Lycée Français Louis-Massignon, located in Abu Dhabi, is one of two French schools in the capital. The school has been in operation since 1972 and currently has approximately 1,670 students on its roster.

The Story so Far...

Lycée Louis-Massignon (LLM) was the first French school to open in Abu Dhabi. Established in 1972, LLM educates children from Maternelle (KG) to Terminale (Grade 12).

The school was founded by the Petroleum Society becoming, in October 1972, the French Companies' School. Its initial cohort of around 40 students was housed in a room near the Méridien hotel. With increasing demand, LLM relocated, in 1981, to its current site, and in 2019, established a new Primary school building to meet the continued requirement for places.  In 1982, the school was inaugurated as the Lycée Louis-Massignon.

The school's core values are "Freedom, dynamism and culture".

Today, LLM is home to almost 1,670 students, a reduction from its peak of around 1,750. According to the school website, students from 40 different nationalities attend LLM with sizable cohorts of French,  Lebanese and Canadian nationals.  A further 5+% of students are from the local Emirati community.

With the reduction in student numbers, the school has reduced its teacher numbers from 135 in 2016-17, to 112 in 2022 at the time of the most recent ADEK inspection.  Teachers, who are predominantly French National Education graduates, are supported by a further 27 teaching assistants. The teacher overall teacher to student ratio is 1:14, towards the lower end for schools at this fee level and an assurance that students should receive individual support.  

What about the curriculum?

The school is monitored by the L’Agence pour l’Enseignement Français à l’Etranger or AEFE, the agency for French schools abroad which is based in Paris, but is represented in UAE by the French ambassador.  The school also hosts the Regional inspector from the French Department of Education who co-inspects schools with the local education authorities.

LLM provides details on its website of the construction of the curriculum. 

In the Toute Petite Section, the school began to take students from the age of two year in 2022. According to the school, toddlers benefit from personalised schooling in one of two classes that allow them to integrate into the school smoothly.

The curriculum for the youngest students - aged from two to five years on entry to the relevant grade - is built around five axes:

• Act, express, understand through artistic activities explore the world
• Mobilising language in all its dimensions
• Act, express, understand through physical activities
• Build the first tools to structure thinking.

With French as the main language of learning, students also learn English and Arabic from the age of 3 in order to later become active, informed and responsible citizens of the world.

As students move on from the Maternelle to the Elementary school for students aged six to eleven, the focus of Cycle 2, from CP to CE2, is that of the acquisition of fundamental knowledge. LLM says that; "it makes  every effort to ensure that students have access to its knowledge, while taking into account the educational needs of each child."

Cycle 3, the last two years of primary school (CM1 and CM 2) and the first year of college (6ème), is the cycle of consolidation of achievements. This cycle meets a dual objective: to consolidate the acquisition of fundamental knowledge (started in Cycle 2) and to allow the best possible transition between the Elementary school and College. 

The core curriculum in the Elementary section includes French, Mathematics, Art, Music, Physical and Sports Education, Moral Education and Social Studies, and World Knowledge. From CM1 to 6ème, students also study Modern Languages, History and Geography, and Science and Technology.

Mastering the language remains a central objective of Cycle 3. The student must be sufficiently independent in reading and writing to continue their education. Teaching French in French is the keystone of Lycée Louis Massignon.  However, like any French school abroad, the school also attaches particular importance to learning other living languages, while adapting to the requirements of the host country. English and Arabic lessons are an integral part of elementary education. 

The entry to Collège marks the entry of students into secondary education. It is organized into four levels from sixth to third grade and structured into teaching cycles. Collège education begins with the last year of Cycle 3, the consolidation cycle. This cycle therefore straddles Elementary school and Middle school.

Cycle 4, the advanced cycle, includes the 5th, 4th and 3rd classes. During this cycle, students develop their knowledge and skills in the various disciplines, while preparing for the continuation of their training and their future active participation in the evolution of society. In Middle school, students have 26 hours of compulsory lessons per week, to which optional lessons can be added. 

Core subjects for the Middle school section curriculum include French, Mathematics, Art, Music, Physical and Sports Education, UAE Islamic/Social Studies and Moral Education, Modern Languages (including Arabic), History and Geography, Information Technology, Life and Earth Sciences, Physics, Chemistry, and Information and Media Studies.

For the Secondary school, in line with changes to the Baccalaureat in 2020-21, lessons common to all students on a weekly basis include French (Première only), Philosophy (Terminale only), Geography and History,  Modern languages A and B, Sciences, Physical and sports education, Moral Education and Social Studies.

At the end of Seconde, students following general pathway will choose a combination of three specialty lessons which they will take in Première of 4 hours weekly per specialty. At the end of this year, they will choose from these three courses, the two specialty courses which they will pursue in Terminale (6 hours per week per specialty).

The school offers combinations of specialties from different disciplines including, for example, Mathematics, Numerics and Computer Science; Physics and Chemistry; Life and Earth Sciences; Engineering Sciences; Economic and Social Sciences; History and Geography; Geopolitics and Political Sciences; Humanities, Literature and Philosophy; Modern Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures; Ancient Literature, Languages ​​and Cultures; and Art.

In Terminale, students may have the option to choose additional subjects including Law and major issues of the contemporary world, and Further Mathematics (for students who have chosen Mathematics), or Complementary Mathematics for students who have not chosen the Mathematics in the final year.

The school also offers an International section which offers the option of cross-curricular learning in English for students in the Middle and High School sections. 

The British International Section (SIB) goes beyond simple English language reinforcement.  The SIB is attached to traditional teachings. It replaces the teaching of English, taught across the entire school, with reinforced literary teaching,  in a framework offering integrated language and culture teaching.

It educates French and foreign students by offering them a bilingual and bi-cultural education that places great emphasis on Anglo-Saxon teaching content and teaching methods. It allows the reception and integration of foreign students into the French education system, while allowing them to benefit from training in their mother tongue. At the same time, it offers French children, dual nationals or those with the necessary motivation and language skills, the opportunity to develop these skills while benefitting from a bilingual and bi-cultural environment.  

In CP, students can join the British International Section (SIB), for an additional 1h30 per week.  The teachers in charge of the international section are native speakers in order to ensure a strong cultural dimension, both in the pedagogical tradition, but also in the extracurricular activities offered, strongly linked to the culture of Great Britain.

A SIB is also offered to students from 6ème to 4ème. From the 5th year, the English language course is enriched with teaching in European language and culture (ELCE). It is an opportunity for students to deepen their knowledge of a third European language and possibly prepare for entry into the European section in high school to obtain a “European mention” baccalaureate.

Finally, as students enter Seconde, they have a choice of three options in terms of their subject focus, in addition to the core curriculum.  Student success is evaluated through a process of continuous assessment. These include Arts Plastiques, Latin (only for students who have taken this option in 5th to 3rd grades, and DNL (Discipline Non-Linguistique), where students study Mathematics in the English language.

What about academic achievement?

LLM provides very little information about academic achievement publicly - noting only that there was a 100% pass rate for the Baccalaureat in 2021.  However, the ADEK inspection report from 2016-17, though somewhat outdated now, provides far more useful and positive information, noting that:

In the Baccalaureat French National tests for Grade 12 students, the school’s average results have been significantly above all French schools over the past 3 years. The proportion of students who achieve a ‘mention’ (honours to highest honours) for 12 points and above is consistently higher than all French schools. In the Brevet French National tests in French, mathematics and history/civics in Grade 9, the school’s results have been significantly above all French schools over the past 3 years. At least 80% of LLM students achieved a ‘mention’ compared to 50% in all French schools.

In the 2018-19 ADEK Inspection report, inspectors noted that English 2017-18 Grade 12 Baccalauréat results indicated outstanding attainment.  Grade 9 Diplome National du Brevet (DNB), Grade 11 in Épreuve Anticipée de Français (EAF) and Grade 12 in Baccalauréat, indicated that students’attainment in French was outstanding. Similarly,  2017-2018  Maths and Science Baccalauréat and Brevet examination results indicated outstanding attainment.

Unfortunately, the most recent ADEK inspection, which took place in February 2022, when the school retained the Very Good rating, was an abbreviated process with no commentary provided.  Students' attainment and progress in French, English and Mathematics was rated Outstanding by the inspection team in Lycée.

What about the Facilities?

The school provides little information about its facilities.  However, the development of a new Primary section would suggest that money is being invested in modernisation of the original buildings which are now somewhat aged.  General facilities, in addition to classrooms, include Science laboratories, libraries, Art rooms, music rooms, an auditorium, and drama rooms.  Sports facilities include an outdoor sports pitch, school gymnasium and swimming pool.

What the Inspectors Say

The overall performance of the school is rated highly, with an overall rating of Very Good (2018-2019) across  four of the six inspection indicators and Outstanding for the remaining two. This is the same overall rating as that of the previous inspection in 2016-17 and up from the previous inspections which found the school to be Good (2014-2015) and Acceptable in 2012-2013. 

In the 2018-19 report, the last inspection prior to the Covid 19 pandemic,  inspectors noted that "students’ achievement is now outstanding in French, science and mathematics in all phases, and in technology, history and geography in middle and high schools.

Their personal development, arrangements for the protection, care and guidance of students, and parent partnerships have all improved since the last inspection and are now rated Outstanding. High levels of challenge and teachers’ questioning now develop students’ critical thinking in most subjects and lessons."

With these high standards, LLM joins a small group of the highest performing schools who will no longer be inspected every two years, but instead will move to a four yearly inspection.  If this is not evidence of the high regard in which the school is held by ADEK, then it is difficult to see what else is needed.

Read More: ADEK Changes Inspection Cycle for Abu Dhabi's top Schools

Unlike many Abu Dhabi schools who missed out on programmed inspections in 2020 and 2021, LMM was not expected to be inspected again until 2023.  However, with the disruption caused by the pandemic, ADEK evidently decided that all schools that had not been inspected in 2020 and 2021, should receive an abbreviated inspection in the 2021-22 academic year.  Again the school was awarded a Very Good overall rating.

If you would like to read the abbreviated inspection report, and we strongly advise that you do so in order to understand the strengths of the school and those areas still ripe for improvement, you will find it here.

The Buzz

WhichSchoolAdvisor.com has not received any feedback from parents to our Survey. However, the 2021-22 ADEK inspection, which took place in February 2022, rated the partnership with parents as Outstanding.

The 2018-19 inspection report noted that "Parents participate in numerous school events and activities. Newsletters, curriculum information, electronic messaging and detailed reports keep all parents fully informed about policies, school events,what their children’s learning. There are very strong links with local, national and international schools, and with the community, including with Sports Action who promote sports activities in school, the UAE and abroad."

As is usually the case for schools that exist to support their own culture, language and community, it is evident that Lyçée Louis Massignon sits very much at the heart of the wider French-speaking community in Abu Dhabi.

If you are a parent, teacher or senior student at LLM and would like to share your opinions and experience with other potential members of your community, please do so by completing our survey here.

What about Fees? 

Unfortunately, LMM has not yet published its fees for 2023-24 on its website as yet. Fees start at  at AED 29,200 in Maternelle, and rising to AED 47,760 for the final years of high school.  There are discounts for the third (10%) and fourth (15%)  children from the same family  In Abu Dhabi, the fees for the school are considered average to high.

Read More: Everything You Need to Know About the French Curriculum

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