Applications and re-enrolment

Applications: for new students

Applying for a place

Registrations for the 2025-2026 school year are now open!

Step 1: online form

To apply for a place at CFBL for 2025-2026, please fill out our online application form.

We recommend that you apply as soon as online applications open to ensure the best availability of places, particularly for the Early Years.

Families will need to provide a few details about the child and his/her parents or legal guardians, and to pay the £180 non-refundable application fee (£150 exclusive of VAT + £30 VAT). For more details, please see our tutorial video below.

To apply for an entry during the 2024-2025 school year, please contact our Admissions Officer Marie Courtois: admissions@cfbl.org.uk.

We only accept applications for the following school year. To register your interest for subsequent school years, please request a prospectus and we will keep you informed about open days and registrations.

Step 2: decision of the admissions commitee

The Admission Committee meets regularly (about once per month) to allocate places.

The first Admissions Committee considers applications submitted from the start of applications (early October), and allocates places according to the following oversubscription criteria:

• Priority 1: children of staff members

• Priority 2: children who have a sibling registered at CFBL

• Priority 3: children who has at least one parent working for one of the KTECT companies, who contributed financially to the foundation of the school

• Priority 4: children from an "homologuée" school (accredited by the French Ministry of Education) established in the United Kingdom transferring at the end of the schooling offered by said school. For transfers before the end of each schooling cycle (early years, primary, secondary) between accredited schools, permission from both Headteachers must be sought and obtained.

• Priority 5: Pupils transferring from a school recognised by the AEFE or the MLF (Mission Laïque Française) established in the UK

• Priority 6: Pupils transferring from a school recognised by the AEFE or the MLF (Mission Laïque Française) established outside the UK

• Priority 7: Pupils transferring from a school accredited by the Ministry of Education established in France or pupils who have followed the distance teachings of the “Centre National d’Enseignement à Distance “(CNED) or equivalent.

Once all applications with an oversubscription criterion have been dealt with, if there are any places left to allocate, they are offered on a "first come, first served" basis. The second Admissions Committee takes into account the oversubscription criteria of applications submitted between October and December, and allocates any remaining places on a "first come, first served" basis, and so on.

Admissions committees (for 2025-2026 applications):

1. 1st committee: Wednesday 13 November 2024 (application cut-off to be considered in this committee: Sunday 10 November at 11.59pm)

2. 2nd committee: Wednesday 11 December 2024 (application cut-off to be considered in this committee: Sunday 8 December at 11.59pm)

3. 3rd committee: Wednesday 22 January 2025 (application cut-off to be considered in this committee: Sunday 19 January at 11.59pm)

Step 3: registration

Families will be informed of the outcome of the admissions committee (by email) within 4 working days, whether they are offered a place or not.

• If you are offered a place: the procedure for registering will be clearly explained in the offer pack sent to you. Families will have to provide some documentation (passports, birth certificate or French family book, proof of address, visa and exit certificate if applicable) and sign the contract. They will also need to pay the registration fee and an advance on the first term's school fees, both non-refundable. Once these conditions have been met, the registration will be confirmed. This process must be finalised by the deadline in the offer letter, otherwise the school reserves the right to offer the place to another family.

• If you are not offered a place: unless you cancel your application, it will be taken into account at every subsequent Admissions Committee during the current school year. Please note that your application will not be carried over to the following school year. Families who have been unsuccessful in securing a place during the current school year will have to apply again the following school year, from October onwards.

Ages and equivalencies

We welcome students from all educational systems.

Please find below a table that sets out the ages by school year and year group, and details the equivalencies with the British system:

To find out the most commonly asked equivalencies with other educational systems, please see our education equivalency chart.

The French system is based on the calendar year of birth, whereas the British system is based on the school year (children born between September and August). Because of this difference in approach, and due to some pedagogical and linguistic differences, some adjustements can be considered for students coming in from the British system, depending on their current year group and level of French.

Please note that for legal reasons, we are unable to accept children under the age of 3. You child can start during the school year from the day after their 3rd birthday, but you will need to pay for the entire school year.

Re-enrolment: for returning students

Every year, parents who have children currently attending CFBL must confirm the attendance of their child for the following school year, or notify us of their intention to withdraw. Contrarily to English schools where there is often a rolling contract, we ask families to do this every year, due to the high number of expatriates and international families, who often relocate for professional reasons. This is a process known as "re-enrolment".

Re-enrolment at CFBL is in two steps:

1. Parents confirm the presence of their child for the following school year between 16 December 2024 and 31 January 2025.

2. Parents pay the advance on fees, which will go towards the first term of the next school's fees. This advance cannot be paid back should the child fail to attend the school, no matter what the reason. Re-enrolment will only be possible if all the school fees for the previous year have been paid in full.

After steps 1 and 2 have been completed, the child is registered for the following school year, but is not guaranteed to move up into the next year group. Moving up into the next year group is subject to the opinion of the conseil de cycle (primary) or conseil de classe (secondary), in consultation with the parents.

In general, when families do not confirm their child's attendance for next year and/or do not pay the advance on fees, this means that they plan on moving, and do not think to warn the school. This represents about 10% of families. Therefore, although current families have priority over new families, if you haven't confirmed your child's presence for the following school year and paid the advance on fees by the deadline, we will assume that your child will not be at CFBL the following school year, and will allocate your place to another family.

Transfers

Transfer to another school

Families wishing to transfer to another school, either during a school year or at the end of the school year (for relocation purposes or other) must inform the school as soon as possible by emailing transfers@cfbl.org.uk. If not enough advance warning is given, they will be asked to pay for the following term's fees.

Transfer of pupils between accredited French schools in London

A student in an accredited French school (CFBL, Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, Lycée International de Londres Winston Churchill…) must pursue his or her schooling there until the end of the accredited cycle.

Although parents are free to choose which school they originally want to enrol their child in, they cannot transfer their child to another accredited school before the student has completed his or her schooling in the first school without being granted permission by both Headteachers, as well as by the French Embassy.

For students enrolled at CFBL, this means that they cannot transfer to another accredited French school in London without asking both Headteachers and the Embassy for permission.

Pupils in 3ème at CFBL

Parents whose child is in 3ème at CFBL have a guaranteed place in 2nde at Lycée International de Londres Winston Churchill. They can also apply for a place in 2nde at the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle or at l'Ecole Jeannine Manuel in accordance with the admissions requirements of each of those schools.

CFBL also prepares students for entry into the English educational system, or to go to another French school, whether in France or abroad.