Bilingual sections in French state schools: the British international sections and the BFI

If you want your children to grow up properly French and properly British without paying full international-school fees, the British international sections are the best-kept secret in the French state system.

The short version

• An international section (section internationale) is a stream inside an ordinary French school, with extra hours of English literature and history taught in English [1][2].
• At the end of lycée, pupils sit the Baccalauréat français international (BFI) [1][2], the successor to the old OIB (option internationale du baccalauréat).
• The Académie de Paris has public British sections at the Maurice Ravel, Balzac and Camille Sée schools, plus the collèges Montaigne and Voltaire [1].
• Around Paris there are more, from Saint-Germain-en-Laye and Sèvres in the west to Nogent-sur-Marne, Vincennes and Noisy-le-Grand in the east [2][3].
• Places are competitive: you apply around January or February for the following September, and there are entry tests [1].

Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = EUR 1.20).

What an international section actually is

International sections are a French national scheme for French and foreign pupils in the same class. The idea is to help children from abroad settle into French schools (and go home again if they need to), give French children a near-native second language, and keep the partner country's culture alive in the classroom [2].

In the British sections the extras are, roughly [1][2]:

• English language and literature: four extra hours a week from sixième (the first year of collège, roughly Year 7) to seconde, on top of normal English lessons.
• History and geography taught partly in English. At collège, half the compulsory history-geography is in English; at lycée, two hours are in English and two in French.
• In première and terminale (the last two years), two hours of approfondissement culturel et linguistique (literature in depth) and two hours of connaissance du monde (a world-studies course).

The programmes are written jointly by the French education authorities and the partner country [1]. Everything else is the French curriculum, taught in French, by French teachers.

What your child ends up with

International sections at lycée are open only on the general (academic) track, not the technological or vocational ones [1][2]. Bear that in mind if your teenager is more hands-on.

The BFI is designed to be recognised by universities in France and abroad, and some sections prepare pupils for UK exams too: the Saint-Germain-en-Laye British Section, for example, enters pupils for the International GCSE [4]. Check with each school how its pupils fare with UK university applications; the better-established sections publish this.

How it's different from an international school

A British section is not a British school. Your child sits in a French classroom for most of the week, follows French discipline and French marking (out of 20, where 14 is good), and needs to cope with French as the main language. Children who arrive with no French usually start with accueil (welcome) classes or a French international school instead.

Our guide to schools in Paris covers the fee-paying international schools and the French system as a whole.

Where the British sections are

In Paris itself

The Académie de Paris lists these British international sections [1]:

There are also two American sections in private schools, École Jeannine Manuel in the 15e and École Sévigné in the 6e [1]. Pupils from a collège-only section need to apply again for a lycée place.

In the suburbs

The education ministry's list of British lycée sections includes, in the Académie de Versailles to the west: the Lycée international in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Lycée Jean-Pierre Vernant in Sèvres, Lycée Lucie Aubrac in Courbevoie, Lycée Corneille in La Celle-Saint-Cloud, the Lycée de Palaiseau, Lycée Camille Pissarro in Pontoise, the Lycée franco-allemand in Buc and Notre-Dame du Grandchamp in Versailles. In the Académie de Créteil to the east it lists the Nouveau lycée de Vincennes, Lycée Édouard Branly in Nogent-sur-Marne, Lycée Évariste Galois in Noisy-le-Grand and Lycée François 1er in Fontainebleau [2]. The 2026 official list also shows collège sections in Aubervilliers, Montreuil, Fontenay-sous-Bois and Nogent-sur-Marne, among others [3].

The Saint-Germain-en-Laye British Section: an example of costs

The British Section at the Lycée International in Saint-Germain-en-Laye is one of the oldest and biggest, taking children from nursery to 18. Its English programme is run by a parents' association, so it charges fees on top of the free French schooling [4]. Its current rates:

New families also pay a non-refundable registration fee of €1,500 (£1,250) per child, or €1,750 (£1,460) at lycée, plus a €500 advance on fees. A means-tested scholarship fund helps families on lower incomes [4]. Other sections organise their English teaching differently, so ask each school whether there's a contribution and how much.

How admission works

For the public sections in Paris you apply at the start of the second term of the year before entry, around January or February. The school looks at your file and then invites candidates to entry tests [1]. In practice:

1. Start early. Go to open days and information meetings in the autumn before you apply.
2. Check the level expected. The tests check that your child can follow an English literature and history programme at near-native level, and that their French is good enough for the French curriculum. Many sections test both.
3. Prepare the file. Recent school reports (translated if needed), a letter explaining your family's link with English, and proof of address.
4. Have a plan B. Places are limited and competitive. Apply to your local school (école de secteur) in parallel, and to more than one section if the rules allow.
5. Moving mid-year? Contact the section directly. Some take pupils during the year when places come up.

Getting in depends on your child's English, not just your passport. A child from a British family who's grown up in France with weak written English may find the tests harder than a French child who's spent years in London.

Other bilingual options

If a British section isn't possible, look at sections européennes (extra English and one subject partly taught in English, less intensive), language-focused private schools under contract with the state, and English clubs on Wednesday afternoons, when French primary schools are often closed. Families thinking of a move away from Paris will find British sections in Bordeaux, Libourne, Rennes and Brest too [2]; our guide to rural France covers life in the Dordogne and Brittany.

Other parents are the best source of what each section is really like. Ask in our community group for Brits in France.

Sources

1. Académie de Paris: Anglais – sections internationales (23 December 2025)
2. Ministère de l'Éducation nationale: Les sections internationales au lycée (29 December 2025)
3. Légifrance: Arrêté du 23 février 2026 fixant la liste des sections internationales et classes menant au BFI (Journal officiel, 5 March 2026)
4. British Section, Lycée International: Tuition fees (current rates, no academic year stated; checked 11 November 2026)

Keep reading

• Schools in Paris
• Moving to Paris as a Brit
• Registering a child born abroad and British citizenship by descent
• UK student loans while living abroad