The École normale supérieure (; also known as Normale sup’, ENS Ulm, ENS Paris and most often just as ENS) is a French grande école (higher education establishment outside the framework of the public university system). It was initially conceived during the French Revolution and was intended to provide the Republic with a new body of professors, trained in the critical spirit and secular values of the Enlightenment. It has since developed into an elite institution which has become a platform for many of France's brightest young people to pursue high-level careers in government and academia, and as such stands as one of the symbols of Republican meritocracy, along with École nationale d'administration and École Polytechnique ("X"), offering its alumni access to high positions within the state. Founded in 1794 and reorganized by Napoleon, ENS has two main sections (literary and scientific) and a highly competitive selection process consisting of written and oral examinations. Its students excel in the fields of culture, academic research in the sciences and humanities. During their studies, ENS students hold the status of paid civil servants.

An école normale supérieure or ENS is a type of publicly funded higher education in France. A portion of the student body who are French civil servants are called Normaliens : they are selected by an elitist examination. ENS also offers master's degrees. They could be compared to "Institutes for Advanced Studies" and constitute the top level of research-training education in the French university system.