A press statement issued by the education ministry on Wednesday explained that the programme will be available for grades 7, 8 and 9 from September 2020.

“The LGE thus becomes the first school to offer this type of English-speaking classes in the southern region of the country, complementing the offerings of the Athénée (AL), the International School Luxembourg (ISL) and the private school Over the Rainbow, all three in Luxembourg City.”

The expansion forms part of Luxembourg’s educational diversification, breaking from the rigid system of teaching Luxembourgish, German and French, in that order, in public schools. It complements the international offer begun by private schools to cater for the international community, which currently makes up around 47% of the country’s resident population.

According to the education ministry, the IB is offered by more than 5,000 schools in 158 countries around the world and is recognised by Luxembourg law as equivalent to the secondary school leaving certificate. The English IB is aimed at students who are able to follow a high level secondary education in this language and prepares them for higher education. With the exception of French and Luxembourgish, all subjects are taught in English. The training leading to the International Baccalaureate comprises five preparatory years (grades 7-11) and two years of the IB programme itself (grades 12 & 13).

The first four preparatory years (grades 7-10) will be offered to LGE: grades 7, 8 and 9 from 2020/2021 and grade 10 from 2021/2022. Applications must be submitted before 26 June. Depending on the class, applying students will be tested in languages and mathematics on 6 July. Registration is free. Registration forms can be downloaded from www.lge.lu.

Public schools in Luxembourg began offering English-language streams in 2011 when the Lycée Michel Lucius offered secondary school education in English, adding a primary section in 2017. Further public international schools following the European School curriculum have since opened in Esch and Differdange, Clervaux, Mondorf-les-Bains and Junglinster.