Many parents of students in a British or American international section in a French school look for maths lessons in English, convinced their child does maths in that language. That is almost never the case: in the French system, international sections teach maths in French. The need for maths in English does exist, but it comes from elsewhere, and locating it tells you what to work on.
In an international section, maths is taught in French
The French ministry states it on Éduscol: at lycée, the non-language subject taught in the section's language is history-geography for all international sections, except Chinese sections, where it is mathematics. A student in a British or American section therefore follows the French maths syllabus, in French, with the same exams as classmates. What changes are the language and literature hours, and history-geography.
The French international baccalauréat, the BFI, which replaced the OIB from September 2022, follows the same logic: its non-language subject is either history-geography or general science (enseignement scientifique). Specialist maths remains the baccalauréat's maths, in French.
Maths lessons in English: where the need comes from
The need appears when the student prepares something other than the baccalauréat.
- Applying to the United States: the SAT and ACT set maths problems in English, often long, with vocabulary the French lycée does not teach.
- Applying to the UK: the TMUA and ESAT, required by Cambridge, Oxford and Imperial, are taken in English, and so is the Oxford or Cambridge maths interview.
- Moving to the IB or A levels: a student leaving the French system for an international school has to pick up maths in another language and another tradition.
- Returning from an English-speaking school: in the other direction, a student who did maths in English has to recover French terms and French-style written proofs.
What to work on
Vocabulary first: "gradient" for the French coefficient directeur, "factorise", "integer", "mean" and "median", the names of theorems. Then reading long problems, where the trap is often hidden in a subordinate clause. Finally conventions: the decimal point instead of the French comma, different notations for intervals or vectors. A student strong in maths in French loses marks in English on these three fronts, not on the mathematics itself.
Maths lessons in English at middle school
At collège (middle school), the need is rarer. It arises mainly for a student arriving from or leaving for an English-speaking school, for whom the transition means linking two ways of teaching the same ideas.
Rules in force in 2026-2027. Rules for international sections and the BFI published on Éduscol (pages updated in January 2026). The British and American tests mentioned have their own calendars, covered in our articles on the SAT and the Oxford and Cambridge tests.
Working across both traditions
I teach the maths of bilingual and international curricula, from the French syllabus to the IB, and I prepare SAT Math, the TMUA and the ESAT in private lessons. For a student in an international section, the work is to keep the standards of the French syllabus while learning to express and recognise them in English. See also SAT Math from a French lycée and British international sections in French schools.