The collèges and lycées around Cherbourg-en-Cotentin outscore those around 54% of compared French towns
9 collèges and 8 lycées with 2025 results and value added are within 5 km (3 miles) of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin. Cherbourg-en-Cotentin grades B− for schools, on their brevet and bac pass rates and value added: #20 of 29 in Manche. The social position index (IPS) is shown, not graded.
The town’s figures are weighted by candidates across the schools within 5 km; the comparison is the median of compared French towns (those with an overall grade).
What stands out · In brief
What stands out about the schools near Cherbourg-en-Cotentin
94% of 96 candidates passed the brevet at Collège Émile Zola in 2025, 6 points more than the ministry expected from its pupils’ backgrounds and ages. Results and background ↓
Private collèges
2 of the 9 collèges within 5 km are private, under contract with the state: they teach the national curriculum and their pupils sit the same brevet. They count in the grade like the public ones. Every school ↓
Very different intakes
The collèges within 5 km take pupils from very different homes: the social position index runs from 81.9 at Collège les Provinces to 121.2 at Collège Saint-Paul. It is shown for context and never graded. Results and background ↓
Written from the Ministry of Education (DEPP) data on this page.
School Grade
Cherbourg-en-Cotentin grades B− for schools
Against every compared French town with a collège or lycée within 5 km.
Collèges: brevet pass rate and value added (90.0%, −0.7 pts)Better than 60% of compared French towns
Lycées: bac pass rate and value added (93.6%, −2 pts)Better than 47% of compared French towns
Each of the 9 collèges: % passing the brevet (2025)
Each of the 4 lycées: % passing the general and technological bac (2025)
Each of the 5 lycées: % passing the vocational bac (2025)
The average French school of its kind
2+ points above the expected rateClose to the expected rate2+ points belowNo value added published
The grade uses every collège and lycée within 5 km of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin with 2025 results and value added, public and private under contract: 9 collèges (847 candidates) and 8 lycées (1,189). Each school’s pass rate and value added are compared with every French school of its kind, then weighted by candidates; collèges and lycées count equally. A school can count for several towns.
Results and background
Which schools do better than their pupils’ backgrounds suggest
The line is the typical French school for each social position index; the band holds the middle two-thirds. A dot’s color is the ministry’s value added.
Collèges: brevet pass rate against social position index
Lycées: general and technological bac against social position index
2+ points above the expected rateClose to the expected rate2+ points belowNo value added published
Schools whose pupils come from better-off homes usually get higher pass rates. The ministry’s value added already allows for that, and for pupils’ ages: of the 13 schools here, 3 are 2 points or more above the expected rate and 5 2 points or more below.
Show as a table
School
IPS
Pass rate
Value added (points)
Collège Émile ZolaBrevet · Public
105.9
94%
+6 pts
Collège Saint-JosephBrevet · Private
118.8
99%
+5 pts
Collège Saint-PaulBrevet · Private
121.2
100%
+4 pts
Collège Denis DiderotBrevet · Public
99.6
91%
+1 pt
Lycée Thomas HélyeBac, gen. & tech. · Private
130
100%
+1 pt
Collège le FerronayBrevet · Public
107.8
90%
±0 pts
Lycée Jean-François MilletBac, gen. & tech. · Public
114.4
98%
±0 pts
Lycée Victor GrignardBac, gen. & tech. · Public
119
97%
−1 pt
Lycée Alexis de TocquevilleBac, gen. & tech. · Public
110.1
94%
−3 pts
Collège Bucaille-CharcotBrevet · Public
112.1
88%
−4 pts
Collège Ingénieur CachinBrevet · Public
96.4
84%
−6 pts
Collège les ProvincesBrevet · Public
81.9
79%
−7 pts
Collège Raymond le CorreBrevet · Public
98.7
80%
−9 pts
IPS: DEPP’s social position index, 2024–25, from parents’ occupations (France’s average pupil ≈ 100). It describes; it doesn’t grade. Value added: the school’s pass rate minus the rate expected from its pupils’ backgrounds and ages.
Map
The schools within 5 km of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin
The dashed circle is 5 km (3 miles) from the town’s point, the center of where its residents live; the black outline is the commune.
CollègeLycéePrimary school in Cherbourg-en-CotentinSize: candidates2+ points above the expected rateClose to the expected rate2+ points belowNo value added published
Points: the Ministry of Education’s school directory.
The schools
9 collèges and 8 lycées within 5 km of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin
Each with its 2025 result and its value added: how far its pass rate is above or below what the ministry expected from its pupils. 9 collèges and 8 lycées are in the grade. Distances from the town’s point.
Collèges9 · ages 11 to 15, brevet · best value added first
Results: DEPP, brevet (IVAC) and bac (IVAL) 2025. Not in the grade: a school with results but no value added published (often a small one). Primary schools: the commune’s own, from the school directory.
Neighbors
Cherbourg-en-Cotentin and the towns around it
Colored by School Grade. Brevet and bac: pass rates across each town’s schools within 5 km.
La HagueValognesBricquebec-en-CotentinLes PieuxCherbourg-en-Cotentin
1 No lycée with results within 5 km: that town’s grade uses its collèges alone.
La Hague has the best-graded schools nearby (A).
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
•
The brevet. The diplôme national du brevet, taken at 15 at the end of collège: written exams in French, maths, history-geography, sciences and an oral, with the year’s coursework. We use the share of candidates who pass.
•
The bac. The baccalauréat at 18: general and technological in most lycées, vocational in lycées professionnels. Each is compared only with schools of its own kind.
•
Value added. The ministry’s own measure (IVAC for collèges, IVAL for lycées): a school’s pass rate minus the rate expected from its pupils’ social background and age. It is half of each school’s score in the grade.
•
Social position index (IPS). A summary of pupils’ family backgrounds from parents’ occupations, about 100 for the average French pupil. Shown for context; never graded.
•
Within 5 km. French families don’t pick a school by the town’s name: a collège serves a catchment set by the département, a lycée one set by the académie. So the grade uses the schools within 5 km of where the town’s residents live, and neighboring towns can share them.
•
Primary schools. Not graded: national tests (évaluations nationales) aren’t published school by school. The commune’s primary schools are listed.
Questions about schools near Cherbourg-en-Cotentin
Are the schools near Cherbourg-en-Cotentin good?
They grade B−, better than those around 54% of compared French towns and #20 of 29 in Manche. In 2025, 90.0% of the 847 candidates at the nine collèges within 5 km passed the brevet (−0.7 pts against the expected rate). At the lycées, 93.6% of 1,189 candidates passed the bac (−2 pts).
Which collège near Cherbourg-en-Cotentin does best?
Against the expected rate, Collège Émile Zola (public, 2 mi): 94% of 96 candidates passed the brevet in 2025, +6 pts against the rate its pupils’ backgrounds predict. On the raw pass rate alone the order can differ; value added is the fairer comparison.
Which lycée near Cherbourg-en-Cotentin does best?
Against the expected rate, Lycée Thomas Hélye (private, 0.1 mi): 100% of 168 candidates passed the general and technological bac in 2025, +1 pt against the rate its pupils’ backgrounds predict.
How do children get a place at a collège near Cherbourg-en-Cotentin?
A state collège takes the children of its catchment area (secteur), which the département council sets; families can ask the académie for an exception (dérogation). Lycée places go through the académie’s Affelnet assignment. Private schools under contract admit pupils themselves.
Are primary schools in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin graded?
No: France doesn’t publish primary results school by school. Cherbourg-en-Cotentin has 41 primary schools (écoles maternelles and élémentaires), listed above.
Sources: Ministry of Education (DEPP), value added of collèges (IVAC) and lycées (IVAL), 2025 session · DEPP, social position index (IPS) by school, 2024–25 · Ministry of Education, school directory (annuaire de l’éducation) · INSEE, Filosofi 200 m grid (the town’s point) · IGN Admin Express (boundaries) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranking French towns against each other only, updated November 4, 2026. Under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab).
Contains public sector information under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab): INSEE, DGFiP, the Interior Ministry’s statistics service (SSMSI), the Ministry of Education (DEPP), the Health Ministry’s statistics service (DREES) and the Housing Ministry (Carte des loyers). Commune boundaries: IGN Admin Express.