There are several optiones available for child care for residents in France. There are also plenty of international schools, most located in or near Paris. These schools cater for pupils from the age of 3 years to the end of High School. Higher education in France is divided into grandes écoles and universities. Grandes écoles are considered more prestigious than universities and their selection procedure is highly competitive. For example, the most prestigious engineering grandes école, École Polytechnique, usually have about 12,000 applicants for 400 places.