Admission to Lycée Française Charles de Gaulle’s British Section

[MangoSmoothie007]

Hello,

My son is in Year 5 of a Prep School at Sussex. We are exploring what colleges we could send him to, and one option is the British Section of the Lycée Francais Charles de Gaulle in London. I was wondering if anyone knows how difficult it would be for him to be accepted there.

For a bit of background:

DH is French, but we speak English at home. DS speaks some French, but is mostly comfortable speaking English. DS was born here but DH & I were born abroad. Our interest in the Lycée Francais Charles de Gaulle stems from our desire for DS to improve his French and be closer to his French roots; as a family, we miss being in a more international setting; I had friends who attended the lycée and heard only good things; both DH & I work in London so moving back would mean less commute time.

DS excels in academic subjects, but less so in sports. He loves Maths, Science & Languages. We live in a small coastal city in Sussex where DS attends a nice prep school, but which only goes up to year 8. If he does manage to get into LFCG, we’d have to either find a college for him to attend for the interim period (year 9) or alternatively find a college to move him to for years 7-9, and then finally move him to the British section of LFCG.

I’d be very grateful to hear from those of you with experience of moving your DC’s from a British school system to the British section of the lycée français Charles de Gaulle. In particular (1) How hard is admission to the British Section of LFCG, and (2) what route did you take to move them — I.e. stay at British prep until year 8, move to another senior school for year 9, and then finally move to LFCG, or another route?

Many thanks in advance!

I would say the priority might be to work on his French as the majority of the teaching will be in French.

Thanks floradora. I was under the impression that the Section Britannique followed the British GCSE & A-Level curriculum, but that taking French at both levels was compulsory — however, everything else is taught in English. From your experience, is that not true — are they taught other subjects in French too?

You've likely already look it up, but this is what I've found on their website: https://www.lyceefrancais.org.uk/sinscrire/cursus-britannique/

Thanks CJ0374. Yes, I’ve had a look.

i was wondering if anyone knows how hard it is to get into the lycee’s British section from an independent British school? Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Thanks!

And within the British Section bit, the reading list for those entering year 10 (3GCSE)

https://www.lyceefrancais.org.uk/assets/RENTREE-2023-2024/LISTES-LECTURE/3GCSE-English-Reading-List-2023-2024.pdf

...We look forward to welcoming you to the British Section in September. As all your subjects will now be taught and assessed in English, we would like you to read 4 of these titles over the summer...

I wouldn't worry about the french. I would worry about him moving from a cuddly English prep to the french way of education which is strict, dry and usually really hard on kids used to the warm UK system of praise.
Take a look around it first, those schools used to be insanely difficult to get a space in as they're subsidised by the french government for french citizens but there's far less movement now with us being out of the EU.
I would first go look, then worry about places and language.

And sorry if I missed it but what is the point of moving him there for the British section? How will he improve his french? Everyone will speak in English to each other. Why not move him now so he picks up the french and chooses the British qualifications pathway when the time comes?

My understanding is that the Section Britannique teach English in English, soem of the History-Geography but this is alongside an essentially French curriculum - preparing for the Brevet (in 3e) then the Bac Français International (used to be OIB) in terminale. But they may be using the terminology differently from every other French lycee's section britannique!

According to the dfe site, the school definitely enters pupils for GCSEs and IGCSEs, not to mention, the 'Textbooks' info on the school's website details an entire clutch of English language resources for those qualifications (and their A level equivalent.
And in summer 2023, 48 students from the school Sat A levels, with an average grade for the school being B+.

But apologies, OP, no idea how difficult it might be to get a place in the British Section.

Check the amount of support you need to be giving with current parents and curriculum. Friends with kids there and those at UK universities had extensive tutoring to get GCSEs and A levels grades. Also, start time can change so some days start later etc.
Latest Ofsted 2023 had it down as Inadequate.

A decade back, so more things to check, than up to date information. DD played sport with a number of kids from the Lycee CDG and I knew a few Lycee mums.

• it is quite a tough environment, with relatively little pastoral care. The building is not big enough so the school day is stretched and the work load is heavy. The French approach to education seemed quite traditional. We knew quite a few kids who transferred out of the Lycee to nearby private and state schools and were happier.
• Very few kids are actually French. Most have one French parent, others were Londoners with a Francophone background (Lebanese for example. Mika the singer studied at the Lycee, though left because he was bullied.) That said an English friend with a French husband whose kids went to the junior school found the French mums cliquey.
• The school did not offer much in the way of extra curricular. Sport, for example, needed to be accessed outside school. The odd and late timetable could make this problematic.
• I don’t know much about the British section other than it was considered the easier option, so where some of the less academic were funnelled. (I know the school could also be picky about who they took in. They refused the son of a friend who wanted to transfer from a very average Lycee in France profonde even though he was bright. My friend felt there was some snobbery at play.)
• Rather than switch to the section Britanique it was very common for bright kids aiming for top UK Universities to enter English private schools for sixth form. Sevenoaks, Westminster etc.
• French education is the same the world over so a great option for those with mobile careers.

All of this seems negative but it is not meant to be. The Lycee provides a rigorous education at a relatively low price, and the chance for a child to be fully bilingual. However it is a different option to the more expensive nearby private schools with their emphasis on a broader education.

Thanks for this, and you're absolutely right of course: his prep is rather cuddly and a change to a dry impersonal system would probably be a shock (your referring to it as "cuddly" made me chuckle, but it's such an apt description!).

I'll try to go have a look but their website says I can only do this a year before my DS becomes eligible to apply for a place there (that's 4 years away!). However, I might trying emailing them or calling to see if they'll allow us to a visit earlier.

OP, I know the school well. I used to teach in the French system in London but not at the Lycée.

Children in the Section Brittanique do not become bilingual. So you can forget that straight away. All their lessons will be in English. In a school with a large diasporic contingent rather than purely French, many of the children don't speak French at home and are more natural English speakers, so the social side of things will also largely be in English, too. If you want your child to develop fluency in their French, sending them to the Lycée British section will not help you achieve that goal.

The Lycée is also notorious for bullying, drugs and non existent pastoral care. Teachers are very strict and there is very little creativity. It's a chalk and talk, rote learning style. They get good results but they don't create critical or creative thinkers, and unless you're from a well-heeled South Kensington family, you and your son will struggle to fit in.

If you'd like your son to become bilingual while still getting some British qualifications, your only real option in London is École Jeannine Manuel in Bloomsbury, which is expensive, but they do produce truly bilingual children. It's small and more 'prep' in size to the Lycée, but has no facilities either due to its central London location, so I'm not sure how much you get for your money. Many parents at EJM send their kids up until 2nde (Year 11) and then move them for sixth form to another IB school as the cohort is so small and subject choices are limited as a result.

CFBL (College Francais Bilingual de Londres) in Kentish Town is lovely but only goes up to Year 10 (3éme) and doesn't prepare students for GCSEs, so you'd be stuck with having to go on to the Lycée either at South Ken or Winston Churchill in Wembley. Winston Churchill in Wembley has a great spacious site with good facilities, but it's had some dodgy Ofsteds and friends of mine who have worked there or do still work there don't have great things to say about the way it's run. It is however very popular with French parents and has more down to earth students and families than those at South Ken.

As an alternative, a lot of the small international schools in central London offer native stream language classes for their students. Southbank International, Halcyon and ICS all do this, so your son could have an IB education in English while still developing his reading, writing and speaking in French to fluency. These schools are very expensive though, and not for everyone, so you'd have to go and visit to see whether they'd be right for your child.