Schools in France: What is changing in 2026-27

The 2026-27 school year will focus on consolidation and a ‘back to basics’ approach, with the government seeking to strengthen pupils’ core skills while introducing new rules on mobile phones, school safety and financial education.

Education Minister Edouard Geffray has said schools should concentrate on reading, writing and mathematical reasoning.

Around 11.6 million pupils and 850,000 teachers will return to schools across France on September 1.

Focus on core skills

Teachers are being encouraged to emphasise vocabulary and extended writing throughout primary education, moving away from fill-in-the-gap exercises in favour of complete sentences and longer texts.

The government argues that these skills are increasingly important as pupils use artificial intelligence, saying strong language skills will help them use AI critically rather than become dependent on it.

Revised programmes in French, maths, citizenship education and modern languages are also being introduced across different year groups.

At the end of maternelle, pupils will be expected to have mastered around 2,500 words.

In CM1 (aged 9-10), programmes are changing in PE, history-geography, foreign and regional languages, and science.

French and maths programmes are changing for CM2 (aged 10-11) and 5e pupils (aged 12-13), while citizenship education is being revised for CE2 (aged 8-9), sixième (aged 11-12), troisième (aged 14-15) and terminale pupils (aged 17-18).

Primary schools are also expected to strengthen mental arithmetic and problem-solving, while secondary schools are being encouraged to get more girls interested in science and engineering.

Schools are being invited to examine whether unconscious bias in classroom participation, assessment and careers advice contributes to the gender gap in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects.

Phones banned in lycées

Restrictions on mobile phones are also being extended.

After bans in primary schools and the ‘digital pause’ arrangements in collèges, pupils in lycées will be prohibited from using phones during the school day.

President Emmanuel Macron has promulgated the law containing the ban, meaning it can take effect from the start of the new school year.

Pupils can still carry phones, but they must be switched off and kept in their bags. Phones can be confiscated if the rules are broken.

Schools can provide exemptions where phones are needed for educational purposes, including for some pupils with disabilities and students in classes préparatoires or BTS.

Headteachers can also decide where restrictions apply and how they are enforced. For example, phones could be banned inside buildings but allowed outdoors, or stored in lockers or pouches.

However, school leaders have warned that some establishments are not ready to enforce the new rules, as they must amend their internal regulations and some have had little time to prepare.

The government had also planned to ban social media access for under-15s, but the Constitutional Council rejected that part of the legislation earlier in August.

The government says it will work on a new law and aims to have a legal framework in place by spring 2027.

Financial education for collège pupils

All pupils in quatrième (aged 13-14) will receive financial education from this school year under the Educfi programme.

Lessons will cover budgeting, savings, debt, scams, bank accounts and payment methods, before pupils complete a test.

The programme has been trialled in some collèges and vocational lycées since 2019 but is now being extended to all quatrième pupils.

Prépa-seconde becomes permanent

The prépa-seconde programme, trialled since 2024, is now a permanent part of the French education system.

The scheme provides an additional year between collège and lycée for pupils who have been accepted into seconde but need to consolidate their knowledge, particularly those who have not obtained the brevet.

Afterwards, pupils can continue with their original course or choose a different educational path.

Around 100 prépa-seconde classes currently exist in France.

New questions on sexual violence

A new section on sexual and gender-based violence will be added to the annual school bullying questionnaire, which is given to around 10 million pupils from grande section of maternelle through to terminale.

Responses will initially be anonymous, although pupils can give their name if they want to speak to a trusted adult.

Geffray said the questionnaire would be developed with school staff, parent organisations and experts, including child psychiatrists.

He said the move reflected the scale of the problem, noting that one in 10 children in France is a victim of sexual violence.

The ministry of education is already the country's largest source of reports concerning violence against minors, with around 88,000 reports of sexual violence or parental failings made during the previous year.

New collège competition

A new concours général des collèges will also be introduced for pupils aged around 14-15, with registrations opening this autumn for tests in January.

Each collège will be able to enter up to 10% of its pupils in one of five subjects: French, maths, history-geography, arts, or digital technology and coding.

The competition is intended to recognise different forms of academic excellence and is based on the long-established concours général des lycées.

Annual 11 November ceremonies

Pupils from CM1 (aged 9-10) to terminale will take part in an annual commemorative ceremony around November 11, honouring those who died for France.

Changes to exams from 2027

Several changes to national examinations are also being prepared during the 2026-27 school year.

Almost all written and oral brevet and baccalauréat examinations will take place in the morning from 2027, following concerns over pupils sitting exams during periods of extreme heat.

There will be some exceptions for vocational baccalauréat exams that last a full day.

More detailed marking guidance on spelling and grammar is also due to be published on September 10 for the 2027 brevet and baccalauréat.

Markers will be given clearer criteria on the standard of written French expected, including the number of points that can be deducted for language errors.

Changes for vocational terminale pupils

The parcours différencié for pupils in their final year of vocational lycée will move to before March and be reduced to two weeks.

Under the programme, pupils choose between a paid work placement or additional lessons. It lasted four weeks during the 2025-26 school year and six weeks the previous year.

As a result, vocational lycée pupils will again sit their baccalauréat examinations in June, alongside pupils following general and technological courses.

More authority for teachers

The ministry is also calling for stronger relationships between schools and parents, while reaffirming teachers’ authority and warning that threats or abuse of staff will not be tolerated.

Under a new decree, a pupil can now be required to change schools if the behaviour of one of their parents seriously disrupts the normal functioning of the establishment.

The government says the pupil concerned should receive reinforced educational support following such a move.

Teaching unions, however, argue that the absence of major headline reforms does not mean fewer demands on teachers.

The FSU-SNUipp union said the promise of stability masked “a multiplication of contradictory instructions” and greater central control, with teachers expected to implement new priorities without additional staff or funding.

It has also criticised the focus on vocabulary as a response to educational inequality.

Unions have called for smaller classes, better teacher training and more resources for inclusive education.