← Back to the rankingLycée français international de Varna - Charles-Perrault
Varna, Bulgaria · est. 2009 · Private
Illustration · Varna
The Lycée français international de Varna - Charles-Perrault (LFIV) is a private French school in Varna from kindergarten to the final year of lycée. It opened on 9 September 2009 on the initiative of French-speaking parents; it teaches the curriculum of the French Ministry of National Education, and all classes from the youngest kindergarten class to Terminale are accredited by the French ministry (homologués). It currently has about 300 students aged 3 to 18. The school is a partner of the Mission laïque française (its operator) and a partner of the AEFE; it is led by a head (proviseur) seconded by the French Ministry of National Education and run by a parents' association. The language of instruction is French; Bulgarian is taught in all classes, English from the youngest kindergarten class and Spanish from 6e (from GS as an extracurricular activity). Graduates take the French baccalauréat: in 2026 100% of graduates passed, and they also passed the state exam in Bulgarian language and literature. From September 2026 the school offers a dual diploma programme with the American High School Diploma (from 3e or 2nde). Each year the school runs exchanges with Egypt, Spain and Italy.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $7 369–9 051 a year
6 523–8 012 EUR
Programmes
French programme
Admits from
3 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
French
Languages taught
Bulgarian, English, Spanish
Class size
up to 25 students per class; no more than 42 children in the youngest and middle kindergarten classes combined
Registration fee
≈ $1 130
1 000 EUR
About the fees Fees for the 2026-2027 school year, in euro: kindergarten (PS, MS, GS) 6523, primary (CP-CM2) 7065, collège and 2nde (6e-2nde) 7500, lycée (1ère, Terminale) 8012 euro per year, plus learning materials of 150 euro in kindergarten and 200 euro in other classes. Fees are paid in four parts: a guarantee deposit by 30 June 2026 and three instalments by 10 September 2026, 10 January and 10 April 2027. Fees include 643 euro for renovating the school's facilities, voted by the general assembly; this amount will not be included next year. A 5% discount applies for a second child and 10% for a third and subsequent child. Transport is charged as a share of the school's cost with the carrier, meals are paid directly to the supplier; holiday clubs, workshops and activities after 15:30 are charged at prices announced by the school. French families may apply for means-tested AEFE scholarships.
Admissions Applications are made online through the EDUKA platform; the family then sends a form signed by both parents, the birth certificate and copies of the parents' documents, and from the previous school the full school record with the latest reports (from a French school, the certificat de radiation). The admissions committee decides after the family's interview with the head; for kindergarten the interview is with the management, administration and a teacher, and for mid-year entry the child is observed in class for a week. French-speaking students from the French education system and siblings have priority; children from other systems may take assessment tests. Kindergarten admission depends on available places, and GS children must validate their skills before CP; kindergarten requires a full set of medical documents with tests. The school admits foreigners: Bulgarian is taught as the mother tongue for Bulgarian children and as an introduction to the host country for others; French families may receive AEFE scholarships. Classes have up to 25 students. The first enrolment fee is 1000 euro.
Stages and year groups Grades kindergarten (PS, MS, GS), CP-Terminale. Maternelle: PS, MS, GS (ages 3-5, cycle 1). École élémentaire: CP-CM2 (cycles 2 and 3), one class per year (two in CE1); students aged 7-10 can take the DELF Prim. Collège: 6e-3e (cycles 3 and 4) with the Diplôme national du brevet (DNB) at the end of 3e. Lycée: 2nde générale and the cycle terminal (1ère, Terminale) with the baccalauréat général; specialities taught at school are mathematics, physics-chemistry, SVT, SES, HGGSP and LLCE English, plus HLP and LLCA by distance learning with CNED, and the options maths complémentaires and maths expertes. From September 2026, Dual Diploma: the American High School Diploma alongside the baccalauréat. Graduates also take the state exam in Bulgarian language and literature.
Address Sv. Sv. Konstantin i Elena, 9006 Varna
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
AEFE · accreditationMission laïque française · school is part of the networkThe Agency for French Education Abroad (AEFE) lists the school in its register as a partner school (partenaire). It follows the French curriculum and is a partner school of the Mission laïque française network.
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.
Mission laïque françaiseschool network
Mission laïque française (MLF) is a French non-profit association founded in 1902; its school network is called Réseau mlfmonde. The network gives different figures on its own pages - 108 schools in 38 countries on some, 107 schools in 37 countries on another, with more than 61,000 students in both cases - and we quote both. In Spain the network lists 10 lycées, in Alicante, Murcia, Palma, Reus, Seville, Telde (Gran Canaria), Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Valladolid, Villanueva de la Cañada (Madrid) and Zaragoza. In a notice dated 21 September 2026, MLF writes that since 1 September 2026 the day-to-day management of its Spanish schools has been entrusted to the association AFLEC-GEE under a management mandate, refers to 9 schools, and says the legal transfer of each will be completed by 31 July 2028 at the latest. The notice does not say which of the ten schools is not among the nine. The network's site is mlfmonde.org.
What this means for this school. The network owns or operates the school. Its accreditation and programme authorisation the school obtains separately, in its own name.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Exam results Baccalauréat 2026: 100% of graduates passed, 4 with mention Très Bien and 4 with mention Assez Bien. Graduates also passed the state exam in Bulgarian language and literature.
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
✓Library
✓Catering
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Playground
Campus: The school occupies two neighbouring buildings in the Sv. Sv. Konstantin i Elena resort area of Varna: the first houses children from the youngest kindergarten class to CE2, the second CM1 to the final year. The buildings are surrounded by parks that serve as large playgrounds, and primary lessons are often held outdoors. The school has a medical room with a nurse, a documentation and information centre (CDI) with a careers corner, a dining service in both buildings (fruit in the morning, a three-course lunch and an afternoon snack) and a school bus from Varna station in the morning and evening. There is no boarding.
Clubs and activities: Aide aux devoirs (homework help) · Chess · Atelier de mathématiques (maths workshop) · Atelier dessin / arts plastiques (drawing and visual arts) · Gymnastique (gymnastics) · Yoga Fly · Chant folklorique bulgare (Bulgarian folk singing)
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
✓Teacher qualifications
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
✓Students per teacher or class sizein the key facts above
What the listings show: qualified French teachers and Bulgarian teachers with university degrees
Teaching is by experienced qualified French teachers and Bulgarian teachers with university degrees; the head is seconded by the French Ministry of National Education. Staff use the Mission laïque française's educational services and its staff training programme (Forum Pédagogique). In kindergarten teachers are assisted by three ASEM assistants; each class has a professeur principal, a CPE is responsible for school life, and the staff includes education assistants and a nurse.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
·CCTVnot stated on the website
·Security staffnot stated on the website
✓Access control
✓Nurse or medical room
·Counsellornot stated on the website
✓Child protection policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policy
The school rules forbid any bullying or violence, including online, and require students to tell adults if someone is suffering. Adults who are not staff may be on site only with the head's permission; children are supervised before and after lessons. Safety drills are held regularly. The medical room operates under Bulgarian regulations, with a nurse on staff. Phones and other devices are not allowed: in collège and lycée they are handed in on arrival.
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 data80 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 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.
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