← Back to homeÉcole Internationale Le Verseau
Wavre, Belgium · est. 1969 · Private
Illustration · Wavre
École Internationale Le Verseau is a Belgian day school in Bierges near Wavre, founded in September 1969 by Suzanne van der Straten. "Le Verseau est une école belge qui offre un enseignement en langue française": teaching is in French, following the official programme of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, and the school belongs to FELSI, the federation of independent subsidised free schools. Students are taught from nursery at two and a half to the sixth year of secondary, and all graduates of the general section in Bierges receive the Belgian CESS. English is woven into school life through the partner non-profit VSAL: in the Anglais Renforcé (V+) programme nursery and primary children study English 4 to 7 hours a week in small groups with native speakers on a British-inspired programme, and in secondary it is a paid option of 4 hours a week with preparation for Cambridge exams. Dutch is the main second language in secondary, and German and Spanish are also offered. According to the school, nearly half of the students also speak English at home, and more than 50 nationalities are represented. The secondary section holds Erasmus+ accreditation, is a European Parliament Ambassador School and received the European Commission's Jan Comenius prize in 2020. Since 1996 the school has had a second site in Gosselies offering technical and vocational education.
Key facts
Programmes
Cambridge · National programme
Admits from
2.5 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
French
Languages taught
Dutch, English, German, Spanish
Admissions The school teaches "une communauté variée et diversifiée d'élèves belges et internationaux" in French and helps newcomers with French; secondary offers French as a foreign language. For nursery and primary, families join a waiting list all year by form, phone or email; the form must be renewed every year, and siblings have priority. From mid-April the school offers places after a visit and an individual interview, and no new arrivals are possible after mid-April for the current year. Registration for the first year of secondary follows the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles rules (Décret Inscription) during three weeks in January and February, with places allocated by the COGI. For years 2-5 of secondary there is a waiting list, with places offered after the June exams. Students can join the sixth year only if the school offers the same options and the same number of periods.
Stages and year groups Grades Maternelle (M1-M3), Primaire (P1-P6), Secondaire (1re-6e). Maternelle from two and a half with a classe d'accueil, Primaire, and Secondaire from 1re to 6e année; the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles programme, with general secondary education and options from 3e année, 4 classes per year with a maximum of 22 students per class. The final qualification is the Belgian CESS (Certificat d'Enseignement Secondaire Supérieur). In addition, the VSAL association runs the paid V+ English programme with Cambridge certification, a Communication and International Relations course in 5e and 6e, Model European Parliament, Model United Nations and the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award. The second site, Le Verseau - ELCE in Gosselies, offers technical and vocational secondary education.
Address Rue de Wavre 60A / 60B, B-1301 Bierges
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · authorised programmeThe Cambridge register names the school as a Cambridge centre. Its main curriculum is that of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, leading to the Belgian CESS; Cambridge examinations are taken in the paid V+ English programme run through a partner association.
school is in an official registryconfirmed by a school document, by membership or by taking part in a networkclaimed by the school, no confirmation, not counted in the scoreGuide to all organisations → What stands behind each entry
CambridgeCambridge International Education
Part of the University of Cambridge. It allows a school to teach the Cambridge programmes and to enter pupils for the exams. There are four stages and they are authorised separately: primary, lower secondary, IGCSE and A Level. If the stages are known they are named in the line below; if that line is missing, the school does not publish them, and the Cambridge registry does not show stages either - it gives only the name of the centre, the country and whether private candidates are accepted. Cambridge calls what it does registration rather than accreditation, and the network holds about ten thousand schools.
What the badge means for this school. The school is allowed to run this programme and to award its certificate. This is a confirmation of the programme, not a judgement on the school as a whole. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. Which stages - from the early years programme for three-year-olds up to A-Level - this school is approved for is not stated here.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →National programme
The state school programme of the country the school stands in: it is set by that country's ministry of education, which also licenses the school and awards the leaving certificate. That certificate is used for entry to local universities, and abroad it is matched to the local one.
What this means for this school. This entry does not count towards the score, and that is deliberate. Every lawful school in a country works to the national programme, so on its own it tells one school apart from no other - unlike the French, German or Russian programmes, which are carried abroad and confirmed by the register of their organisation. We show it because a parent needs to know what programme their child is taught and what certificate the child will get. Counting it would lift the whole ranking at once and still tell nobody apart.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Exam results In 2024, 20 students sat the Cambridge English O Level exam, designed for native English speakers aged 16 and over; all passed, and 10 of them obtained the top grades A or A*.
Where leavers go: Princeton · Harvard · Columbia · Cambridge · Bristol · Imperial College · Edinburgh · St Andrews · Loughborough · Lancaster · Exeter · Maastricht
and others, 15 universities in the school's list in allWith the CESS, graduates enter Belgian universities and colleges; the school says its students do very well in the entrance exams for engineering and medicine. In recent years graduates have been admitted to Princeton, Harvard and Columbia in the US, Cambridge, Bristol, Imperial College, Edinburgh, St Andrews, Loughborough, Lancaster and Exeter in the UK, Maastricht, Groningen, Amsterdam and TU Delft in the Netherlands, and universities in France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Canada and Denmark. Students in the VSAL programme receive support with applications abroad.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Playground
Clubs and activities: Programme d'Anglais Renforcé (V+) · Théâtre · Journal du Verseau · Model European Parliament · Model United Nations · Duke of Edinburgh's International Award · Mini-Entreprises · Tournois de football · Self-défense · Club de devoirs
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
·Teacher qualificationsnot stated
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
✓Students per teacher or class sizein the key facts above
Secondary has 4 classes per year with a maximum of 22 students per class; in 1re and 2e each class keeps the same main teachers. V+ English lessons are taught exclusively by native speakers. Teachers receive regular training in preventing violence. The school does not state the number of teachers.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
·CCTVnot stated on the website
·Security staffnot stated on the website
·Access controlnot stated on the website
·Nurse or medical roomnot stated on the website
✓Counsellor
·Child protection policynot stated on the website
✓Staff training
✓Anti-bullying policy
Each section has an intervention team that handles bullying and wellbeing cases: Graines de Médiateurs in nursery, the KiVa team in primary and the Cellule Bien-Être in secondary. Teachers are regularly trained in violence prevention, and the school works with the PSE school health service, the CPMS psycho-medico-social centre and Child Focus. Speaking circles, class councils and a student forum with elected delegates are in place.
Reviews
No reviews yet. The community rating counts towards the score once a school has five verified reviews - until then we do not show a zero, so as not to mislead.
Criteria breakdown criterion weight in brackets
Academics and programmes (16%)72 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data80 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data70 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data70 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data78 Value for money (6%) scored at the median70 "Scored on disclosed data" stands where we count only what the school has written about itself on its own site: exams and destinations, safety and wellbeing, teaching staff, facilities, clubs and activities. A low score here means the school does not write about this, not that the school does not have it: a school with good security and a sparse site will score low. A school can fill in its profile, and the score will be counted again.
The score is counted from 7 of the 9 criteria.Only those with checkable data count: programmes and accreditations from official registers, the fee from a published price list. Where it says "scored on the median", the school has no data and the middle of the list is put in its place, so that a gap gives no advantage. Admissions, teaching staff and reviews come in as their data arrives.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country