The Entente Cordiale put an end to centuries of recurrent conflict between England and France, and signalled the beginning of a peaceful coexistence, which continues today. The success of the agreement was underlined by the extensive, year-long celebrations on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of its signing in 1904. The centenary commemorations were marked by state visits on both sides of the Channel. In her speech on 5 April 2004, in Paris, Queen Elizabeth II stressed the enduring closeness of these two ancient enemies:
Thousands of British are settling, living and working in France, and thousands of French are crossing the Channel to do the same. Millions of British holidaymakers visit France each year.… Economically and culturally we are doing so much more together, as our companies invest both ways across the Channel, and the worlds of for example fashion, art and sport are increasingly interdependent.
The question raised by these observations is: to what extent can higher education be added to this list? In the same speech, the Queen went on to present the other side of the coin:
Of course we will never agree on everything. Life would be dull indeed, not least for the rest of the world, if we did not allow ourselves a little space to live up to our national caricatures – British pragmatism and French élan; French conceptualism and British humour; British rain and French sun; I think we should enjoy the complementarity of it all.
She concluded with a ringing ‘Vive la différence, mais vive L'Entente Cordiale’.
As academic professionals seek to forge closer links between French and British higher education establishments, it is perhaps worthwhile examining the particularities of the French Grande École system.
The Grande École System
The first Grandes Écoles came into being in France in the late eighteenth century. They exist side by side with the universities within the state education system, the Education Nationale, while remaining quite separate. The main difference is that French universities are obliged to accept all students who pass the Baccalaureate, while the Grandes Écoles have very strict recruitment criteria. Candidates are obliged to take a demanding entrance examination and generally spend at least two years preparing for this at specialist écoles préparatoires.