Collège Français Bilingue de Londres

CFBL is a French-English bilingual school in Kentish Town, founded in 2011 with the support of the AEFE network to ease pressure on the Lycée Charles de Gaulle. Around 700 children aged 3 to 15 in a refurbished Victorian building.

The primary years are taught 50/50 French and English with paired native teachers, then secondary splits into a multilingual stream and an intensified English stream, with several subjects taught only in English. The school follows the French Ministry of Education curriculum and posts a 100 percent pass rate in the Diplôme National du Brevet. Fees run roughly GBP 16,000 to GBP 19,000.

Parents praise small classes, genuine bicultural feel, and a more rounded approach than the very academic French norm. The Good Schools Guide describes it as cherished for its bilingual environment. Where families flag concerns it is mostly admin: slow email responses and patchy handling of bullying complaints. Best fit for French and Francophone families in North London who want a French academic backbone with stronger English than the Lycée track.

• Parents value the bilingual model without the prep-school grind. One parent said it has "good academics, decent pastoral care, but not full of stress and pressure the way prep schools can be".
• Transition to the English system at 11+ is the recurring question. Parents note the school does not coach for private 11+ exams because it sits in the French system, but at least one parent confirmed "one child... has moved from CFBL to English Y7 so it can be done".
• Families consistently describe a supportive parent community and dedicated teaching staff, especially in the bilingual primary years.
• Negative signal centres on admissions communication and at least some accounts of bullying not handled to parents' satisfaction.
• Ofsted graded the school Outstanding in every category at its September 2025 inspection, which families weigh alongside the more granular community feedback.