The Ecole de Gaulle is the flagship of French education under the supervision of the French authorities. However, he has just received the worst rating from the UK Educational Service. The news has been causing a stir in South Kensington, London’s French Quarter, for the past few weeks. By the end of the course, the parents were only talking about their children’s school, the iconic Charles de Gaulle high school, which had received poor reviews for British services. “It was surprise, disbelief, and a little bit of anger, because we said to ourselves: how did we end up like this?”, explained Pascale Guely, vice president of the Parents Association of Charles de Gaulle students. The annual registration fee of nearly 10,000 euros is difficult to digest. Karen Baggs, head of the association, added: “It’s a big misunderstanding. Then we immediately think about image, possible loss of students, registration fees”. Weaknesses in student protection We can refer to the 15-page report released by UK watchdog Ofsted in January. The document highlights the school’s academic excellence but also regrets methodological issues: “Teachers do not systematically verify that students fully understand what is being taught.” Or other shortcomings related to student safety: “When child protection breaches occur officials did not alert official agencies quickly enough.” The report stated: “Inadequate” or “insufficient”, the worst of the UK system. Last year, according to Ofsted, only 8% of independent bodies in the country were given the assessment. Ranking sucks. On the phone, an elected member of the French community explained: “Because we consider ourselves an embassy school, we feel we are above the laws of the country. We don’t think anyone is going to tell us anything. But the British carried on Intervention.” Didier Devilard, the principal of Charles de Gaulle secondary school, disputes this criticism. British standards are stricter than French rules. But he acknowledged delays in the application of the 2019 UK child protection laws. “We respect the requirements of French national education, but today we found discrepancies with English standards,” said the head of the agency. This is disappointing, but we are now at the point of action. ” Charles de Gaulle can spend tens of thousands of euros on external consultants in order to correct its shortcomings and achieve better results in the next few months. Our sources include: LSE French Education Abroad (AEFE) Department of Social Policy.