BFI (Bac Français International) from 2024

Baccalauréat Français International (BFI) from 2024

What is the BFI (British version)?

• The British version of the BFI is an integrated Franco-British school-leaving certificate based on the French Baccalaureate. It combines the breadth and rigour of the Baccalaureate with extra subjects taught and examined in English to A-Level standard, in a single certificate.
• It is run in partnership between the French Ministry of Education and OxofrdAQA, a partnership between AQA, the largest and most popular of all UK examination boards, and Oxford University Press (OUP), a department of the University of Oxford..
• It provides students with a university entrance qualification valid in both France and Britain.
• It makes academic and linguistic demands to an equal level in English and French.
• It prepares students equally for university study in Britain or France, through exposure to the pedagogy and methodology typical of both A level and the French Baccalaureate
• It requires students to use both English and French in an academic context at first-language level

The British version of the BFI represents a long-standing partnership between the French Ministry of Education and OxfordAQA. Examinations in two subjects, English Language & Literature and History–Geography, are added to the full syllabus of the French Baccalaureate (the Baccalauréat Général). These extra subjects are examined in English at first-language level and certified by Oxford as equivalent to A Level in standard. The bicultural nature of the BFI is illustrated by the fact that History–Geography is taught in both English and French.

Students taking the British version of the BFI are taught in schools that run a dual, Franco-British curriculum. Through this dual programme, BFI students develop a capacity for hard work, and an intellectual and cultural flexibility, that give them the potential to become excellent undergraduates in Britain, France and elsewhere.

Standards

The standards of the French Baccalaureate are well established, and permit successful students to pursue the full range of subjects for undergraduate study in the most selective British universities.

Despite the breadth of the Baccalaureate, and the number of subjects studied, the BFI courses in English Language & Literature and History–Geography are substantial in depth and coverage and provide a secure foundation for undergraduate study in those subjects. The standard of the examinations in English Language & Literature and History–Geography is equivalent to that of the final year of A Levels; the breadth and depth of the programmes are validated by OxfordAQA.

The written examinations assess knowledge, understanding, skills and response comparable to those of A Level examinations. The Oral examinations assess the candidate’s ability to present, analyse and evaluate literary texts or historical–geographical content, and to defend a point of view before two examiners.

BFI students go on to read the full range of subjects, from sciences to humanities, at the most selective UK universities. An unusual feature of the BFI is that all students, whatever their future undergraduate subject choices, are examined to A-Level standard in English Language & Literature and History–Geography.

What do the ‘BFI subjects’ involve?

Language and Literature (ACL)

The BFI English Language and Literature examinations are first language examinations.  The literature component is examined and assessed at a level equivalent to A level English Literature, and is based on the study of texts with a similar level of challenge to those set for A level. The language is assessed by reference to appropriate educated mother tongue usage.  The linguistic demands of these exams are focused on the use of English in an academic context; this makes them an excellent preparation for university study in any subject.  The levels of linguistic achievement for successful candidates are C1 or C2 on the CEFR, or ‘educated native speaker/writer’.

In terms of reading, the BFI English written and oral examinations assess the student’s response to and analysis of at least six complex whole literary works, including a Shakespeare play. The study of texts includes a synoptic unit (currently either ‘Writers and Writing of the Romantic Age’ or ‘Postcolonial Writing’). The texts are similarly challenging to those set for A level English Literature, and are studied in a similar fashion.

In terms of writing, the BFI English examination demands responses in essay form to A level-style questions about works of literature. Qualities of argument, control of formal and critical language, structure, and clarity of expression are assessed, as well as the analytical and personal response to literature.
The 15-minute BFI oral examination gives a full assessment of the candidate’s speaking and listening through an analytical, reflective response to literature.

History-Geography

The specificity of the BFI History-Geography programme is that it is bilingual and bicultural and therefore taught in partnership between French and British Section teachers.

The history-geography exam assesses the student’s ability to:

• exploit, organise and compare information
• construct and clearly express a well-reasoned argument using appropriate knowledge
• analyse and critique documents from different sources
• understand, analyse, and compare different historical and geographical interpretations in a bilingual and bicultural context
• synthesise , think synoptically and develop reasoned arguments.

Connaissance du Monde (CDM)

• Penser la Société - Habiter le Monde -  Construire l’Avenir
• 2 hours per week in premiere and terminale
• Students plan and develop an independent project, making contact with an individual or organisation in the language of the section
• Independent, individual work
• Skills of research, formulating a research question, selection and evaluation of resources, analysis, planning and presentation.
• Assessed by an oral presentation in Terminale, by ENP teachers.
• Similar to EPQ (Extended Project qualification) in the UK or the ToK in IB.

Official texts:

Baccalauréat Français International (BFI) – from 2024

Entry Requirements for classes leading to the BFI

UCAS Qualification Information Profile for the BFI