International Schools Directory

The Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle is a large French primary and secondary school situated in South Kensington, London. It was founded in 1915 near Victoria station, and provided a full education for 120 students. In 1920, the Lycée relocated to Cromwell Gardens, opposite the Natural History Museum. Sustained growth saw it relocate for the third time where it currently resides to buildings directly opposite the Natural History Museum on Cromwell Road, South Kensington, adjacent to the French Consulate in Knightsbridge. In 1980, the school was officially named The Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle in reference to the famous French statesman, who had taken refuge in the Lycée whilst in exile from Nazi-occupied France during World War II. Due to limited room at the South Kensington site, the Lycée expanded by opening two primary school adjuncts, based in Wix and Ealing, in 1993 and 1995 respectively. Since May 1997, the Ealing adjunct has been known as the École André Malraux, named after the French author, adventurer and statesman, André Malraux. It caters for some 3,500 pupils between the ages of 3 and 18, and teaches predominantly in French. Its curriculum and management are overseen by the French National Ministry of Education through the Agency for the Teaching of French Abroad (AEFE). In addition to serving the French community in London, 12% of pupils at the Lycée are British, placed in the school by parents wanting their children to benefit from a bilingual education. The Lycée has a proud multicultural and international makeup, with a further 12% of pupils forming an array of 48 different nationalities. The vast majority of the teaching done at the Lycée is in French and caters to French curricula and indeed, as far as quatrième (at the age of 14/15), all pupils are taught entirely in French. From troisième onwards (equivalent to Year Ten or freshman year), pupils can opt either to stay in the French Section and study for their Brevet and their Baccalauréat or to transfer to the smaller British Section (60 students per year) and work towards their GCSEs and A-levels.