Application Process

Secondary School

We remind you that submitting an application does not constitute enrolment, it is just an application.

To make an application, click on the link: login.lfi.ie/ and create your family account.

If you have any difficulties, consult the tutorial.

If a place is available, you will receive an email asking you to:

• confirm that you accept the place
• pay the non-refundable administration costs of €500 for each place confirmed
• pay a deposit of €500 for the first child, €450 for the second child and €375 for the third and following children (deductible from the school fees for the first term).

NB: The costs are non-refundable if the enrolment is canceled.

The first enrolment commission will take place in February and the second in May.

Please note that pupils must have a good level of French to be enrolled in the secondary school.

Enrolment Requirements

Infant Classes

1. Children who have siblings enrolled in the school.
2. French-speaking pupils and pupils from French-speaking schools.
3. Children of LFI staff members and  French diplomats.

Given the number of applications received each year by the school, it is preferable to complete an application as far as possible in advance of the date when the child should start school.

Junior Classes

On receipt of the completed application, the school attributes a place on the waiting list in accordance with the following priority criteria:

1. Sufficient mastery of the French language to be able to benefit from education through French.  We may require a French language assessment (DELF Prim).
2. Children who have siblings enrolled in the school.
3. French-speaking pupils and pupils from French-speaking schools.
4. Children of LFI staff members and French diplomats.

Given the number of applications received each year by the school, it is preferable to complete an application as far as possible in advance of the date when the child should start school. For applications with equal priority, the date of the first application for enrolment determines the waiting list place attributed. The same system applies to applications with no priority criteria.

All decisions on admissions are taken by the Principal.

Secondary

Overview

The Lycée Français d’Irlande secondary school (both Collège and Lycée) is located in Clonskeagh on a shared campus with St Kilian’s Deutsche Schule: the Eurocampus.  The Eurocampus integration project unites both schools and covers 1st, 2nd and 3rd year classes.  It is a bilingual teaching programme based integrating these classes into the Irish educational system, thus offering pupils greater proficiency in English.

The Lycée Français d’Irlande draws parents’ attention to the fact that the age required by the Irish regulations for entry to secondary school may affect primary school admissions. The French-Irish double curriculum at the LFI (the Eurocampus programme) begins in 1st year and continues during 2nd and 3rd year. It requires that pupils be twelve years old by 1st January of the academic year that they enter 1st year. Parents should note that if children have been moved to a higher class while in primary school and are younger than the usual cohort, they may be refused entry into 1st year or subsequent years. Parents should contact the Admissions Department for further information when applying.

Junior Cycle (Collège)

In the French system, 6th class is part of the secondary school. This year is an important preparation year for pupils for the Eurocampus integration programme in 1st Year.  It also serves to consolidate the foundation work carried out in the primary school.  In 6th class pupils take two subjects in English (music and art) and the history curriculum is divided between English and French (four classes per week in French with the remaining class in English).  English classes are held in smaller groups for four classes out of five.

Pupils of the junior cycle (‘Collège’) from 1st to 3rd year are part of the bilingual programme with St Kilian’s combining the French and Irish national syllabi. This programme consists of 50% of classes undertaken in English and 50% in French. Pupils are integrated into the three existing Irish class groups (A, B, and C) and remain in these groups for the three remaining years of Collège. Both curricula have been combined so that they are both fully covered by the programme. Pupils have the opportunity to sit both the French Diplôme National du Brevet and the Irish Junior Certificate.

Senior Cycle (Lycée)

For the final cycle of the secondary school (‘Lycée’), pupils prepare for the Baccalaureate (the French equivalent of the Leaving Certificate).

The specialties offered are:

• History-geography-geopolitics-political science
• Mathematics
• Physics- Chemistry
• Social sciences and Economics
• Biology-geology

An additional two hours of history, taught through English, is in place from 4th year on to prepare pupils for an eventual Baccalaureate with a European Option.

The Lycée Français d’Irlande also offers the possibility to take the American Option of the International Option of the Baccalaureate.

Pupils can also study for and sit the Leaving Certificate by choosing to follow the Irish curriculum with St Kilian’s.  Currently pupils do not prepare for both final school exams.

However, the Baccalaureate is officially recognised by Irish universities (Trinity College, UCD, DCU, TUD….) and the International Option of the Baccalaureate is an advantage for those who wish to study at an English-speaking university.  Pupils have the option of applying to Irish universities through the CAO (Central Applications Office) system.

Enrolment Conditions:

In the event of over-subscription to a particular class, applicants are placed on a waiting list.  Admission to LFI is then pursuant to the following criteria:

• Siblings of an existing pupil
• Level of French
• Pupils of one of the AEFE’s schools
• Children of an LFI employee or a diplomat
• Priority will be given to pupils from French-speaking families and from French-speaking schools (AEFE, French)

It should be noted that only after the school’s admission criteria as above have been applied will the date on which the application was made be taken into consideration in determining an applicant’s position on the waiting list.

All decisions in relation to admissions are taken by the school principal.

Fees

Note that the infant and junior classes Lunch Supervision Charge has been incorporated into the general school fees.

Please read the full LFI Terms and Conditions 2022-2023

Grants

Grants are available for the children of French or binational families who RESIDE in Ireland and do not have the means to pay the entirety or part of the LFI school fees. Each year the LFI communicates to parents the information received from the French Embassy in Ireland.

An annual grant application is possible if at least one of the parents is French and the child/ren is/are registered with the French Consulate.

The Dublin commission takes place in spring time preceding the academic year. A second commission takes place in October for the families whose situation changed or arrived in Ireland at a later date. Information about the possibility of obtaining a grant is circulated by the school each year.

Please note that French or binational parents MUST live in Ireland to be eligible for an AEFE grant (managed by the French Embassy in Ireland).

The other kind of scholarship grant available is proposed by the French Ministry of Education (London/Dublin mobility/merits grant) and gives the opportunity of one year abroad with a host family. Parents apply directly with the Ministry of Education and NOT via the LFI.