French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu and his cabinet announced major school reforms on Monday to answer five weeks of spreading high school and student unrest.
National Education Minister Édouard Geffray and Higher Education Minister Philippe Baptiste detailed the package at an evening press conference following talks with student unions at Matignon. The briefing addressed student demands concerning academic pressure, classroom overcrowding, dilapidated buildings, and higher education admissions.
The student movement has converged with wider protests against the rising cost of living that have disrupted cities across France.
Phased replacement of the Parcoursup platform
Higher Education Minister Philippe Baptiste announced a two-stage reform of the Parcoursup admissions platform, promising major adjustments in 2027 followed by its complete replacement in 2028. A new admissions system designed alongside high school and university students will launch in 2028, with initial recommendations expected in late November 2026.
Baptiste noted that Parcoursup is anchored in law, meaning several key mechanisms can only be altered through legislation. Adjustments beginning this year will include earlier account access for tenth-grade pupils in seconde, clearer platform guidance, explanatory video clips on course requirements, and mandatory written justifications for rejected applicants.
For the 2028 session, the platform will remove the mention of an applicant's high school of origin. Baptiste acknowledged high demand for the change, explaining that while grading standards differ across schools, universities still require fair ways to compare applicants.
The future of Parcoursup will be debated Wednesday at 17:00 in the National Assembly under Article 50-1 of the constitution. Manuel Bompard, national coordinator of La France Insoumise, demanded on X that the debate end with a vote, warning it would otherwise be a smokescreen, though the Ministry for Relations with Parliament confirmed to AFP that no vote will take place.
France Universités, representing 117 higher education leadership teams including 70 university presidents, cautioned that abolishing Parcoursup is no magic solution. The association stated that the platform must not be confused with deliberate spending cuts that created severe admission bottlenecks since its creation in 2018.
Class size caps and cancellation of teacher job cuts
National Education Minister Édouard Geffray announced that tenth-grade classes will be capped at 28 pupils in autumn 2027 in the 50 percent least favoured high schools, extending to all high schools in autumn 2028.
Geffray confirmed that a government amendment will cancel all 836 secondary teaching job cuts planned in the 2027 budget. The government will also create 500 new high school teaching posts and 920 positions dedicated to covering absent teachers.
Class sizes in specialty groups in eleventh and twelfth grades will be limited. Geffray added that continuous assessment in the baccalaureate will be re-examined, especially in the eleventh grade, to relieve academic pressure that the system had unintentionally worsened.
High schools will also restrict option choices to eliminate timetable gaps, while lunch breaks will be guaranteed at a minimum of one hour. Geffray said an online consultation received 101,000 contributions from nearly 3,000 of France's 3,700 high schools, emphasizing that no decision announced was an empty promise.
Higher education expansion and building renovation funds
Baptiste announced the creation of 15,000 higher education places between 2027 and 2028, primarily in Île-de-France, with 10,000 in vocational BTS tracks, 4,000 in university technology institutes, and 1,000 in healthcare courses.
Higher education student grants will be indexed to inflation starting in 2027, which Baptiste estimated will cost roughly 40 million euros next year.
On infrastructure, Lecornu opened 4 billion euros in subsidized, preferential-rate loans to regional authorities over four years to renovate middle and high schools. Lecornu will assemble regional leaders, ministers, and student delegates to coordinate projects, while 1 billion euros will be allocated over five years to renovate universities.
Youth union reactions and strike plans
Youth leaders voiced dissatisfaction after meeting ministers at Matignon. Louis Letoublon, vice president of Les Lycéens!, said students could be proud of their month-long mobilization and argued that the government was disoriented and scared, providing an opening to win further concessions.
Letoublon criticized the refusal to abolish Parcoursup immediately, calling it a platform built for training programs rather than students. Nathanaël Combary, board president of Renouveau lycéen, welcomed the announcements but urged students to keep demonstrating to secure university places and tangible local improvements.
Sabrine Karbach, spokesperson for the Union étudiante, told AFP that the gains won through mobilization were merely crumbs. Karbach pledged that high school and university students would continue protesting, particularly during a national workers' strike scheduled for 5 November.
Socialist Party and Place publique presidential candidate Raphaël Glucksmann called on TF1 for concrete action, demanding that ministers cancel teacher cuts, launch emergency renovations for dilapidated schools, and redesign admissions alongside parents and educators.
Macron visits Marseille and defends public order
President Emmanuel Macron visited Marseille unannounced on Monday to witness the return of republican order following violence and looting during protests on 17 October. Accompanied by Marseille Mayor Benoît Payan, Macron met affected shopkeepers and thanked security forces.
Macron stated that order held during protests on 24 October without declaring a state of emergency, pointing to heavy policing and curfews set by prefects and mayors. He acknowledged that police were understaffed on 17 October because authorities had not anticipated early mobilizations by ultra-left groups and opportunist looters.
Macron said future marches would follow routes away from city centers to protect shops, promising state compensation funds and insurance assistance. He distinguished between legitimate social demands over schools and living costs, which he said required political dialogue, and violence by ultra-left agitators that required a security response.
Macron warned that social media platforms damage democracies by polarizing debate and celebrating violence. He called for calm and compromise six months before the presidential election, following his own meeting with student leaders at the Élysée Palace on Friday where he promised substantial decisions.
Weekend arrests and economic damage
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced that police arrested 1,435 people across France on Saturday during protests over purchasing power and public services, including more than 100 for carrying improvised weapons. Nuñez told RMC and BFMTV that 267 officers and 150 demonstrators were injured, three of them seriously in Toulouse, Reims, and Clermont-Ferrand.
Nuñez denied allegations by La France Insoumise that police favored far-right militants in Nice, Montpellier, and Nancy, insisting that officers never colluded with or protected ultra-right groups who had gathered to clash with ultra-left protesters.
The Senate will debate the casseur-payeur bill on Tuesday, introducing collective civil liability for damages caused during gatherings, a measure the Ligue des droits de l'Homme condemned as an infringement on freedoms.
Alain Di Crescenzo, head of the chamber of commerce network CCI France, stated on Radio Classique that 630 businesses remain closed out of 2,201 damaged on 17 October. Di Crescenzo pleaded for a pause in protests ahead of the vital year-end shopping period, which generates 40 percent of retail revenue.
Organizers have planned further demonstrations in the coming weeks, including an Act III mobilization, marches by pensioners and firefighters, and the general strike on 5 November.
