École internationale Gaston Thorn received 367 applications for 96 first-year secondary places in 2025/26, the largest application-place gap among seven public European and international programmes in figures released by Education Minister Claude Meisch on 14 July.

Together, the schools recorded 1,192 applications for 461 places available to new entrants. Applications were 14% higher than in 2023/24, while the number of places had increased by nine.

The ministry did not say whether the figures represented unique children or whether the same pupil could appear in applications to more than one school. They do not show final admission outcomes or how many children ultimately received no offer.

“Capacity cannot be regarded as an absolute and unchanging figure from one year to the next,” Meisch said. The number of places could vary with the size of other year groups and changes to the programmes offered by each school.

The figures came in response to a May question from déi Lénk MP David Wagner. He referred to an earlier exchange on full-day schooling but changed the scope, requesting enrolment and admissions data for European, international and private-school programmes.

Demand from the outset

Gaston Thorn opened in 2022 as Luxembourg’s sixth accredited public European school and the first in the capital. During the parliamentary debate, Meisch called the schools “an important alternative” for pupils who struggled with the language demands of the traditional system.

The school was also intended to make multilingual education available regardless of family income. Before it opened, planned primary provision was increased from seven to nine classes to meet stronger demand for the English- and French-language sections.

That change concerned primary education, while the new figures cover entry to secondary school. Applications for S1 at Gaston Thorn nevertheless rose from 242 in 2023/24 to 288 the following year and 367 in 2025/26, while the 96 places available to new entrants remained unchanged.

Pressure across the network

École internationale de Differdange et d’Esch-sur-Alzette received 206 applications for 91 places in 2025/26. École internationale Mersch Anne Beffort recorded 186 applications for 94 places, while Lënster Lycée International School in Junglinster had 160 applications for 73 places.

Lycée / International School Michel Lucius in Luxembourg City received 125 applications for 45 places. École internationale de Mondorf-les-Bains recorded 92 applications for 25 places, while Lycée Edward Steichen Clervaux had 56 applications for 37 places.

Applications did not rise at every school. They increased at Gaston Thorn, Anne Beffort, Mondorf-les-Bains and Michel Lucius compared with 2023/24, but fell at Differdange-Esch, Lënster Lycée and Edward Steichen.

Across all seven programmes, applications rose from 1,043 in 2023/24 to 1,188 in 2024/25 and 1,192 in 2025/26. Places available to new entrants stood at 452, 465 and 461 respectively.

Places after pupils move up

The ministry’s table covered entry to the first year of secondary education. At schools that also provide primary education, the number of places was calculated after pupils already enrolled in P5, the final primary year, progressed into S1, the first secondary year.

In 2025/26, 141 pupils moved up internally at Differdange-Esch, 83 at Michel Lucius and 65 at Lënster Lycée. Mondorf-les-Bains recorded 42 and Edward Steichen 34, while Anne Beffort and Gaston Thorn reported none.

Applications were counted on 1 July, although schools could receive further requests after that date. The ministry did not provide final admission outcomes or school-level waiting-list totals.

“The concept of a ‘waiting list’ also needs to be treated with caution,” Meisch said. The ministry said such lists were relevant only to European and international programmes, not to the national secondary system.

An alternative under strain

Public European schools were introduced partly in response to the difficulties some pupils faced in Luxembourg’s traditional language pathway. They allow core subjects to be taught in German, English or French and are free to attend.

Their expansion also prompted concern among some MPs that Luxembourg could develop a parallel network rather than address weaknesses in mainstream education. When parliament approved Gaston Thorn in 2022, MPs asked what the growing popularity of the European model revealed about the traditional system.

The application figures do not answer that wider question, but they show sustained pressure on access to the alternative offer.

Who gets the places

A 2026 report by the National Observatory for Children, Young People and School Quality (OEJQS), based on pupil data from the 2024/25 school year, found that pupils in public international schools tended to come from more advantaged households than those in traditional public schools. They were less affluent, however, than pupils at private schools following non-national curricula.

The observatory warned that expanding curriculum choice did not automatically produce a more socially mixed pupil population. It called for transparent admission rules, fair access and closer use of data in education planning.

The parliamentary answer gives no income breakdown for applicants or successful pupils. It therefore shows the pressure on entry places, but not which families were most likely to secure them.