Last week, French Education Minister Nicole Belloubet announced a series of changes to come into effect at the start of the 2024-2025 school year, including a ban on smartphones in lower-secondary schools.

Some of the changes have already sparked controversy and anger among teachers, while others were anticipated.

READ MORE: What you need to know if your child is starting school in France

As for the smartphone ban – this will first be tested in 200 collèges across France at the start of the school year, and it could be rolled out nationally from January 2025.

Without going into too many details as to how any phone ban might work, Belloubet said that students would be required to leave their smartphones ‘at the gates’ of schools, as part of a bid to reduce online violence and harassment, as well as to limit exposure to screens.

The ban is in line with recommendations issued in April 2024 by a commission of experts who looked at the effects of screens on children.

The commission recommended only authorising mobile phones from the age of 11 as long as phones do not have access to the internet. They suggested that smartphones only be given from age 13 and onward, without access to social media.

Then, at age 15, they said ‘ethical’ social media consumption could be allowed and recommended avoiding apps such as Instagram and TikTok before age 18.

READ ALSO How France plans to protect kids from too much screen time

What about the other changes to be introduced?

Brevet exam

A partial, and possibly only temporary, freeze on changes to the brevet exam – taken by pupils in their fourth year of collège (ages 15/16) – was one of the main updates on earlier announcements.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal briefly served as Education Minister in 2023, and in this role he announced plans to make the brevet more ‘demanding’ by placing greater emphasis on June’s final exams, and stating that holding one would be a “condition for direct access to lycée”.

READ ALSO What you need to know if your child is starting school in France

Attal’s intention was to make, from this school year, the exam account for 60 percent of students’ marks, with continuous assessment making up the rest. In previous years, continuous assessment had accounted for 50 percent of a student’s final result.

Belloubet said, however, that the current political environment meant the plans “have had to be postponed”. 

But, pupils entering the brevet year in 2024/25 should not quietly celebrate too soon. Belloubet said that the next French government – when it finally takes over – should be able to publish them so that they can come into force for the 2025 brevet”. 

So it might still happen this year. 

However, Attal’s plans to make the brevet a requirement for passing into lycée and studying for a baccalaureate look to be officially on hold. For now.

Streaming

For the first time, collège pupils in the sixième and cinquième years (ages 10-12) will be streamed according to ability in French and maths classes from the start of the school year.

This is another one of Attal’s announcements – and it generated plenty of discontent among teaching unions at the time. Belloubet has renamed the classes groupes de besoins (needs groups), and said that the system will be brought in ‘with flexibility and pragmatism’.  

READ ALSO Why ‘streaming’ in French schools is causing controversy (and strikes)

Pupils will be taught according to the same curriculum, and the measure should be evaluated as it is rolled out, the Ministry has said.

Uniforms

To date, a few schools in France have a uniform policy for pupils, but most do not.

From the start of this year, however, some 90 schools will trial a school uniform policy, with a view to rolling the scheme out nationally from 2026.

READ ALSO: Explained: Why is the school uniform controversial in France?

Animal welfare classes

Primary school children in France will start getting lessons on how to respect animals and pets, after the curriculum was expanded to include animal welfare.

Animal welfare education will be added to the curriculum for children in cours préparatoire (CP) classes from the start of the school year, after the Moral and Civic Education (Enseignement Moral et Civique, or EMC) syllabus for CP pupils (six-year-olds) was expanded.

It will include a learning focus on ‘tackling the issue of respect due to pets’ as part of the ‘collective rules and autonomy’ skill set, according to the French Ministry of Education.

READ ALSO French primary school children to take pet care classes

National assessments

Another controversial introduction. From the start of the school year, national assessments will be generalised at all ages of primary school. 

Children in CP, CE1 and CM1, CE2 and CM2 classes will take tests in a range of subjects every year. “These assessments will help teachers adjust their educational interventions to ensure that students master the fundamental knowledge at the end of primary school, an essential condition for their success in middle school,” the Ministry said.

READ ALSO Why ‘la rentrée’ means so much more in France than a new school year

The additional national assessment has prompted teaching unions to call a national strike on September 10th in protest at the one-size-fits-all assessment method — which unions say will be of limited use and will be an additional ‘source of stress’ for teachers, pupils and families.

Belloubet, however, insisted the tests were, “not … intended to spy on anyone. [They are] an additional tool offered to teachers. National assessments [complement] individual approaches.”