← Back to the rankingFranzösisches Gymnasium Berlin
Berlin, Germany · est. 1689 · State
Illustration · Berlin
The Französisches Gymnasium Berlin, in French the Lycée français de Berlin, is the oldest Gymnasium in Berlin and the oldest French lycée in the world: it was founded in 1689 for the children of Huguenots who fled France. In 1952-1953 the German Gymnasium merged with the French Collège, and since then it has been a joint Franco-German project; since 1974 it has been on Derfflingerstraße. Today it is a public Berlin school and at the same time a directly managed school of the AEFE network, teaching to the curricula of the French education ministry and Berlin's framework curricula. More than 860 students from 70 countries attend, taught by 110 teachers. The school admits children from grade 5 (French CM2) up to grade 12: in grades 5-6 there is one class taught in German with intensive French and two classes taught in French, from grade 7 all classes are taught in French, while German is the first language subject for German-speaking students. Everyone takes the French baccalauréat; students of the German administration also take the Abitur (the only Abitur in Berlin taken in French), and students of the French administration may take the Abitur or, after selection, the AbiBac. In grade 9 everyone takes the French brevet. Graduates, the school says, go on to universities in France, Germany, England, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Canada.
Key facts
Programmes
French programme · National programme
Languages of instruction
French, German
Languages taught
English, Spanish, Latin
Students per teacher
about 1 to 8
About the fees Tuition is free: this is a public Berlin school, maintained by the Senate school administration (centrally administered schools); the website mentions no tuition fee for either the German or the French administration. Paid items: French exam fees (brevet 50 euros, early baccalauréat exams in grade 11 180 euros, baccalauréat exams in grade 12 200 euros), lunch from grade 7 (5.50 euros), and textbooks from the list bought by parents (families on benefits are exempt).
Admissions The school admits children of any nationality. Through the German administration, grade 5 admits 90 students (60 of them in bilingual classes) under Berlin's registration deadlines: required are the primary school's forecast with a Gymnasium recommendation, good German (at least a 2 on the report) and a successful interview - the child introduces themselves in German, reads a text of about 350 words and answers questions, tells a story from pictures (in German for the class with French as a foreign language, in French for the bilingual classes) and solves two mathematics exercises. Grade 7 through the German administration admits students to free places with a Gymnasium recommendation and French good enough for all lessons, after a written test in social and natural sciences in French and an oral part. French-speaking children and students from the French system (from France or the AEFE network) register through the French administration for grades 7-12 online; pupils of the École Voltaire primary school are admitted by right on promotion to grade 7; identity documents, reports, a certificate of leaving the previous school, proof of measles vaccination and proof of residence registration in Berlin are required. The AbiBac (from grade 10) selects up to 24 students by application: German at least at B1, a motivation letter in German, teachers' assessments.
Stages and year groups Grades 5-12. A Gymnasium from grade 5 to grade 12 (in French CM2 to terminale). Grades 5-6: three classes, class a taught in German with intensive French, classes b and c in French. From grade 7 (5e) two classes from the École Voltaire primary school join, five classes per year, mixed classes taught in French; from grade 8 (4e) all subjects are in French except German as a first language and English; German-speaking students also study German history. English from grade 6, Latin from grade 7 (up to the Latinum), Ancient Greek as an option from grade 8 (up to the Graecum), Spanish as an option from grade 8. At the end of grade 9 everyone takes the Diplôme national du brevet; the Berlin MSA can also be obtained. The upper school follows the reformed French baccalauréat with specialities (including expert and complementary mathematics, philosophy in grade 12 and economics as an advanced course). Everyone takes the baccalauréat; German administration students combine it with the Abitur (Berlin central exams in French, German and English, other subjects counted from the written baccalauréat exams); French administration students may take the Abitur or the AbiBac (since 2005, history and geography in German, German literature). There is preparation for Cambridge English (FCE, CAE) and the German language diploma DSD I/II - language certificates, not a Cambridge International programme. There is no IB.
Address Derfflingerstraße 7, 10785 Berlin (Tiergarten)
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
AEFE · accreditationAEFE runs the school directly (établissement en gestion directe): the curriculum is French and recognised by the French education ministry.
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
AEFEAgency for French Education Abroad
It runs the network of French schools worldwide, while the accreditation itself, the homologation, is granted by the French education ministry and inspected by French state inspectors. A leaver from a homologated school moves into a school in France without an entrance examination. Homologation is granted stage by stage, so it sometimes covers only part of the year groups.
What the badge means for this school. The school has been through this organisation's accreditation. It was judged as a whole: governance, safeguarding, staff, premises, teaching. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →French programme
The state programme of France. A school is homologated by the French ministry of education, and a leaver may move into a school in France without entrance tests. Homologation is granted stage by stage, so it sometimes covers only part of the year groups.
What this means for this school. Which year groups of this school are covered by homologation - only the primary ones, or all the way to the final year - is not stated here. The difference matters: it decides whether the school takes a child through to the French baccalaureate or hands them on to another school halfway.
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
The school publishes nothing about where its leavers go: no share going on to university, no exam results, no list of universities.
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: Sports ground or field
Campus: Since 1974 the school has been in the building at Derfflingerstraße 7 in Berlin-Tiergarten, with an additional building, the Villa. There is a large triple sports hall, a sports ground with a football pitch, a 200 m running track, long jump and shot put facilities and a separate 100 m track. The library is a French-style documentation and information centre (CDI) with an online catalogue. The canteen offers two hot menus daily, including organic dishes, and menus for allergies; lunch is free in grades 5-6 and costs 5.50 euros from grade 7. There is a school web radio, a newspaper and lockers for rent. The school's profiles are MINT sciences and sustainable development.
Clubs and activities: Theater (theatre) · Schreibwerkstätten (writing workshops) · naturwissenschaftliche AGs (science clubs) · Turn-AG (gymnastics club) · Basketball-AG (basketball club) · Fußball-AG (football club) · RADIO FGB · Schülerzeitung A propos (school newspaper) · BERLIN EURO PARLEMENT (model European Parliament)
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
·Teacher qualificationsnot stated
✓Number of teachers110
✓Students per teacher or class sizein the key facts above
There are 110 teachers, highly qualified according to the school; the staff is German and French, with a joint leadership for the German and French administrations (a head and a French proviseur).
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
·Counsellornot stated on the website
·Child protection policynot stated on the website
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
The French administration has an education counsellor (CPE) and a student life office that monitors students; there is social learning through the Starke Klasse project, school rules and an IT charter, proof of measles vaccination is mandatory on admission; the parents' association bought a defibrillator for the school.
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 data55 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data55 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data70 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data75 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data78 "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 8 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