Parents: supporting your child from Seconde to departure, bac, scholarships and Campus France

Information checked on 2 November 2026.

Supporting your child from the bac to departure for studies abroad does not start in Terminale: it is prepared over three years. In Seconde, you choose a stream that opens the right doors; in Première, you build a project and steady marks; in Terminale, you submit the application before the bac itself, since the request for admission to the first year of a bachelor's goes, for most of the African countries concerned, through the Études en France platform, open from 1 October to 15 December 2026 for the 2027 intake. This guide is for you, parents: what you do, what you leave to your child, and the dates that forgive nothing.

The calendar from Seconde to departure

Seconde and Première: guidance, earlier than you think

The application for studies abroad looks at the school reports from Seconde, Première and Terminale, not just the bac. A drop in Première shows. Three points to watch:

To structure the process, our guide to preparing the application file from Première details what can be anticipated.

Terminale: applying before the bac

This is the point many families discover too late. For France, the prior admission request for the first year of a bachelor's is made online on Études en France, for applicants from countries covered by this procedure. According to Campus France, for the 2027-2028 intake:

Other programmes follow other routes (Parcoursup for some, direct application for private schools); the Campus France office in your country publishes its own calendar, sometimes with a few extra days for programmes other than the first year of a bachelor's. The full overview is in our Campus France 2027-2028 calendar and our complete guide to Campus France.

Before paying anything, your child can place their file with the Campus France simulator (in French): free and anonymous, it compares their averages with admitted profiles. If you would like step-by-step support, Compatri also offers Campus France support (in French): it is a paid service, with the price given at the first exchange.

The bac remains the priority. An admission obtained in April depends on the diploma obtained in June. In Benin, for example, the written papers of the 2026 bac opened on 15 June 2026, in a single session. Between January and June, protect your child's revision time: our guide to revising for the bac with past papers is meant for them.

Scholarships: search early, and without illusions

Most scholarships target master's and doctoral studies; a bachelor's is harder to fund. Some do exist, provided you look for them a year before departure. On Compatri, the scholarship directory (in French) lists more than 120 scholarships checked on official websites, filterable by nationality and level. Two examples of entries to consult for a bachelor's: the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program (in French) and the French government scholarships managed by embassies (in French).

Two tools save you time:

• the directory's email alerts, which warn before each deadline;
• application tracking on an account, Mes candidatures (in French), where your child ticks off each scholarship's steps and gets a reminder before the deadline.

Our article on scholarships for school leavers after the bac sorts them by profile. And beware of "guaranteed" offers for a fee: our article on scholarship scams lists the warning signs. A real scholarship is never paid for.

The budget: what the visa requires, and what a year really costs

For a student visa in France, the official Service-Public website states that applicants must prove resources of at least €877.50 a month, that is €10,530 over twelve months. This amount is an administrative minimum, not a comfortable living budget: rent, transport, insurance and enrolment come on top, depending on the city.

The accepted proofs (monthly transfer, sponsorship certificate from a guarantor, scholarship, blocked account) are detailed in our guide to proving your resources for the student visa. To compare destinations, our article on the cost of a year of study by country gives orders of magnitude, and the one on the student budget in Paris, Lyon and Lille refines it for France.

What you do, what your child does

For the suitcase and paperwork, our departure checklist for studying in France can be followed line by line.

Getting help without getting trapped

Your child is not alone. On Compatri:

• their class group, on the Study page, brings together students from the same class in their city and in others (accounts are open from age 14);
• the volunteer mentors from the diaspora have walked the path and answer their questions. Contact goes through a connection request, and no private message is possible until the mentor accepts. Our guide to finding a mentor in the diaspora explains the rules, including this one: a mentor is never paid.

Remind them that only the institution decides on admission and only the consulate on the visa. No intermediary can guarantee either.

After departure: staying in touch

Departure is both a relief and a wrench. The first year is often the hardest: climate, loneliness, the pace of university, paperwork. A few pointers:

• agree on a rhythm of calls that suits you both, rather than daily calls that weigh on them;
• talk about things other than marks;
• encourage them to join their community locally: your country's diaspora page, for example the Beninese diaspora, gathers compatriots city by city, and our article on joining your community before leaving explains how to do it even before arrival;
• watch for signs of prolonged isolation, and remind them that asking for help is not a failure.

Our articles on studying far from home and keeping ties with the home country extend this advice, for them and for you.

Compatri is not a service of Campus France or of the State: only official information from Campus France, the institution and the consulate is binding.

Sources

• Campus France: applying to a higher education institution (2027-2028 calendar)
• Service-Public.fr: foreign student, long-stay visa or residence permit
• Government of Benin: 2026 baccalauréat, written papers launched on 15 June