Parents looking for "the French lycée in Geneva" are looking for a school that does not exist under that name. Geneva has no school in the AEFE network, the French government's network of schools abroad, that takes a child from nursery to the French baccalaureate. On the Swiss side, the agency's directory lists one French primary school, from the last year of nursery to the end of primary, and three private schools accredited only for the final two years of high school: Collège du Léman in Versoix, the Institut International de Lancy and École Toepffer. The region's big French school is in France, in Ferney-Voltaire, and it is a state school.
So the decision has two parts, the country you live in and the school, and the second often follows from the first.
The Lycée International de Ferney-Voltaire
The Cité scolaire internationale in Ferney-Voltaire, in the French department of Ain, combines a state middle school and high school, with a second high-school site in Saint-Genis-Pouilly. Like any French state school, it charges no tuition. Its draw is the international sections: in high school, German, British, Spanish, Italian and Dutch. Pupils take four hours of literature in the section language and two hours of adapted history and geography, plus, in the last two years, two hours of "Connaissance du monde", a world-studies course. They sit the BFI, the international option of the French baccalaureate.
Admission to a section is decided by the French education authority, within the places available, after a language test held in early April at the Ferney site. Outside the sections, the school follows the rule of all French state schools: where you are placed depends on your home address, in France.
The British section, a case apart
The British section is called the English National Programme (ENP). It has over 1,000 pupils of more than 40 nationalities, from primary to the final year, and it works like a private school housed in a state school: a parents' association, ALA-ELP, runs it and funds it through tuition fees. Its admissions pages are more candid than most school brochures.
| Level, 2026-2027 | Full rate | Reduced rate |
|---|---|---|
| Primary | €3,126 | €1,563 |
| Collège (Years 7 to 10) | €5,002 | €2,501 |
| Seconde (Year 11) | €5,002 | €2,501 |
| Première (Year 12), with maths in English | €8,128 | €4,064 |
| Terminale (Year 13) | €6,252 | €3,126 |
The full rate applies to families whose employer pays an education allowance, and to every family living in Switzerland. The reduced rate is only for families living in France without employer support. Add a one-off €100 membership fee and €150 to register for the entrance test.
The test is about English: a reading comprehension, a piece of writing and an oral. The ENP expects native or near-native English. The main session is in early April, with registration closing in late March, and a second session may be held just before September if places remain. Decisions from the April session sometimes come only in June or early July, which leaves little time for a plan B.
When the middle school is oversubscribed, the ENP sets out the order of priority:
- pupils living in the Ferney-Voltaire school catchment area;
- children of people employed directly by CERN;
- pupils from outside the catchment area coming from French state schools in the Pays de Gex, the French district next to Geneva.
A family living in Geneva appears nowhere on that list. The ENP says so plainly: if a decision to move to the area depends on a place, ask before you make it. For what a British section means later on, for UK universities in particular, see the British international section.
On the Swiss side, private schools
In Geneva itself, the schools that prepare the French baccalaureate are private, and their fees are in Swiss francs. Converted to euros, Florimont is the second most expensive of the nine French schools whose seconde fees I compare in my guide to French schools abroad, behind New York.
Institut Florimont, on avenue du Petit-Lancy, runs from nursery to the end of secondary school and prepares three diplomas: the Swiss Maturité, the French baccalaureate and the IB. In 2026-2027 the final baccalaureate year costs CHF 28,000, the year before CHF 26,950 and seconde CHF 25,600, plus CHF 500 registration and CHF 2,800 for lunches. Sibling discounts start with the third child, and children of former pupils get 20% off in their first year. Applications are accepted all year and begin with a meeting with the head of admissions, then a visit; the school says each application is considered individually, personality and interests included. I did not find Florimont in the AEFE directory consulted in October 2026. Ask about it at that first meeting, because a class's status changes how the baccalaureate is sat.
One clause in Florimont's conditions catches undecided families. A signed enrolment is binding. Withdraw before 31 March and you lose the registration fee and the deposit; between 1 April and 31 May, half of the first term's fees; from 1 June, the whole term. And the ENP sometimes decides in June.
Collège du Léman, in Versoix, belongs to the Nord Anglia group and offers the French baccalaureate among other programmes; its final two years are accredited. In 2026-2027 those years cost CHF 36,500, with a CHF 3,800 admission fee on entry. It also boards pupils, at CHF 117,500 a year on top of tuition.
The International School of Geneva, Ecolint, does not prepare the French baccalaureate; it leads to the IB. It belongs here because many French families compare it with Florimont: CHF 36,540 a year for the last two years in 2026-2027, plus CHF 2,500 registration and CHF 4,000 for its capital fund. Places for September are offered from February to the end of August, and the school states that an early application stands a better chance.
The Institut International de Lancy and École Toepffer, accredited for the final two years, complete the list for a pupil who wants to finish high school in the French system inside Geneva.
France next door, or Switzerland
Living in the Pays de Gex
- A free state high school with international sections and the BFI.
- Catchment priority for the Ferney middle school and for the ENP.
- ENP at the reduced rate, if your employer pays no education allowance.
Living in Geneva
- Private accredited schools, often for the last two years only.
- From CHF 25,000 to over CHF 36,000 a year in high school.
- For EPFL, a lower admission threshold for those living in Switzerland for work.
That last line matters more than it looks. EPFL, the Swiss federal institute of technology in Lausanne, asks French baccalaureate holders for 80% of the maximum mark in maths, physics and overall, and caps the number of places. Applicants living in Switzerland for professional reasons face a 70% threshold and are not subject to the cap. For a science-minded teenager, the family's address at the end of high school can weigh as much as the school. The detail is in EPFL admission with the French baccalaureate.
What I would advise
For a family moving to the area with a free choice of home, Ferney is hard to beat: a demanding state high school, five international sections, and fees that are those of a parents' association. But you need the right catchment area and a pass in the section test. For a family already settled in Geneva, or whose employer pays school fees, Florimont and Collège du Léman spare you the cross-border commute, with a real price gap between the two. It also depends on the child: one arriving from a foreign system at 13 does not have the options of a 14-year-old already in the French system.
At Carmine we work with around twenty families a year, and for Geneva the work is about lining up the calendars: the April section test, the private schools' withdrawal deadlines, the choice of home. The page School admissions describes how we work.