The Ministry of National Education announced this Friday, January 17 that the middle school certificate will not be compulsory to move on to second grade. Elisabeth Borne reversed the decision of her predecessor.
This is what we call backpedaling. Obtaining the college certificate in the 3rd year will ultimately not be compulsory to move on to the second year, contrary to what was announced by the former government and the former Minister of National Education, Anne Genetet, from 2027. In fact, the Ministry of National Education announced this major change this Friday, January 17 during a press briefing.
“The certificate will not be made compulsory for access to the second class,” made the ministry official. Elisabeth Borne “returned” to this measure, specifies Agence-France-Presse (AFP), after a briefing on the distribution by academy of positions in public education at the start of the 2025 school year.“The Minister of Education wishes to trust the teachers who, through the class council, will continue to decide whether or not a student can be admitted to second grade (…) Passing the certificate remains an obligation, but the obtaining the patent is not one of them,” says the ministry.
What about need groups?
On the other hand, no change concerning the modification of the patent from 2026, planned in the Shock of Knowledge. The final exams will count for 60% and 40% (currently 50% – 50%) for continuous assessment, and the average grade in 3rd grade will be taken into account.
Concerning the need groups – which distribute students by level or in a more mixed manner – nothing is going to change. Implemented this year for 6th and 5th grade classes, this system will be renewed next year with a review in June.
“Élisabeth Borne’s choice is to maintain the system as it is and to wait for the results of the evaluation to take the necessary decisions in a very pragmatic manner,” indicates her entourage to the daily Le Parisien . In other words, if the results are not there: the pure and simple suppression of need groups is not excluded.
What Anne Genetet, former Minister of Education, announced
On November 12, the former Minister of National Education Anne Genetet therefore wanted to make obtaining the certificate compulsory to progress to second grade, from 2027, as part of act 2 of the Shock of Knowledge. A program previously launched by Gabriel Attal. “It’s still a big stage in their lives,” she explained on BFMTV-RMC.
“The idea is to have a real diploma. A diploma with the truth of the grades. There is no longer an academic corrective, an Academy that will artificially inflate the grades. In the end, we have something that I want to be motivating for the students so that they say to themselves ‘I want to succeed'”, she explained. The project provided that if a student did not obtain his certificate, he would be redirected either to a CAP or to secondary school preparation. A project which will never see the light of day.