L’Etudiant publishes its 2026 ranking of French middle schools, a few days after the baccalaureate exams. Based on academic results, the ability to improve students and social diversity, this ranking distinguishes fourteen middle schools in Alpes-Maritimes with an A grade.
Nearly 854,000 middle school students took the national baccalaureate diploma exams. Two days after the end of the exams, L’Etudiant reveals its 2026 ranking of French middle schools. Nearly 6,600 establishments are evaluated based on data from the Ministry of National Education and divided into five categories, from A to E.
The ranking is based on four criteria: the baccalaureate success rate over three years, the average score obtained in the written baccalaureate in 2025, the added value, which measures an establishment’s ability to improve its students, and the social diversity indicator, calculated from the social position index (IPS).
“This ranking is not intended to establish a ‘best middle school’; rather, it aims to measure each establishment’s ability to help its students succeed, taking into account their academic and social characteristics,” explains Thibaut Cojean, editor-in-chief of L’Etudiant.
Fourteen middle schools in Alpes-Maritimes distinguished
In Alpes-Maritimes, fourteen middle schools receive an A grade. Five public establishments are in this category: Fersen in Antibes, International in Valbonne, Jean Franco in Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée, Les Bréguières in Cagnes-sur-Mer and Niki de Saint Phalle in Sophia Antipolis.
Nine private middle schools also join this group: Blanche de Castille, du Colombier (Sainte-Thérèse), Nazareth, Saint-Barthélemy and Stanislas in Nice, Fénelon in Grasse, Notre-Dame de la Tramontane and Stanislas in Antibes and Cannes, as well as Sainte-Marie in Cannes.
The ranking also allows searches by department, municipality, public or private status and presence of a boarding facility. Families can thus compare establishments according to the criteria that match their child’s needs.
Each middle school receives a score out of 20 for each of the four selected indicators. The average allows an overall grade to be assigned, from A to E. The 2026 edition is based on baccalaureate results from the 2023, 2024 and 2025 sessions, before the changes to the national baccalaureate diploma implemented this year.
The complete ranking in Alpes-Maritimes
| Middle School | Municipality | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Fersen | Antibes | A |
| International | Valbonne | A |
| Jean Franco | Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée | A |
| Les Bréguières | Cagnes-sur-Mer | A |
| Niki de Saint Phalle | Sophia Antipolis | A |
| Blanche de Castille (private) | Nice | A |
| Du Colombier – Sainte-Thérèse (private) | Nice | A |
| Fénelon (private) | Grasse | A |
| Nazareth (private) | Nice | A |
| Notre-Dame de la Tramontane (private) | Antibes | A |
| Saint-Barthélemy (private) | Nice | A |
| Sainte-Marie (private) | Cannes | A |
| Stanislas (private) | Cannes | A |
| Stanislas (private) | Nice | A |
| André Malraux | Cagnes-sur-Mer | B |
| Arnaud Beltrame | Pégomas | B |
| César | Roquefort-les-Pins | B |
| Henri Matisse | Nice | B |
| Jean Médecin | Sospel | B |
| Jules Verne | Cagnes-sur-Mer | B |
| L’Éganaude | Biot | B |
| La Fontonne | Antibes | B |
| Le Pré des Roures | Le Rouret | B |
| Les Mimosas | Mandelieu-la-Napoule | B |
| Don Bosco (private) | Nice | B |
| Institution Saint-Joseph Carnolès (private) | Roquebrune-Cap-Martin | B |
| Mont Saint-Jean (private) | Antibes | B |
| Notre-Dame du Sacré-Cœur (private) | Menton | B |
| Saint-Joseph (private) | Nice | B |
| Saint-Philippe Néri (private) | Antibes | B |
| Sasserno (private) | Nice | B |
| Raoul Dufy | Nice | B |
| Roustan | Antibes | B |
| Saint-Exupéry | Saint-Laurent-du-Var | B |
| Simon Wiesenthal | Saint-Vallier-de-Thiey | B |
| Yves Klein | La Colle-sur-Loup | B |
| Antoine Risso | Nice | C |
| Canteperdrix | Grasse | C |
| Carnot | Grasse | C |
| Des Baous | Saint-Jeannet | C |
| Émile Roux | Le Cannet | C |
| Guillaume Vento | Menton | C |
| Jean Cocteau | Beaulieu-sur-Mer | C |
| L’Archet | Nice | C |
| La Chênaie | Mouans-Sartoux | C |
| La Sine | Vence | C |
| Les Campelières | Mougins | C |
| Les Jasmins – Sainte-Marguerite | Grasse | C |
| Parc Impérial | Nice | C |
| Paul Arène | Peymeinade | C |
| Paul Langevin | Carros | C |
| Pierre Bertone | Antibes | C |
| Pierre Bonnard | Le Cannet | C |
| Port Lympia | Nice | C |
| René Cassin | Tourrette-Levens | C |
| Roland Garros | Nice | C |
| Sidney Bechet | Antibes | C |
| Valéri | Nice | C |
| Vallées du Paillon – René Carles | Contes | C |
| Albert Camus | Mandelieu-la-Napoule | D |
| Alphonse Daudet | Nice | D |
| André Capron | Cannes | D |
| André Maurois | Menton | D |
| Auguste Blanqui | Puget-Théniers | D |
| François Rabelais | L’Escarène | D |
| Frédéric Mistral | Nice | D |
| Gérard Philipe | Cannes | D |
| International Joseph Vernier | Nice | D |
| Jean Giono | Nice | D |
| Jean Rostand | Nice | D |
| Jean-Henri Fabre | Nice | D |
| Joseph Pagnol | Saint-Laurent-du-Var | D |
| Jules Romains | Nice | D |
| La Bourgade | La Trinité | D |
| Les Mûriers | Cannes | D |
| Les Vallergues | Cannes | D |
| Ludovic Bréa | Saint-Martin-du-Var | D |
| Maurice Jaubert | Nice | D |
| Louis Nucéra | Nice | D |
| Pablo Picasso | Vallauris | D |
| Romée de Villeneuve | Villeneuve-Loubet | D |
| Saint-Hilaire | Grasse | D |
| Simone Veil | Nice | D |
| Saint-Blaise | Saint-Sauveur-sur-Tinée | NC |
| Bellevue | Beausoleil | NC |
| Ségurane | Nice | NC |
| La Vésubie – Jean Salines | Roquebillière | NC |
| Jean-Baptiste Rusca | Nice | NC |
| L’Eau Vive | Breil-sur-Roya | NC |
| Or Torah (private) | Nice | NC |
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