Charts lycee francais charles de gaulle student population

The Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, usually referred to as the Lycée or the French Lycée, is a French co-educational primary and secondary independent day school, situated in

South Kensington South Kensington is a district at the West End of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with the advent of the ra ...

in the

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (often known by its initialism as RBKC) is an Inner London, Inner London borough with Royal borough, royal status. It is the List of English districts by area, smallest borough in London and the secon ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. It is managed by the Agency for French Teaching Abroad, AEFE, with its curriculum accredited by the French National Ministry of Education and overseen by the

French Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (, MEAE) is the ministry of the Government of France that handles France's foreign relations. Since 1855, its headquarters have been located at 37 Quai d'Orsay, close to the National Assembly. The term ...

. There is a "British Section" for English-speaking pupils in the secondary classes, preparing for

GCSEs The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

and

A-levels The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

. In 2008 part of the school's primary classes were transferred to a site in

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

, the "Marie d'Orliac" school. There are three other primary "feeder" schools elsewhere in London, the André Malraux school in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

and Wix School in

Clapham Clapham () is a district in south London, south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (including Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Ea ...

Site

The school occupies a substantial site in

Cromwell Road Cromwell Road is a major London road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, designated as part of the A4 road (Great Britain), A4. It was created in the 19th century and is said to be named after Richard Cromwell, son of Oliver Cromwel ...

, opposite the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...

and backs onto Harrington Road. The school was refurbished in 2008 and again in 2011. The acquisition of a lease on the

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

former Peterborough School site in Clancarty Road,

, has enabled part of the South Kensington primary classes to transfer there and vacate space for more secondary pupils at the main site.

History

Early years

The school was founded as the French School of London, largely through the efforts of , with backing from the

University of Lille The University of Lille (, abbreviated as ULille, UDL or univ-lille) is a French public research university based in Lille, Hauts-de-France. It has its origins in the University of Douai (1559), and resulted from the merger of three universities ...

for Belgian and other francophone

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

s in 1915 near

's Victoria station and provided a full education for 120 pupils.The French parents wanted to ensure that their children continued to receive a French education during World War I. The school was initially established as a response to the upheaval of war and the displacement of French families. In doing so, the French could preserve their culture and ethics despite the war. In 1920, the renamed Lycée Français de Londres relocated to Cromwell Gardens, opposite the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

. In the late 1930s it moved again to a Neo-Georgian style purpose-built school building (AJ Thomas, assistant to EL Lutyens), adjacent to the ''Université des lettres françaises'' (

French Institute The ; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the . It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute manages approximately ...

) in Queensberry Place – another d'Orliac project – with its own entrance in Queensberry Mews. The

aesthetics Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...

displayed in the

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

of Patrice Bonnet's 1939 French Institute were translated into small touches like the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

designs of the termly "Tableau d'honneur" cards, (the roll of honour) given to pupils deemed to have worked hard. The designs became utilitarian in the fifties. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the Lycée pupils and their teachers were evacuated to

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

. The London buildings became offices for the

Free French Free France () was a resistance government claiming to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third French Republic, Third Republic during World War II. Led by General , Free France was established as a gover ...

government in exile A government-in-exile (GiE) is a political group that claims to be the legitimate government of a sovereign state or semi-sovereign state, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile usu ...

General de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

. Bombing raids on London destroyed buildings adjacent to the Lycée.

After World War II

Post-war development of the school was overseen by M. Augustin Gaudin, the ''Proviseur'' (headmaster), supported by his wife. The school and the French Institute were initially seen as largely

synonymous A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

, and remained heavily interdependent in the post-war years, and into the 1970s. Their close relations came to an end with French administrative reforms and the introduction of modern management and accounting techniques in the 1980s. Another notable feature of the time was that Lille University offered a first year of their

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

programme at the Lycée, for those completing the ''Terminales'' classes and arranged exchanges for teachers as well as pupils. The school saw steady expansion during the post-war "

baby boom A baby boom is a period marked by a significant increase of births. This demography, demographic phenomenon is usually an ascribed characteristic within the population of a specific nationality, nation or culture. Baby booms are caused by various ...

". In 1947 three junior classes (jardin d'enfants, 12e and 11e) had opened in adapted rented accommodation at 29 The Boltons SW10, on the corner with Tregunter Road. The establishment formed a ''succursale'' (satellite) of the Lycée for a period of 15 years, and was known simply as "The Boltons". In 1952 an "English Section" for British or UK-based pupils was established: it was later renamed the "British Section". The bombed terraces directly opposite the

, which had been temporarily converted into tennis courts, were acquired by the French government, and a major development of this site was undertaken between 1955 and 1957. New facilities included modern science laboratories and multipurpose classrooms, and a spacious entrance hall at 35 Cromwell Road. The corner of Cromwell Road and Cromwell Place was occupied by the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

, but after the Royal College moved to purpose-built premises on

Kensington Gore Kensington Gore is the name of a U-shaped thoroughfare on the south side of Hyde Park in the City of Westminster, England. The streets connect the Royal Albert Hall with the Royal College of Art, the Royal Geographical Society, and in Kensin ...

in the 1980s, further terraced houses were gradually acquired by the French Government. Another temporary ''succursale'' in the

Swinging Sixties The Swinging Sixties was a youth-driven cultural revolution that took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s, emphasising modernity and fun-loving hedonism, with Swinging London denoted as its centre. It saw a flourishing in ...

was no. 6 Cromwell Place, SW7, home of the then "English section", watched over by Mme Thérèse Wright. Close neighbours in Cromwell Place were the French Institute's noted bi-lingual Secretarial College and the

Alliance Française (; "French Alliance", stylised as ''af'') is an international organization that aims to promote the French language and francophone culture around the world. Created in Paris on 21 July 1883 under the name ''Alliance française pour la propa ...

. In the days before IT, the Lycée library and yearly issue and collection of school textbooks – an enormous

logistical Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the point of consumption according to the needs of customers. Logi ...

exercise – was managed by Mme Betty

Galitzine Galitzine is an alternative romanization of Golitsyn, a surname chiefly associated with members of the House of Golitsyn of Lithuanian-Russian origin. Notable people with the surname include: House of Golitsyn * Alexandra Pavlovna Galitzine ...

and later by Mme Babette Willmot. For decades, the Lycée's French stationery was procured by Neilson's in Harrington Road. As the school grew, so the kitchens faced an increasing logistical challenge to produce upwards of 2000 hot meals daily on Lycée monogrammed china.

1960s

In 1962, President de Gaulle returned to the Lycée for a final visit, and was greeted by the entire school. With the lull in construction, the school increased its interest in the arts, science, sport and travel. In 1966 a Lycée excursion was led by Mme Raphael to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

to view the

Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

Retrospective exhibition A retrospective (from Latin ', "look back"), generally, is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past. As a noun, ''retrospective'' has specific meanings in software development, popular culture, and the arts. ...

at the

Grand Palais The (; ), commonly known as the , is a historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris between the Champs-Élysées and the Seine, France. Construction of the began in 1897 following the demolitio ...

. There were annual organised trips to

Val d'Isère Val may refer to: Military equipment * Aichi D3A, a Japanese World War II dive bomber codenamed "Val" by the Allies * AS Val, a Soviet assault rifle Music *''Val'', album by Val Doonican * VAL (band), Belarusian pop duo People * Val (g ...

for skiing in spring, a Summer School in Pont Saint-Esprit, led by Jacques Iselin and tours of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in association with Dr. Sanger of

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

. The return by rail from one such trip was briefly, though alarmingly, delayed by the Soviet led

Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia On 20–21 August 1968, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four fellow Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, and the Hungarian People's Republic. The ...

. Pupils put on plays, mostly in French, at the Institute's theatre (now the Ciné Lumière) and art exhibitions in the entrance halls of the 'Institut' and 35 Cromwell Road. The languages offered through the parallel curricula were

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

. 'English Section' pupils took part in British school competitions in the recitation of Latin verse. Other pupils were successful in writing competitions organised by the

. With the help of former Olympic standard PE teachers, the Lycée was noted for its competitive prowess on the sports field, in the water and in the gym:

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

, rugby, basketball, tennis, even

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

(a French invention!), rowing, swimming,

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

and horse-riding. Each year, there was a steady stream of applicants to

Oxbridge Oxbridge is a portmanteau of the University of Oxford, Universities of Oxford and University of Cambridge, Cambridge, the two oldest, wealthiest, and most prestigious universities in the United Kingdom. The term is used to refer to them collect ...

and to the

Grandes écoles Grandes may refer to: *Agustín Muñoz Grandes, Spanish general and politician * Banksia ser. Grandes, a series of plant species native to Australia * Grandes y San Martín, a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain ...

and places taken up to study architecture, economics, engineering, medicine, music and science in France, the UK and the USA. To underscore the importance of Franco-British understanding, the

annually sponsored a special award to one pupil for "

Camaraderie In political contexts, comrade means a fellow party member. The political use was inspired by the French Revolution, after which it grew into a form of address between socialists and workers. Since the Russian Revolution, popular culture in the ...

Franco-Britannique". The wave of student revolutions of 1968 brought about changes in the

French educational system Education in France is organized in a highly centralized manner, with many subdivisions. It is divided into the three stages of primary education (''enseignement primaire''), secondary education (''enseignement secondaire''), and higher educat ...

which were also felt in South Kensington. One change was the abolition of the Lycée's annual ceremonial prize-giving (originally in the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

), latterly at the more convenient

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

. The ceremony used to be marked by an

organ recital An organ recital is a concert at which music specially written for the organ is played. The music played at such recitals is typically written for pipe organ, which includes church organs, theatre organs and symphonic organs (also known as conc ...

by the school's Master of Music, the former

Notre Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a Medieval architecture, medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissemen ...

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

and composer Jean Dattas. This was followed by speeches from noted French academics. French ministries and businesses would sponsor generous expenditure on books which were then distributed as prizes to pupils of merit. The 1970s brought in their wake a

Counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Ho ...

with its complex attitude to drug use. Like many other teaching establishments, the Lycée had its share of problems.

Late twentieth century

The continuing expansion of the school led to further occupation of the

mews A mews is a row or courtyard of stables and carriage houses with living quarters above them, built behind large city houses before motor vehicles replaced horses in the early twentieth century. Mews are usually located in desirable residential ...

complex behind Cromwell Place. In the mid 1960s, there had still been horses stabled in the mews, and equine odours invaded classrooms on the east side of the site. The erection in 1984 of the Primary School building to Roeven Vardi's design, in the playground on Harrington Road, allowed the primary classes to be decanted out of their cramped conditions in Queensberry Place. In 1980, the school was renamed the Lycée Français

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

, for the late French President, who had established his wartime offices in the decanted Lycée buildings. Due to limited space at the South Kensington site, the Lycée opened two " feeder" primary schools, based in Clapham and

, in 1993 and 1995 respectively. Since May 1997, the Ealing "satellite" has been known as the École

André Malraux Georges André Malraux ( ; ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (''Man's Fate'') (1933) won the Prix Goncourt. He was appointed ...

, named after the French author and politician.

Present day

2015 was the school's centenary. It symbolised the longevity of one cultural aspect of Franco-British cooperation along with its associated

, a site of remarkable architectural heritage, the ''Ciné Lumiére'', the

and the French Embassy all in close proximity in the UK's capital. The Lycée caters for some 4,000 pupils between the ages of 3 and 19. The school is an important cultural centre for London's sizeable French-speaking community and one of the most academically successful French schools outside France. In addition to serving the francophone communities in London, 9% of pupils at the Lycée are English-speaking or of British heritage, placed in the school by parents opting for a bilingual education for their children. The Lycée continues to maintain a multicultural and international mix of pupils, from over 50 different nationalities. The school charges fees that are subsidised by the French government in the case of French nationals only. The teaching medium at the Lycée is predominantly French and follows French curricula. However, when pupils reach the ''troisième'' form, (equivalent to Year Ten or first year), they can opt either to stay in the French stream, as the majority do, and study for the Brevet and the

Baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

, or follow the modified English stream (64 students per year) and work towards

and

. The Lycée's "British Section" has tended to achieve good exam results (see Academic results below) and has enabled pupils to enter

Russell Group The Russell Group is a self-selected association of twenty-four public research universities in the United Kingdom. The group is headquartered in Cambridge and was established in 1994 to represent its members' interests, principally to governme ...

universities in the UK or universities abroad. The Lycée maintains a strong commitment to sport and takes part in competitions with British schools, particularly in basketball and rugby. The school has always put an accent on developing artistic talent alongside academic achievement. There is a very active art department and a school orchestra. On 15 March 2020, the Lycée announced that the school in South Kensington and all of its London satellite locations would suspend lessons due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

: this was in line with policy in France, whereas most British schools remained open for a further week.

Polling station

The Lycée's building in South Kensington has been used repeatedly as a site for expatriate French citizens to cast their vote in French elections.

Academic results

The entire school is subject to British

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

inspections to assess its overall performance, governance and the development and welfare of pupils including Safeguarding. The latest inspection conducted in October 2024 assessed the school as "Good" overall and "Outstanding" in the quality of education .

French Baccalauréat

The Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle is one of the best French schools abroad as shown by its outstanding results: Baccalauréat results 2021 * Percentage of honours "Mention Très Bien": +64% of the students. * Percentage of honours "Mention Bien": 26,5% of the students. * Percentage of honours "Mention Assez Bien": 7,7% of the students. * Percentage of total honours : 98,7% of the students.

British Section

In 2008, the English Section of the Lycée was ranked 15th in the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' schools league table. It was ranked 16th in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' schools league table. 2021 A Level results: *100% of students received their A-levels *78.3% received A*+A (The national average being of 44.3%) *13.2% obtained a B *8.5% of students obtained their A-levels with a C or E

Heads of the British Section

*Anthony Morgan (1958–1979) *Alan Harrison (1979–1994) *Rachide Bennamar (1994–2000) *Rosalind Nichol (2000–2010) *Kelvin Zane (2010–2016) *Simon McNaught (2016–current)

Alumni Association

There is an active alumni association, "Les Anciens du Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle de Londres" which organises events throughout each year. Together with the school, it celebrated the diamond jubilee of the "British Section" in 2012 in the presence of the British

Secretary of State for Education The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. ...

and the French Ambassador.

Notable former pupils and teachers

Annabel Astor Annabel Lucy Veronica Astor, Viscountess Astor (, formerly Sheffield; born 14 August 1948), is an English businesswoman and socialite who is the CEO of OKA, a home furnishings design company. Before co-founding OKA, she was the owner and design ...

, (née Jones), businesswoman (mother-in-law of

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

) *

Marie-Christine Barrault Marie-Christine Barrault (born 21 March 1944) is a French actress. She is best known for her performance in ''Cousin Cousine'' (1975) for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. In 2010, she released her autobiography, tit ...

, actress *

Jacqueline Bisset Winifred Jacqueline Fraser Bisset ( ; born 13 September 1944) is a British actress. She began her film career in 1965 and first came to prominence in 1968 with roles in ''The Detective (1968 film), The Detective'', ''Bullitt'', and ''The Sweet ...

, actress * Sir

Quentin Blake Sir Quentin Saxby Blake (born 16 December 1932) is an English cartoonist, caricaturist, illustrator and children's writer. He has illustrated over 300 books, including 18 written by Roald Dahl, which are among his most popular works. For his l ...

CH, English teacher, artist, cartoonist and illustrator and Chevalier dans l'Ordre de la Légion d'Honneur * John Yeoman, English teacher, author of children's books *

Gyles Brandreth Gyles Daubeney Brandreth (born 8 March 1948) is a British broadcaster, writer and former politician. He has worked as a television presenter, theatre producer, journalist, author and publisher. He was a presenter for TV-am's '' Good Morning Bri ...

, former Conservative MP, TV and radio personality *

Joan Juliet Buck Joan Juliet Buck (born 1948) is an American writer and actress. She was the editor-in-chief of French ''Vogue'' from 1994 to 2001, the only American ever to have edited a French magazine. She was contributing editor to ''Vogue'' and '' Vanity F ...

, Paris Vogue editor, writer, actor * Jennifer Caron Hall, actress, artist and singer-songwriter * Matthew Carrington, former Conservative MP, Peer *

Michel de Carvalho Michel Ray de Carvalho (born Michel Ray Popper; 21 July 1944) is a British financier, private banker, former Olympic skier and luger, and former child actor in films such as '' The Brave One'', '' The Tin Star'', and '' Lawrence of Arabia'' (under ...

, actor, Olympian and

Tycoon A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

* G. Marius Clore FMedSci, FRS, molecular biophysicist and structural biologist at the US

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

, Member of the

United States National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

* Jasmine Cresswell, author

Sciences Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

Tom Delay Thomas Dale DeLay (; born April 8, 1947) is an American author and retired politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, DeLay represented Texas's 22nd congress ...

CBE, climate economist * Kay Dick, author * Dame

Vivien Duffield Dame Vivien Louise Duffield, (née Clore; born 26 March 1946) is an English philanthropist. Life and career Vivien Louise Clore was born to Jewish parents. Her father was millionaire businessman and philanthropist Sir Charles Clore and her m ...

DBE, philanthropist *

Melissa Franklin Melissa Eve Bronwen Franklin (born September 30, 1956) is a Canadian experimental particle physicist and the Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics at Harvard University. In 1992, Franklin became the first woman to receive tenure in the physics depart ...

, experimental

particle physicist Particle physics or high-energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and fundamental interaction, forces that constitute matter and radiation. The field also studies combinations of elementary particles up to the scale of protons and ...

, Professor of Physics at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

* Professor Maurice Fraser. Academic, Special advisor and Légion d'honneur recipient. * Adam Gatehouse, conductor, founder of the New Generation Artists scheme and the

Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...

lunchtime concert series, joint artistic director of the

Leeds International Piano Competition The Leeds International Piano Competition, informally known as The Leeds and formerly the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition, is an international piano competition which takes place every three years in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It ...

* Sheherazade Goldsmith (née Bentley), environmentalist and author *

Chantal Goya Chantal de Guerre (; born 10 June 1942), known as Chantal Goya (), is a French singer and actress. Goya started her career as a ''yé-yé'' singer, singing a mid-1960s hybrid of girl-group pop and French ''chanson''. She also enjoyed a career ...

, singer and actress *

Dominic Grieve Dominic Charles Roberts Grieve (born 24 May 1956) is a British barrister and former politician who served as Shadow Home Secretary from 2008 to 2009 and Attorney General for England and Wales from 2010 to 2014. He served as the Member of Parl ...

, former Conservative MP and Attorney-General *

Murray Head Murray Seafield St George Head (born 5 March 1946) is an English actor and singer. Head has appeared in a number of films, including a starring role as the character Bob Elkin in the BAFTA award winning and Oscar-nominated 1971 film ''Sunday B ...

, actor, singer, documentary film writer, director and producer * Alexandre Holroyd, French politician, member of the

French National Assembly The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

Oliver Jackson-Cohen Oliver Mansour Jackson-Cohen (born 24 October 1986) is an English actor. He is known for his roles in the Netflix horror television series '' The Haunting of Hill House'' (2018) and '' The Haunting of Bly Manor'' (2020), as well as for his role ...

, actor * Jennifer Jankel, businesswoman and chair of the Jewish Music Institute *

Roland Joffé Roland Joffé (; born 17 November 1945) is an English film and television film director, director, Film producer, producer and screenwriter. He is known for directing the critically-acclaimed films ''The Killing Fields (film), The Killing Field ...

, film director * Ben Judah, journalist and writer * Terence Judd (1957-1979), musical prodigy and pianist * India Knight, writer * Dimitri Kullmann FRS, academic neurologist * Francine Lacqua, news presenter * Dame Hermione Lee DBE, academic and President of Wolfson College Oxford *

Edward Leigh Sir Edward Julian Egerton Leigh (born 20 July 1950) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gainsborough, previously Gainsborough and Horncastle, since 1983. Parliament's longes ...

, Conservative MP * Claude Littner, businessman, star of BBC's The Apprentice * Lady Olga Maitland, former Conservative MP * Catherine Meyer, Baroness Meyer, (née Laylle) *

Dorothée Munyaneza Dorothée Munyaneza (born 1982) is a British-Rwandan singer, actress, dancer and choreographer. She has produced two performance pieces, ''Samedi Détente'' and ''Unwanted'', both about the Genocide against the Tutsi. Personal life Munyaneza w ...

, singer, dancer, actor and choreographer *

Catherine Oxenberg Catherine Oxenberg (born September 22, 1961) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Amanda Carrington on the 1980s prime-time soap opera ''Dynasty (1981 TV series), Dynasty''. Oxenberg is the daughter of Princess Elizabeth of ...

, actress *

Christina Oxenberg Christina Oxenberg (born December 27, 1962) is an American writer, humorist, and fashion designer. She has written seven books, and her writing has been featured in magazines and publications like '' Allure'', ''The Sunday Times'', ''Huffington ...

, writer * Michael Holbrook Penniman Jr., singer-songwriter *

Paloma Picasso Paloma Picasso (born Anne Paloma Ruiz-Picasso y Gilot on 19 April 1949) is a French jewelry designer and businesswoman. She is best known for her collaboration with Tiffany & Co and her signature perfumes. The daughter of artists Pablo Picas ...

, designer * Gail Rebuck DBE, Labour Peer, publisher * Alix Wilton Regan, actor *

Natasha Richardson Natasha Jane Richardson (11 May 1963 – 18 March 2009) was a British actress. A part of the Redgrave family, Richardson was the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and director/producer Tony Richardson and the granddaughter of Michael Redgr ...

, actress *

Gavin Salam Gavin Phillip Salam, is a theoretical particle physicist and a senior research fellow at All Souls College as well as a senior member of staff at CERN in Geneva. His research investigates the strong interaction of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), ...

FRS, Physicist at CERN * Bill Tchato, professional footballer *

Daniel Topolski Daniel "Dan" Topolski (4 June 1945 – 21 February 2015) was a British author, rower, rowing coach and commentator on BBC television. He studied at the University of Oxford where he represented the Blue boat twice, in 1967 and 1968. In 1977, he ...

(1945-2015), rowing coach and commentator, writer *

Frances de la Tour Frances J. de Lautour (born 30 July 1944), better known as Frances de la Tour, is a British actress. A Tony Award winner and three-time Olivier Award winner, she is also known for her roles in the television sitcom ''Rising Damp'' and in ''Harr ...

, actress *

Arabella Weir Arabella Helen Weir (born 6 December 1957) is an American-born British comedian, actress and writer. She played roles in the comedy series ''The Fast Show'', ''Posh Nosh'' and ''Two Doors Down (TV series), Two Doors Down'', and has written sev ...

, comedian, actress and writer *

Christian Wolmar Christian Tage Forter Wolmar (born 3 August 1949) is a British journalist, author, railway historian and Labour Party campaigner.Anthony Yadgaroff, entrepreneur, Plc chairman, community activist

In popular culture

* The BBC's first TV adaptation in 1963 of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, featured Nicole Church, Lycée pupil and daughter of Mme Church, Latin and French teacher, as the child heroine. ''Jane Eyre'', a BBC series starring

Richard Leech Richard Leeper McClelland (24 November 1922 – 24 March 2004), known professionally as Richard Leech, was an Irish actor. Richard Leeper McClelland was born in Dublin, Ireland, the son of Isabella Frances (Leeper) and Herbert Saunderson McCl ...

and

Ann Bell Ann Forrest Bell (born 29 April 1938) is a British actress, best known for playing war internee Marion Jefferson in the BBC Second World War drama series '' Tenko'' (1981– 84). Life and career Ann Forrest Bell was born in Wallasey, Cheshire o ...

References

External links

Official website

Association des Parents Lycée français Charles de Gaulle – Londres

Association des Anciens du Lycée Français de Londres
(alumni website)
Profile
at the

Good Schools Guide International ''The Good Schools Guide'' is a guide to British schools, both state and private. The guide's contributors are predominantly parents, but include researchers and former headteachers. It uses a conversational tone. Selection of schools is mad ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lycee Francais Charles de Gaulle 1915 establishments in England 1915 establishments in France AEFE managed schools Educational institutions established in 1915 French international schools in the United Kingdom Private co-educational schools in London Private schools in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Private schools in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham International schools in London South Kensington

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