Macron’s prophecy to reform the French educational system is coming true. On 30 October the French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, the French Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation Frédérique Vidal and the French Minister of National Education Jean-Michel Blanquer presented the brand new Plan Étudiants. 

The reform aims to re-introduce “humanity” in opposition of the “anonymity” of the system so far used, in which the selection of students who wished to attend oversubscribed courses was done on a purely random basis. In the French government’s opinion, this constitutes a disadvantage to those brilliant and motivated students who are not accepted to their dream Bachelor just out of bad luck –  and it also contributes to fuelling the heavy drop out that now amounts to 60%. 

A collateral effect of the reform will be making French universities more appealing to international students. Another one, inevitable, is that some student organisations fiercely oppose to this reform, judging it discriminatory. 

The implementation of the Plan Étudiants is accompanied by an investment of around EUR 1 billion for the transformation of the first cycle of studies and to enlarge the oversubscribed courses.