← Back to homeLycée Français de Bilbao
Zamudio, Spain · est. 1933 · Private
Illustration · Zamudio
The Lycée Français de Bilbao is a private international French school founded in 1933 by French residents of Bilbao led by the industrialist Jean Laffontan, under the name Escuelas Francesas de Bilbao. Since 1968 it has stood in Zamudio near Bilbao, and since 1990 it has worked under an agreement with the AEFE: its director is appointed by France, and the school is run by a committee of a French educational association. It has about 850 pupils - French, Spanish and children of other countries - from the age of two to the final year. Teaching follows the programmes of the French Ministry of Education, in French; Spanish, Basque and English start in kindergarten, and the school aims at level C1 in French, Spanish and English and B2 in Basque. Since 2023 more than 80 per cent of secondary pupils have chosen the European programme, in which history and geography and mathematics are taught in English for a semester; the AEFE has given it the PARLE label. Leavers receive the French baccalauréat and, under Franco-Spanish agreements, the Spanish leaving qualification with access to the EVAU; there is also the international French baccalauréat, the BFI. Children who do not speak French get a two-year French as a foreign language programme, starting from the first year of primary school. There is a psychologist, a nurse, the school's own kitchen, 11 bus lines and holiday camps.
Key facts
Programmes
French programme
Admits from
2 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
French
Languages taught
Spanish, Basque, English
About the fees The school posts its fees for 2026-2027 as a table on its fees page, and the payment terms in its financial regulations. On top of tuition, textbook rental, examination fees, school trips and extracurricular activities are paid separately. Large-family discounts: 20 per cent for the third child, 30 for the fourth, 40 for the fifth; a family that brings another family to the school gets a 300 euro discount. French citizens can apply for a French government scholarship through the Consulate General of France in Madrid, and there is a solidarity fund for one-off help to families.
Admissions The school is open to everyone, whatever the nationality of the parents, and says plainly that all foreign pupils may enrol; French citizenship is not required. Parents do not have to speak French - for most of the school's families French is not their native language. Children can join mid-way, in primary or secondary school: from the first year of primary those without French get a French as a foreign language programme, usually for two years. The youngest are admitted from the age of two, into the toute petite section class. Applications go through a form on the site, and the office answers by telephone, email or WhatsApp; there is a separate page for visiting the school. The school does not state entrance tests, deadlines or a list of documents on its admissions pages.
Stages and year groups Grades toute petite section (age 2) - terminale. The school takes a child from two to eighteen in one sequence of four stages: kindergarten with a class for two-year-olds, primary school, secondary school - the collège, from 5e to 3e, in Spanish terms the first to the third year of ESO - and lycée in two cycles up to the French baccalauréat. The lycée offers the international French baccalauréat, the BFI, and a European section in English. Baccalauréat specialities: economics, English, Spanish, geopolitics, mathematics, biology, physics and chemistry, philosophy, literature and computer science. Extended care runs from 8:00 to 17:15.
Address Barrio de Galbarriatu 10, 48170 Zamudio, Bizkaia
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
AEFE · accreditationschool 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.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Exam results The school writes of a 100 per cent pass rate in the French baccalauréat. Leavers also sit the Spanish university entrance exam, the EVAU. Language certificates: DELF B2 and DALF C1 in French, Cambridge First and Advanced in English, and Instituto Cervantes certificates B1 and B2 in Spanish.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
·Sports hallnot stated on the website
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
·Librarynot stated on the website
✓Catering
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: The school has occupied its campus in Zamudio, Barrio de Galbarriatu 10, since 1968. Meals are cooked by the school's own team in the school kitchen, the canteen holds the AENOR certificate for sustainable catering, and menus are drawn up by a nutritionist together with the school nurse. Two-year-olds have their own rooms suited to their age. The bus runs 11 lines in two shifts - across Greater Bilbao from Getxo to Gorliz, along the Left Bank and as far as Castro.
Summer camp: the school runs its own camp; whether it takes children from outside is not stated on the website
Since 2023 the school has run holiday camps: themed and sports activities, lessons and creative work during the school holidays. It does not state dates, ages or prices on its pages.
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 sizenot stated
The school's director is appointed by France, and teachers train with AEFE trainers and in regional programmes. Named leaders: director general Fabien du Fayet de la Tour, deputy director Sylvie Larrucea, financial director Gaël Frouin and primary school director Caroline Dottavi; the team page also shows the administrative staff, the school life service, five kindergarten assistants and the teaching teams. Languages are taught by native speakers or specialists. The school publishes neither the number of teachers nor their qualifications.
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 room
✓Counsellor
✓Child protection policy
✓Staff training
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
The school has a comprehensive child protection project meant to prevent mistreatment in class and beyond it. A wellbeing team works there: the chief education counsellor (CPE), the school psychologist and the nurse, to whom teachers, pupils and families can turn. A separate address, devoir.alerte@lyceefrancaisbilbao.net, takes reports of anything that threatens a child. There is a committee for health, citizenship and the environment, staff train with AEFE trainers, and a School for Families runs for parents. The school does not name security staff or video surveillance.
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 data75 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 data55 Value for money (6%) scored at the median74 "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.
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