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T H E  E N G L I S H   N A T I O N A L   P R O G R A M M E
a Section Internationale within the
Lycée/Collège International Ferney-Voltaire

What our students have in common......the English Language

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ENP Information

Secondary admissions 

Please read all of what follows carefully before applying for a place. This document explains priorities and other important issues which you must understand before applying.
 

For more information on test dates, please see the Important Dates and Events page on this website.

Consult the rest of the website for further details of the Programme. Parents new to the Programme should start with the About ENP page accessible via the link at the top of this page.

General

  • The Programme’s principal aim is to provide tuition in English, History-Geography and/or Mathematics at mother tongue level for first language and good second language speakers of English, working in the context of, and in co-operation with, the French educational system within the Lycée/Collège International, Ferney-Voltaire.
  • This tuition generally occupies 6 hours in the secondary timetable each week. All other hours and subjects are taught in French following the French state curriculum. 
  • Admission to the Programme is not automatic. If fundamental decisions about coming to the 'Pays de Gex' or the Geneva area (or about your children's educational future) depend upon a place in the Programme, you must enquire about the likelihood of gaining a place before taking these. 

Entrance Testing

  • There are written and oral entrance examinations in English for all Collège and Lycée levels. These take place in May and are placed on the same day as tests in French and Mathematics organised by the Lycée/Collège. The Programme tests all pupils, regardless of their school of origin. 
  • The Lycée/Collège runs tests in French and Mathematics for students who are not transferring from a French school, who are therefore coming from a foreign educational system. Pupils coming directly from a French school are not tested in these subjects. The decision of their last ‘conseil de classe’ is applied in the Lycée/Collège. 
  • A further testing session is held just before the school re-opens in September. It is recommended that children attend the earlier (May) testing session if at all possible. 


Places and admission priorities

  • Most pupils joining the Secondary section of the English National Programme in 6ème (the first year of secondary education in France) come from the English National Programme Primary section. All pupils for 6ème, both those in the Primary section and new pupils, take the same type of test and results are compared in what is, in effect, one testing session.
  • Within the group of students who achieve a pass mark in any test, priority is given to children of CERN employees (that is, those who are employed directly by CERN). 
  • Secondary pupils of parents living in Switzerland are accepted by the school at the discretion of the Proviseur (Head of the Lycée/Collège International). The Programme undertakes to test such Swiss residents, but cannot guarantee them admission by the school. 

Application for admission  

  • The English National Programme is an International Section within the Lycée/Collège International. Pupils must therefore be accepted a place in the school to be admitted to the Programme.
  • You must contact both the French Lycée/Collège and the English National Programme for admission, since both must accept your application. Please see contact details below.

Admissions decisions

  • English National test results are communicated by email or mail, email being the preferred method.  
  • However, a positive result does not necessarily mean that your child has obtained a place in the School or the Programme. The English National Programme passes the results of all tests to the Proviseur of the Lycée International who, together with the local Inspecteur, is responsible for offering places in the school and in the International Sections. Final decisions about the main testing session in May are sometimes not made until the end of June or early July. 
  • Families resident in Switzerland may have to wait until the beginning of the school year for the Proviseur’s final decision.
  • Although usually there is a choice of second subject (Mathematics or History-Geography) within the Programme, newly admitted pupils may not be offered this choice if teaching groups are already full.
  • When the final decision has been made and communicated to you by the Lycée/Collège, you should reply both to this and to the Programme’s written offer of a place by return.
  • When you are accepted onto the Programme you agree to become a member of the ALA-ELP association, the body which finances and runs the Programme, to abide by its statutes and rules and to pay promptly the membership and tuition fees, as determined by the committee of the Association, on receipt of invoices. You must become an Association member if you wish to place your child in the Programme. 

Further information and communication

  • Important information on the ALA-ELP Association, fees charged for tuition, and the Programme in general is available elsewhere on this  Programme’s website. Please read this information carefully before proceeding further with admissions. It is assumed that all parents have read and understood the Tuition fees page on this website before they proceed with applying for a place.
  • To contact the Programme, use email (secretary@enpferney.org) or telephone (04 50 40 82 66). Lucy Howen, the Programme Secretary, or Francine Seller, the assistant Programme Secretary, will be pleased to help you.
  • All decisions regarding testing for the Programme are taken by the Head of Programme, Peter Woodburn. The local Inspecteur with the responsibility for international sections makes and publishes the final decisions concerning admissions based on recommendations from the Proviseur.
  • For admission to the Lycée/Collège please contact Mme Elodie Janin, secretary to the Proviseur, on elodie.janin@ac-lyon.fr or 04 50 40 00 00, or by letter at the following address: Lycée International, Avenue des Sports , 01210 Ferney-Voltaire, France.