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French International School, Victor-Segalen, Happy Valley

Online Maths Tutor for French International School Students in Hong Kong

Online tutoring for students at the Lycee francais international Victor-Segalen, in both tracks: the French one, leading to the Brevet and the Baccalaureate, and the international one, leading to the IGCSE and the IB diploma. Mathematics, physics-chemistry, NSI. I have tutored in Montreal for more than 10 years, and the session sits in the Hong Kong evening, which is my morning. In English or in French.

French Bac and IB Evening slot in Hong Kong Macau on the same slots In English or in French ★ 5.0 · 11 Google reviews
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The school

The Lycee francais international Victor-Segalen, known locally as the French International School, opened in 1963 with thirty-five students. It was Hong Kong's first international school. Its main site is at 165 Blue Pool Road, Happy Valley, and the school now spreads across several campuses. It is accredited on all fifteen year groups, from pre-school to Terminale, and has around 1,600 students in the French track, close to 2,600 across all tracks.

What makes it unique in the French network in China is that two complete tracks live under one roof. The French track follows the national syllabus and leads to the Brevet and then the French Baccalaureate. The international track follows the British curriculum, leading to IGCSEs and then the IB diploma, which the school was the first in Hong Kong to offer, in 1988.

For a parent, that shifts the question. In Beijing or Shanghai, the concern is mostly keeping up with the pace of a speciality. In Hong Kong, the question asked in Troisieme and Seconde is first of all which track, and it commits the student's options after school.

French Baccalaureate or IB diploma, what really changes in maths

The mathematical content of the two tracks overlaps a great deal. What differs is the format of the papers, the room left to the calculator, the weight of statistics and the style of writing expected. Here is the comparison as I present it to families.

Criterion French Baccalaureate IB diploma
Format of the maths paper Two 4 hour papers in Terminale, four questions each, with written proof expected Several shorter papers, with and without a calculator, plus a marked personal exploration
What counts as an answer The written justification counts as much as the result, and a theorem is applied only after its hypotheses are checked Reasoning counts too, but the mark scheme rewards method and tool use more heavily
Weight of statistics and probability Present, binomial law and conditional probability, without dominating the syllabus Distinctly heavier, above all in Applications and Interpretation
Calculator Allowed depending on the paper, algebra by hand is still expected Central to part of the examination, with a graphing calculator
Assessed personal work The Grand oral, on a topic anchored in the specialities The mathematical exploration and the extended essay, handed in across the year
How it reads for what comes next The clearest route into French classes preparatoires and engineering schools Very well recognised by British, American and Canadian universities

The choice is made on where the student is heading, not on how strong they are. A family still undecided at the end of Troisieme is better off consolidating algebra and written reasoning, which serve in both cases, than deciding too early. I cover both tracks, which keeps the two doors open while you decide.

What I see most often with students in Hong Kong

Moving from one track to the other

A student switching from the international track to the French one, or the reverse, is not just changing working language. They are changing the order in which ideas are presented and, above all, what is expected of a written answer. The gap almost always concentrates on written proof and on algebra carried out by hand, two things that close well within a few months if they are treated explicitly.

Written justification among very fast students

Hong Kong students are often excellent at calculation and used to a demanding school pace. What they lose at the Baccalaureate is the justification mark: an induction badly initialised, a theorem applied without checking its hypotheses, a missing conclusion. It is the line where the most marks come back in the least time.

University applications colliding with the Terminale year

Hong Kong families often aim at several countries at once: Parcoursup, UCAS for the United Kingdom, Canadian universities, sometimes the United States. Those applications are put together in the autumn, exactly when the Terminale syllabus accelerates. A schedule set back from the exam date in September stops revision from starting only once the applications are in.

One accredited school for the whole territory

Victor-Segalen is the only accredited French school in Hong Kong, and admission is competitive. Families who do not get a place, or who live in Macau, fall back on a local or international school and follow the French syllabus alongside it through the CNED. Online follow-up works in that situation too.

The Hong Kong evening, the Montreal morning

Hong Kong is at UTC+8 all year and never changes its clocks. Montreal is at UTC-5 in winter and UTC-4 in summer: the gap is 13 hours from November to March and 12 hours the rest of the year. Your child's evening therefore falls in my morning, an ordinary weekday slot on both sides. Macau is on the same time zone, so the table below applies there without change.

Session in Hong Kong Montreal, winter Montreal, summer
Weekdays, 7 pm 6 am 7 am
Weekdays, 8 pm 7 am 8 am
Weekdays, 9 pm 8 am 9 am
Saturday, 10 am Friday 9 pm Friday 10 pm

The slot is reserved for the year. It shifts by an hour twice a year, on the Canadian side only, and I warn the family in advance.

Subjects covered, in both tracks

Mathematics speciality

The full Premiere and Terminale syllabus, with the examinable proofs and the questions that come back paper after paper.

IB mathematics

Analysis and Approaches and Applications and Interpretation, standard and higher level, personal exploration included.

Physics-Chemistry speciality

Written paper and practical skills: mechanics, waves, thermodynamics, solution chemistry and organic chemistry.

Maths Expertes

Complex numbers, arithmetic, matrices and graphs, for students aiming at a prepa or an engineering school.

NSI

Python, algorithms, data structures, databases and the project, in Premiere as in Terminale.

Grand oral

Choosing the scientific topic, building the talk and rehearsing under examination conditions.

Corrected exercises and revision sheets, freely available

Whether you take sessions or not, the whole revision library is free and requires no sign-up. Corrected exercise sets covering the French syllabus from Sixieme to Terminale, revision sheets by chapter, a four hour mock Baccalaureate and a two hour mock Brevet. It is written in French, the language of the French examination, and much of the analysis and algebra transfers directly to IB Analysis and Approaches.

Corrected exercises Revision sheets

Frequently asked questions

Do you work with students at the French International School in Hong Kong?

Yes, online, from Sixieme to Terminale. Victor-Segalen is accredited on all fifteen year groups and is the only accredited French school in Hong Kong. Students in the French track follow the official French national syllabus, the same one followed by the students I have tutored for more than 10 years at the Lycee Marie de France and the College Stanislas in Montreal.

Do you also cover IB mathematics?

Yes. Analysis and Approaches as well as Applications and Interpretation, at standard and higher level, including the assessed personal exploration. I also cover the French Mathematics speciality and the Maths Expertes option, which lets an undecided family keep both doors open.

French track or international track, how do we choose?

On where the student is heading, not on how strong they are. The French Baccalaureate with the Mathematics speciality and Maths Expertes remains the clearest route into French classes preparatoires and engineering schools. The IB diploma is very well recognised by British, American and Canadian universities. The mathematical content overlaps a great deal.

What time do sessions take place from Hong Kong?

In the Hong Kong evening, most often between 7 pm and 9 pm, which is early morning in Montreal, 6 am to 8 am in winter and 7 am to 9 am in summer. Hong Kong never changes its clocks, so the gap varies only on the Canadian side. Saturday and Sunday mornings are open too.

Which Baccalaureate papers does a Hong Kong student sit?

The Asia examination centre papers, distinct from metropolitan France and North America. Speciality papers run over two consecutive days, giving two papers per speciality per session. Practice is done on those past papers.

What about families living in Macau?

There is no accredited French school in Macau. French-speaking families there enrol their children locally or in Hong Kong, or follow the French syllabus through the CNED. Online follow-up works in both cases, and since Macau is on the same time zone as Hong Kong the slots are identical.

Are sessions in French or in English?

In both, depending on what helps the student and on their track. I explain in whichever language unblocks the idea, then have them restate it in the exact vocabulary of the examination they are sitting, French for the Baccalaureate, English for the IB.

Going further

The French network in China

The hub page: every school, the time slots and how the follow-up works.

The Asia zone Baccalaureate

The examination centre, its past papers, the coefficients and the Terminale plan.

The CNED from China or Macau

Following the French syllabus with no accredited school within reach.

Online French curriculum tutor

The same follow-up, anywhere in the world, in whatever time zone you are in.

Is your child at the French International School in Hong Kong?

Tell me the year, the track and where they are heading after school. I will propose a weekly evening slot, Hong Kong time, and a plan built on the paper they will actually sit.

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