France’s lycée results out today

RESULTS for all of France’s 4,000 lycées (state ones or private ones ‘under contract’) have gone online today.

The annual round-up, which shows success rates at the Baccalauréat, is scrutinised by parents choosing schools. Its importance has increased in recent years as catchment area rules have been made less rigid.

Most parents will be looking for the figure for réussite au baccalauréat - the bare figure of how many people who took the exam last year passed (that is, gained at least half marks).

However, as usual, the government has said it is important to balance this out by looking at other factors, like the taux attendu, that is the average rate which might have been expected in the local area (référence académique) or nationally, considering the social make-up of the school. If the “value added” is in positive figures, this suggests the teachers did a good job.

A top education official, Jean-Michel Blanquer, told the press: “I insist on the importance of these indictors of added value, as opposed to a very superficial, ‘league table’ view of the results.”

Other indicators are given as well as the pass rate, relating to how many pupils leave with the Bac taking into account those who drop out before taking it.

To find the results for a given school visit:
Lycée results

See, at the bottom, Vous recherchez les résultats d'un lycée ? and click on the link for either general and technological schools or for professional ones.
You can then search by criteria like town and department.

2011 saw 85.6% of candidates pass the Bac, and trends included high success rates for many professional lycées, which have been becoming more popular. However this may be set to change, as it is proposed to limit people with such diplomas to taking BTS professional training or going directly into jobs, due to a high failure rate at university.

Another trend is that private schools are doing increasingly well, with rates generally above the average both for passes and for rates of those staying in school.

MIchale Flippo www.fotolia.com