Lycee Henri IV & Tour de Clovis

The Lycée Henri IV (sometimes nicknamed HIV to be pronounced H4) is a public high school located in Paris. It is widely regarded as the most demanding one in France.


It offers both a high-school curriculum (a "Lycée," with a student body of around 1000 pupils), and a university-level curriculum (known as "classes préparatoires," or "prépas," with around 1000 pupils), preparing students for entrance to the elite Grandes Écoles. At the yearly competitive entrance examinations for the different scientific, humanities, and business Grandes Écoles, students from the Lycée Henri IV classes préparatoires regularly have the highest percentage of admission.

Henri IV is located in the national historic buildings of the former Sainte Geneviève abbey. After the French revolution, it was changed into a Lycée, the first one in France. It is located right in the heart of the Quartier Latin in Paris between the Panthéon, the church Saint Etienne du Mont and the rue Mouffetard. The Quartier Latin is the traditional academic neighborhood of Paris. Rich in history, architecture, and culture, this area regroups the oldest and the most prestigious educational establishments in France (the Ecole Normale Supérieure, the Sorbonne, the Collège de France, the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, etc).