practical work (p).

EITHER Engineering Sciences or Computer Science (see below):