Students return to schools on September 1 in France, marking the beginning of the academic year.
At the same time several other major changes are set to take place in the country.
The end of the summer holiday season coincides with a number of key reforms that affect residents and home owners across France.
Fibre conversion support widened
A new aid scheme will be in place for households that are struggling to see their phone and internet connections switched to fibre.
The aid will be available for households that require – at least in part – private work for their property to receive fibre connection, due to the difficulty of establishing a connection.
Eligible properties need to be main homes, and there must be confirmation from a fibre-installing company that private work is required to make the connection because of difficulties (terrain, etc).
A property cannot have benefitted from previous fibre-connectivity aid.
Three levels of aid (depending on the scale of the work) will be available, and will be applied directly to your final bill by the company doing the work on your behalf.
Gas price drop
The benchmark price for gas has dropped further, down to €0.137 per kw/h for cooking and hot water (currently €0.1392 per kw/h), and to €0.105 for heating (currently €0.10801 per kw/h).
These monthly changes, set by the Energy Commission (Commission de régulation de l’énergie, CRE) do not automatically affect the cost of bills, but can be used to compare against your tariff and those on the market.
Updated paper sick-notes now mandatory
New anti-fraud paper sick-notes are now mandatory in France, following a grace period this summer that saw their use optional.
In July 2025, changes meant the government would only accept the more secure and official ‘Cerfa form’ paper sick-notes in cases where online requests could not be made (80% of sick-notes are still made online).
These forms have several anti-fraud mechanisms in place to limit sick-note fraud.
A two-month grace period where other paper forms were still authorised is to end, and from September 1 only the ‘Cerfa forms’ are to be accepted.
Tax rate changes for couples
September will see social charges and other taxes taken at-source from workers updated in line with information from the most recent spring declaration (based on 2024 income), unless changed manually by the taxpayer through their personal space on the French tax website.
In addition, from September 1 tax-at-source rates for couples in the same household (spouses, civil partners, etc) will be personalised by default based on proportional household income.
Prior to this, the default setting was for both to pay the same rate unless manually changed on the French tax site, despite any differences in income level.
Taxpayers will still be able to request to pay the same rate.
New blood donation rules and neonatal testing
Restrictions on blood donations from those in France with body modifications will be reduced.
A four-month wait is currently required between getting a piercing or tattoo and giving blood, but this is set to reduce to two months.
The lower waiting period has also been implemented for people who have recently had acupuncture, mesotherapy, varicose vein sclerosis, or endoscopy (carried out by certain instruments).
Previous restrictions on those who had recently had certain dental work revolving around bone substitutions (substituts osseux) have been completely relaxed.
Neonatal screenings for newborns will now look for three new illnesses – severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), infantile spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), and very long-chain acyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase (VLCAD) deficiency.
It brings the number of ‘invisible at birth’ illnesses looked for in the tests up to 16.
New TV channel
A new free-to-view TV channel will hit the airwaves from September 1.
The ‘Novo19’ channel, controlled by media group Ouest-France, will launch on terrestrial channel 19, the final part of an overhaul to TV channel numbers that began in June.
The channel will focus on news as well as offer programmes aiming to highlight daily French life.
Free transport for young and old in Marseille
Plans to provide free public transport to over 65s and under-10s in Marseille will come into force on September 1.
It applies to journeys on metros, buses, trams, coaches, maritime shuttles, and TER trains (within Marseille city limits).
People will still need to obtain and validate a ticket, but it will be free to do so. Children under 6 can already travel for free on the network.
Partial retirement age lowered for workers
Partial retirement will now be open to people aged 60, provided they still work between 40% to 80% of the amount of a full-time job and have put in at least 150 quarters (trimestres) – the equivalent 37.5 full-time years of work into the French system.
This will allow them to receive part of their pension while still working until they reach full retirement.
Childcare support changes and school bursaries open
New calculations will be used for the complément de libre choix du mode de garde (CMG), a financial aid for child support.
This will see additional criteria used to calculate the amount of support a household receives towards childcare support.
In addition, single parents will be able to use the aid until their children are 12 (as opposed to six), and in cases where parents are separated, both parents will receive CMG support.
Manual application for bursaries and scholarships for collège and lycée students opens on September 1, running until October 16.
However, parents who opt for automatic eligibility for their children to be considered for these financial grants do not need to do anything.
End of month - return of MaPrimeRénov’ and electric car leasing
Looking to the end of the month, two currently-suspended schemes will return on September 30.
The property renovation scheme MaPrimeRénov’ will return, although only 13,000 applications will be permitted until the end of the year.
Only households in the lowest income bracket will be able to apply in this period – the thresholds depending on where a property is located and the number of people in the household can be found on the official site.
For at least the rest of 2025, properties will only be applicable if they have an ‘E’, ‘F’, or ‘G’ rating on the DPE (diagnostique performance énergétique) scale, and maximum rates of the grant will be lowered.
A 10% bonus subsidy for bringing the worst-rated properties to a ‘D’ level on the scale has been abolished.
The ‘social leasing’ programme for electric vehicles will also return on September 30.
Limited to the most modest income households (those with an RFR (revenu fiscal de référence) per ‘part’ in the household of €16,300 or below), orders to rent an electric car can be made from this point forward, with the government promising the maximum monthly cost will not exceed €200.
Other eligibility criteria includes commuting distances for vehicle owners - at least 15km in the car between the workplace and the home, or 8,000 km driven per year for work-related reasons.
The scheme is being funded by energy certificates from companies which have failed to meet annual green targets, meaning it will not lead to increased government expenditure.
You can find more information on the government website in both French and English.