Polytechnique is a higher education establishment running under the supervision of the French ministry of Defence, through the General Directorate for Armament (administratively speaking, it is a national public establishment of an administrative character).
It has a double status, being both an engineering school that formed civilian engineers and scientists (the quasi totality of French higher administration in technical ministries is issued from Polytechnique, but also officers for the three French armies.
These two components being part of the same project of providing French state with a scientific and technical elite.
These two components, formation of civil servants and officers, have weakened after 1950, and nowadays only 10 to 20% of the school students take place in the ranks of the administration or the army (whereas 20% go into research and the rest in engineering or management jobs).

Though no longer a military academy, it is headed by a general officer (as of 2012, by a General engineer of Armament, whereas previous directors were generally Army generals), and employs military personnel in executive, administrative and sport training positions.
Both male and female French undergraduate polytechniciens are regular officers and have to go through a period of military training before the start of studies.

However, the military aspects of the school have lessened with time, with a reduced period of preliminary military training, and fewer and fewer students pursuing careers as military officers after leaving the school.
On special occasions, such as the military parade on the Champs-Élysées on Bastille Day, the polytechniciens wear the 19th-century-style grand uniform, with the bicorne, or cocked hat, but students have not typically worn a uniform on campus since the elimination of the 'internal uniform' in the mid-1980s.
The students also wear grand uniform in day-use for special events on the campus, such as important conferences, formal events, or important lessons.
Polytechnique is a higher education establishment running under the supervision of the French ministry of Defence, through the General Directorate for Armament (administratively speaking, it is a national public establishment of an administrative character). It has a double status, being both an engineering school that formed civilian engineers and scientists (the quasi totality of French higher administration in technical ministries is issued from Polytechnique, but also officers for the three French armies. These two components being part of the same project of providing French state with a scientific and technical elite. These two components, formation of civil servants and officers, have weakened after 1950, and nowadays only 10 to 20% of the school students take place in the ranks of the administration or the army (whereas 20% go into research and the rest in engineering or management jobs).
Though no longer a military academy, it is headed by a general officer (as of 2012, by a General engineer of Armament, whereas previous directors were generally Army generals), and employs military personnel in executive, administrative and sport training positions. Both male and female French undergraduate polytechniciens are regular officers and have to go through a period of military training before the start of studies.
However, the military aspects of the school have lessened with time, with a reduced period of preliminary military training, and fewer and fewer students pursuing careers as military officers after leaving the school. On special occasions, such as the military parade on the Champs-Élysées on Bastille Day, the polytechniciens wear the 19th-century-style grand uniform, with the bicorne, or cocked hat, but students have not typically worn a uniform on campus since the elimination of the 'internal uniform' in the mid-1980s. The students also wear grand uniform in day-use for special events on the campus, such as important conferences, formal events, or important lessons.
École Polytechnique