French school system
Brevet and Bac de français support.
For pupils inside the French curriculum — not the UK one. Different texts, different method, different marking, and a written and oral examination that rewards a very particular discipline.
Start here
This is not GCSE and A-Level French with French names.
Pupils in the French system are not learning French as a foreign language: they are studying French literature and language as a native subject, with a methodology — commentaire, dissertation, oral — that is taught and marked to strict conventions. A tutor who prepares excellent GCSE candidates is not automatically the right person for a Première pupil facing the épreuve anticipée.
We match from a network of tutors who have taught inside the French system. Before any plan is written, we confirm the pupil's school, year (classe), examination and, where relevant, the works and objets d'étude their teacher has set — because the syllabus is set at the school, and we do not guess it.
Who this is for
Families whose children sit French examinations, wherever they happen to live.
- Pupils at a lycée français
- In London or abroad, following the French national curriculum and sitting French national examinations.
- Bilingual and international families
- Children who speak French at home but whose written French, method and register need formal work to meet examination expectations.
- Pupils in bilingual or dual-curriculum schools
- Where French is studied as a first language alongside another curriculum, and the demands differ from the mainstream language classroom.
- Pupils who have moved school or system
- Arrivals into the French system who need method rather than vocabulary: how a commentaire is actually built, and what a French marker is looking for.
The examinations
We confirm the exact format with the school before planning, because arrangements and set works vary and are revised.
Set works, objets d'étude and school arrangements differ. We ask for the pupil's descriptif and their teacher's requirements rather than imposing a generic reading list.
- Brevet — épreuve de français
- Comprehension and language work, dictée and a written composition. Preparation focuses on accuracy, structure and timing, and on the analytical vocabulary pupils are expected to use.
- Bac de français — written paper
- Commentaire de texte or dissertation depending on the stream and the choice made in the exam room. Method is the subject: introduction, problématique, plan, transitions, conclusion — all marked.
- Bac de français — oral
- Explication linéaire on a text from the pupil's descriptif, a question de grammaire, and the entretien on a chosen work. Rehearsal against the timing and the examiner's expectations is the single highest-yield preparation there is.
- Ongoing support through the year
- Regular work on written method and text analysis so that the examination year is not the first time the pupil meets the discipline.
Preparation
How preparation runs for French-curriculum pupils.
The first session establishes where the pupil actually is against the method, not against their conversational fluency — which, for bilingual pupils, is frequently misleading in both directions.
The specialist is matched from our network for that examination and that candidate, with a chemistry call before you commit, a review at week six, and oversight through to the exam date.
- School, classe, examination and set works confirmed before a plan is written.
- Method taught explicitly: commentaire, dissertation, explication linéaire.
- Written work marked to French conventions and rewritten, not simply corrected.
- Oral rehearsal under timed conditions, including the entretien.
- Grammar and register worked on where the gap is accuracy rather than analysis.
- Parents kept informed with a plain view of progress and of what remains.
Two ways to prepare
Private Brevet & Bac preparation, or a small cohort.
One candidate, one paper, one date.
A specialist matched from our network for Brevet & Bac, a programme written around your actual gaps, and scheduling that fits around school or work.
From £89/hr
See the investmentNo Brevet & Bac cohort is open yet
Group exam terms run only where enough candidates share the same examination and level — we do not advertise cohorts that are not scheduled. Tell us what you are sitting on the form below and you will hear first when one is timetabled.
Register your interestWho we prepare
Trusted by families, schools and organisations.
Brevet & Bac candidates reach us from two directions: pupils in schools that expect a grade, and adults whose next step depends on a certificate. Both are prepared by a specialist matched from our network.
Corporate clients
Professionals sitting language tests and diplomas
Employees at these organisations have prepared with us for language tests, official diplomas and the requirements attached to a move abroad.
Partner schools
Pupils preparing for school examinations
Pupils at these schools have prepared with us for French papers, against the specification their school actually follows.
Investment
What Brevet & Bac preparation costs.
Private preparation is bought as hours, used at the pace the exam date demands. The more hours you commit to, the lower the effective hourly rate — and every plan carries the identical service.
Hours of private exam preparation, delivered online and typically used at one hour a week. All prices include VAT. Face-to-face lessons in London, intensive revision courses and additional hours are quoted individually.
Flexi
4 hours
Month to month
£105/hr£420 in total
Discovery
12 hours
Up to 3 months
£100/hr£1,197 in total
Momentum
24 hours
Up to 6 months
£95/hr£2,268 in total
Mastery
48 hours
Up to 12 months
£89/hr£4,284 in total
Every private plan, whichever you choose, includes
Bespoke programmes — not lesson bundles.
- Exam and board diagnostic
- Specialist matched for that qualification
- Chemistry call before you commit
- Programme dated to the exam
- Marked past-paper practice
- Monthly progress reports
- Week-six review
- Timed mocks in the run-in
£950 for a ten-week term
Per learner, 10 × 90-minute sessions — 15 teaching hours. Including VAT. Maximum six candidates, one exam objective, one level.
Brevet & Bac enquiry
Tell us the school, the classe and the examination.
Phone number required so we can talk it through properly — French-system preparation depends on details that are quicker to establish in a conversation than in a form.
Everything you send goes straight to Maria. We reply personally, usually the same working day.
Before you book
Brevet & Bac — your questions, answered.
- Do your tutors know the French system, or only the UK one?
- For these pages we match specifically from tutors who have taught inside the French curriculum. That is the whole point of the page: the method is the subject, and it is not transferable from GCSE preparation.
- My child speaks French fluently but is losing marks. Why?
- Almost always method and register rather than language. The Bac de français rewards a structured argument in a formal written idiom; fluent speakers frequently write as they speak and are marked down for it.
- Will you follow the works their teacher has set?
- Yes. We ask for the descriptif and work with it. We do not substitute our own reading list for the school's.
- Can lessons be face to face in London?
- Yes, where a suitable specialist is available in your area, and online otherwise. Tell us your location on the form and we will be straight with you about the match.
- Do you support pupils outside the UK?
- Yes — online, in any time zone we can reasonably staff. Many families in the French network abroad work with us this way.
- How early should we start before the épreuve anticipée?
- Method takes time to become habit. Pupils who begin in the first term of Première consistently get more from it than those who arrive in the spring, though we do take late cases and say honestly what is achievable.
Preparing for a different examination?
Each qualification has its own format, its own marking and its own timetable. Choose the one you are sitting and we will show you exactly how it is prepared for.
Prefer to talk it through?
Schedule a chat with Maria.
Tell us which Brevet & Bac route you are on, where you are now and when you sit. You will get an honest view of the gap and which specialist we would match you with.
Maria Toubbe
- 20 minutes
- A conversation, not a sales call.
- With Maria
- Our founder, every time — not a call centre.
- No obligation
- Advice you can use even if you never book.
20 min · video call · free
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