Parcoursup: the government promises its end, the Assembly debates without a vote

What was announced

After more than a month of blockades and high school protests, the government presented a series of measures on Monday 26 October, led by Édouard Geffray, Minister of National Education, and Philippe Baptiste, Minister of Higher Education. The most symbolic concerns Parcoursup: according to L'Express Éducation, the platform would be transformed from the 2027 campaign and then replaced by a new system in 2028. Cover letters would become the exception, every refusal would have to be concretely justified and admission criteria would be published in greater detail.

According to the Anadolu agency, which covered the press conference, seconde classes would be capped at 28 pupils in the least advantaged half of lycées from the start of the 2027 school year, then everywhere the following year. The 836 job cuts planned in public secondary education would be cancelled and 500 posts created. The government also promises up to 15,000 additional places in higher education, mainly in BTS and IUT programmes, inflation indexing of student grants and 4 billion euros in subsidised loans to renovate lycées and collèges.

This Wednesday at 5 p.m., the National Assembly is debating the future of guidance and admissions for high school pupils. As LCP reports, the debate is held under Article 50-1 of the Constitution: the government makes a statement, each group responds, and no vote is planned.

The positions

For the government, these announcements respond to the consultation opened to pupils. According to L'Express, the minister called on pupils to return to class, arguing that the general interest requires it, while specifying that this was not an order.

In the centre, Marc Fesneau, president of the Les Démocrates group, told Public Sénat that these measures "vont dans le bon sens" (are going in the right direction). He acknowledges that Parcoursup has flaws, but raises what he sees as the central question: should there be selection, including at university? His answer is yes. Jean-Michel Blanquer, father of the 2018 reform, defended the platform on Franceinfo, challenging its critics to name a country that does better, according to LCP.

On the left, La France insoumise is calling for Parcoursup to be abolished and for a vote at the end of the debate. According to LCP, Mathilde Panot sees it as a sorting machine that would leave 125,000 school leavers without a place. The Socialist group, through Fatiha Keloua-Hachi, regards the debate as a starting point, since Parliament never really discussed the 2018 law. On the side of the UDR, allied with the RN, Maxime Michelet doubts the ministers will stay long enough to carry the reform through and argues for admission based on the baccalauréat.

Youth organisations and unions are not backing down. After meeting the minister, the general secretary of Snes-FSU, Sophie Vénétitay, summed up her position, as reported by BFMTV:

Le compte n'y est pas. — Sophie Vénétitay, Snes-FSU

She regrets the absence of a pay rise and a 28-pupil cap limited to seconde. The Union étudiante, quoted by Anadolu, estimates that at least 250,000 places are missing in higher education. New days of mobilisation are announced for 31 October and 5 November.

A real response, but a debate without a vote

It must be acknowledged: the government has moved. Cancelling job cuts, capping class sizes, indexing grants: this amounts to admitting that the anger of high school pupils rested on facts. Those facts are known. According to ministry statistics cited by Localtis, around 10% of teaching hours were not delivered in lycées in 2024-2025. In July, around 130,000 applicants were still without an offer at the end of the main phase of Parcoursup. Young people who demand teachers in front of their classes are not asking for a privilege; they are asking the State to keep the republican promise of equal opportunity.

The arguments of those who defend selection deserve to be heard. Places are limited, some courses lead to few jobs, and guiding is not excluding. But selection is only fair if everyone starts with the same tools. A pupil whose absent teachers are not replaced, in a run-down school, does not compete on equal terms with one from a prestigious Paris lycée. The announced removal of the pupil's school of origin from applications, reported by Anadolu, is a step in the right direction. It will not be enough without resources.

Then there is the method. A government that announces the end of a system created by law, then organises a debate without a vote, sends an ambiguous signal. Yet Article 50-1 allows the government to put its statement to a vote without staking its responsibility. In the Gaullist tradition, the State reforms by owning its choices before the national representation. An Assembly that expresses itself clearly would give pupils a firmer guarantee than a press conference, all the more so since replacing Parcoursup will require a law.

Conclusion

Young people have won significant gains in a few weeks. For them not to remain promises, two commitments seem necessary: to include in the 2027 budget the funding for the announced posts and places, and to present before the summer a bill on guidance, debated and voted on. The question remains: will the government accept that Parliament, and not only ministers, writes what comes after Parcoursup?

Article written with the help of artificial intelligence.