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Organisational variations and alternative structures
Luxembourg

Luxembourg

6.Secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education

6.10Organisational variations and alternative structures

Last update: 28 March 2024

In the wake of the country's population growth and internationalisation, the Luxembourgish offer of education has significantly diversified in the last decade, especially in relation with linguistic choices.
Today, Luxembourg's public offer of education includes a number of international pathways as alternatives to the regular Luxembourgish school system. These provisions are managed under the authority of the Ministry of Education, financed by the state and offered free of cost to the learners in state-funded establishments.
The full educational provision available in Luxembourg, including private offers, is explained on the Education Ministry's webpage 'Education system' and 'Schooling of foreign pupils'. 
International education provision, mainly English and French, is described on the ministry's webpage 'International Schooling'.
Alternatives to the regular national education system are also offered by private providers. Some private education providers also run alternative offers similar to the existing public alternatives. Private providers apply tuition fees.
A few private schools offer alternative schooling related with alternative educational designs.

Public schooling offer

(Source: Brochure 'The international state school offer in Luxembourg', p.2)

European education

Luxembourg's education system offers European education delivered by accredited European schools.

Accredited European schools are state-funded internationally-minded schools, offering a European education that meets the pedagogical requirements of the intergovernmental organisation 'The European Schools' (see 'Private schooling offer' below on this page).
Accredited European schools apply the pedagogical principles of European education, but they are organised within the legal, administrative and financial framework of the member state's public education offer. Teachers are remunerated by the state and the learners don't pay any tuition costs.

European schooling was introduced in 2018 as a complementary part of the regular public education offer. Right from the start, this alternative to the national school system has been a great success. Given Luxembourg's multicultural student population, this offer will most likely further expand in the coming years.
The accredited European schools are managed and funded by the Luxembourg state. Pupils may enrol in one of the three language sections: English, French or German.
There are 6 accredited European schools in the country, with a balanced geographical distribution:

British secondary education

The International School Michel Lucius (LML) offers English speaking classes leading to the British diplomas International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE), Advanced Subsidiary level (AS-levels) and Advanced level (A-levels).

International education

International secondary education covers 7 years with the last two years corresponding to the 1st and 2nd years of the international baccalaureate's curriculum.

The international baccalaureate is a classical baccalaureate available in 143 countries throughout the world and recognised by Luxembourgish law as equivalent to the general certificate of secondary education. (see MENJE website: International schooling)

  • The German-Luxembourgish Schengen Lycée (Lycée germano-luxembourgeois de Schengen) in Perl (Greater Region, DE) proposes bi-national and cross-border training while combining elements of both German and Luxembourgish education systems. This German-Luxembourgish education leads to a diploma of the German system ('Zeugnis der allgemeinen Hochschulreife') and to a General Certificate of Secondary Education.

Alternative public structures

Some public alternative structures of secondary education benefit from a special status for the purpose of educational innovation. They deliver the same programmes and prepare for the same diplomas as traditional lycées.

  • Lycée Ermesinde offers full-time instruction
  • Sports lycée (Sportlycée) caters the needs of students active in high-level sports
  • École nationale pour adultes (ENAD) for adolescents and young adults who dropped out of school without a recognized qualification or who are not following any training while meeting the conditions to access vocational training.

Private schooling offer

Private schools

Five private schools financially supported by the State, provide the official curricula:

Five other schools, also financially supported by the State but to a lesser extent, apply different curricula:

European Schools

This type of European schooling was created jointly by the governments of the EU member states and the EU institutions to provide multilingual and multicultural teaching at all levels while addressing the needs of children from families associated with the EU institutions.
The European Schools are managed under the supervision of the European commission's Office of the Secretary-General of the European Schools. They have language sections covering most officially recognised EU languages. The teachers are mainly seconded by the European member States.
Students' enrolment and conditions of admission depend on their parents' status. Priority is given to children of parents working for the European institutions. External students may enrol under condition of availability and according to their category of entitlement. They have to pay school fees if they don't benefit from statutory exemption.
There are 2 European schools of this type in Luxembourg.

Both schools have English-speaking, French-speaking and German-speaking sections and teach Irish. In addition to these main language sections, each European school offers specific mother-tongue sections:

  • European School Luxembourg I (Kirchberg) automatically enrols pupils of mother tongue Bulgarian, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish
  • European School Luxembourg II (Mamer) automatically enrols pupils of mother tongue Czech, Danish, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Maltese, Romanian, Slovenian, Slovakian and Croatian.

These schools follow the European Schools' syllabuses as well as their yearly calendar.