Education and Training Monitor 2024

1. Learning for sustainability

France promotes learning for sustainability across all levels of education. Since 2004, France has gradually developed a comprehensive regulatory framework for schools (MENJ, n.d.). Its latest strategy from 2023 outlines various measures that will be taken by 2030, including a competence framework largely inspired by the EU GreenComp framework (MENJ, 2023a, 2023b). Higher education institutions will also have to put in place a sustainable development strategy. A reference framework helps them to develop and (self-)evaluate their strategies (MESR, 2021). France also promotes the acquisition of skills required for future jobs, to anticipate the impact of the green transition on initial and continuing vocational education and training (VET). This is the focus of a call launched in 2022 under the ‘France 2030’ plan (CEDEFOP, 2023) and a priority in the 2023-2024 work programme for the Employment Skills Network (France Stratégie, 2024).

France has adopted a cross-disciplinary approach to learning for sustainability. ‘Education for sustainable development’ is integrated into school curricula from early childhood education and care (ECEC) to upper secondary schools in various disciplines, such as history, geography or science (MENJ, 2023c). From September 2024 on, it is also incorporated into technology teaching and civic education (MENJ, 2023a). According to the 2022 International Civic and Citizenship Education Study, French pupils have a fairly good knowledge of sustainable development (a score of 496.4 points), slightly below the average of the other participating EU Member States (EU-17: 506.7 points). Girls and pupils with parents with higher education achieved higher scores (+13.6 and +68 points, respectively)¹ (Schulz et al., 2023).

Initial steps have been taken to take into account the demands of the green transition in VET and higher education. The Ministry of Education is revising national standards for VET qualifications in key sectors (Government, 2023a) and around 40 new training pathways meeting regional needs have already replaced those with insufficient professional or study opportunities (MENJ, 2024; Joseph, 2024). While the objective is to train all undergraduate students on the green transition, this type of training is still largely absent and needs to be implemented across the board (Cour des Comptes, 2023a). The Ministry of Higher Education advocates teaching knowledge and skills based on the EU GreenComp framework in a hybrid and collaborative format of minimum 30 hours with at least 3 ECTS credits (MESR, 2023).

Despite a wide range of teaching resources, teachers lack support for learning for sustainability. According to the general teacher competence framework, all teachers must contribute to this cross-cutting area (MENJ, 2013). However, no comprehensive initial training exists yet, but teachers can benefit from continuing professional development activities (Eurydice, 2024). Teachers are provided with teaching resources from ministries and national scientific centres, but they lack both full ownership and adequate support to implement a common and interdisciplinary teaching approach (Barthes, A., 2017).

Monitoring mechanisms give preference to labelling schemes. The external and internal evaluation of schools uses non-compulsory criteria, partnership projects and a labelling scheme (Eurydice, 2024). The label E3D (‘école ou établissement en démarche globale de développement durable’) rewards schools that adopt a sustainable development approach: in 2023, 12 500 schools received this label², and the target is to reach 20 000 by 2025 and all schools by 2030 (MENJ, 2023a). At tertiary level, the label DD&RS (‘développement durable et responsabilité sociétale’) helps institutions to develop an approach towards sustainable development and social responsibility and self-evaluate the action they have taken. While 41 higher education institutions had received this label by the end of 2023, the target of having 25% of institutions attain the label by 2024 (and 66% by 2027) has not yet been reached, calling for a reform to simplify the process (Cour des Comptes, 2023a).

2. Early childhood education and care

While France has one of the highest participation rates in early childhood education and care (ECEC) in the EU, capacity and staff shortages persist. In 2023, 57.2% of children below the age of three attended formal childcare, well above the EU average (37.5%)³ and the national Barcelona target (53.1%). In 2021, the number of places offered by childminders (assistantes maternelles) represented 53% of the overall supply of formal childcare for children under 3, while places in childcare settings for young children (établissements d’accueil du jeune enfant) represented 38% (CNAF-ONAPE, 2023). The number of childminders has been falling continuously since 2013, with 10 000 currently missing and 120 000 retiring by 2030. In 2023, the government pledged EUR 5.5 billion for an additional 100 000 places in nurseries by 2027, with a target of 200 000 places by 2030, and announced new measures to make the early childhood professions more attractive (Ministry of Solidarities, 2023).

Regional and financial disparities weaken access to and choice of ECEC for children under three. Affordability remains an issue and leads to inequalities: 44% of family allowance recipients with children under 3 years and 77% of families living below the poverty line do not use any childcare arrangements (CNAF-ONAPE, 2023). Families with modest incomes find it harder to afford childminders: a couple earning the equivalent of one minimum wage spends 12.9% of their income on full-time care, compared to 5.2% for a couple earning the equivalent of 6 minimum wages. This difference is not fully offset by the benefits and tax credits for families with less revenues (idem). In their 2023-2027 contract, the government and the National Family Allowances Fund (CNAF) have agreed to develop and diversify the early childhood offer across France, while making it more affordable and adapting it to the needs of children and parents (CAF, 2023).

Reform efforts continue to improve the quality of ECEC for children under three. In 2023, the National Assembly recommended urgent and massive investment in improving training and working conditions for early childhood professionals as well as ECEC methods and funding models (Assemblée nationale, 2023). A recent parliamentary inquiry recommended increasing the number of staff to one adult per four children by 20301⁴, introducing a compulsory professional card and making the municipality the single contact point for access to ECEC (Assemblée nationale, 2024). Both the recommendation and the inquiry pointed to risks related to privatising the sector in terms of quality, especially concerning the establishment of micro-nurseries (micro-crèches). The Inspectorate-General of Social Affairs has recently highlighted the risks in terms of quality, fair access and transparency, linked to gaps in the regulatory and financial framework for micro-nurseries. The Inspectorate recommends partial alignment with the framework for other ECEC structures, as well as a revision of their funding model, to reduce out-of-pocket expenses for low‑income households (IGAS, 2024).

The priority is to give every child the same opportunities for success in pre-school education. All children above 3 years attend pre-primary school (100% vs an EU average of 93.1°% in 2022⁵), as compulsory education starts at three years old. To address education inequalities, early schooling from the age of two has been possible since 2013 and more than 71 000 children were enrolled in 2023.⁶ Since 2023/24, early schooling has been extended to disadvantaged urban areas, such as the “Quartiers 2030”, and to the entire city of Marseille (MENJ, 2023). Since 2023, classes cannot have more than 24 pupils in the last year of pre-primary school.

3. School education

Early school leaving remains comparatively low, with disparities mainly related to pupils’ origin and gender, as well as school location. The early school leaving rate remained stable in 2023 compared to the previous year, and below the EU target of 9% by 2030 (7.6% vs an EU average of 9.5%)⁷. However, the gender gap in favour of girls widened (5.6% vs 9.5% for boys). Students born outside the EU are more likely (12.7%) than native students (7.2%) to leave education and training early⁸. The early school leaving rate is almost double in France’s outermost regions (13.2 %)⁹.

A worrying decline in basic skills is pushing France, like most EU countries, further away from the 2030 EU-level target of having less than 15% of low-achievers. The 2022 OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study shows that around one quarter of 15-year-olds underperformed in mathematics (28.8%), reading (26.9%) and science (23.8%), in line with the EU average (OECD, 2023a). Underachievement has significantly increased in mathematics (+6,4 pps vs an EU average of 7,4 pps) and reading (+8 pps vs 8,2 pps) since 2018; and in science (+5.1 pps vs 7,4 pps) since 2012 (European Commission, 2024a). Boys are more likely than girls to underachieve in reading and science, by +7.7 pps and +3.8 pps respectively (vs +9.0 pps and +2.7 pps in the EU on average)¹⁰. Simultaneously, while the share of top performing students remains around the EU average in all three subjects, a clear negative trend can be observed in mathematics and reading, both dropping by more than 5 pps since 2012 (vs less than 4 pps in EU on average). However, the share of top performing students in science remains stable in France (‑0,2 pps since 2012 vs ‑1,1 pps in EU on average). Still, boys outperform girls in mathematics, while girls outperform boys in reading, in line with EU trends. National tests confirm this gender disparity in French and mathematics from the second year of primary education on (CE1) (DEPP, 2024a).

Socio-economic background remains a strong predictor of education outcomes in basic skills. The negative trend in PISA outcomes across all quarters of socio-economic distribution is most pronounced among disadvantaged students. About half of them do not reach a minimum proficiency level in mathematics (49.4%), a sharp increase (+10.3 pps) compared to 2018. This points to a widening socio-economic gap, slightly above the EU average (see Figure 1) (European Commission, 2024a). Severe underachievement, defined as simultaneous underachievement in mathematics, reading and science, is also on the rise. It concerns almost one third of disadvantaged 15-year-olds in 2022 (31.7% compared to 23.8% in 2018), above the EU average (28.8% in 2022 and 23.3% in 2018)¹¹. Foreign-born students and native-born students with parents born abroad are nearly twice as likely (50% and 43%, respectively) to underachieve than their native-born peers without migrant background (24.3%). However, after controlling for gender and the socio-economic profile of the school and the student, the performance gap linked to a migrant background becomes statistically insignificant.¹²

Figure 1: The evolution of the socio-economic gap among underachieving students in mathematics, PISA 2018-2022 (%), (ordered by the size of the gap in 2022)

Reforms focus on strengthening basic skills and reducing inequalities. Since 2017, numerous reforms have focused on basic skills teaching in pre-primary and primary schools, including increasing teaching time and diversifying teaching methods. As of September 2024, new measures for French and mathematics teaching include the introduction of flexible ‘needs groups’ (groupes de besoin) in the first and second grades of lower secondary schools as well as additional hours of support offered to pupils to improve their basic skills. The reform also reintroduces the possibility of repeating a school year (MENJ, 2023d). As a higher degree of pedagogical autonomy is generally associated with better performance, while streaming pupils and repeating years may exacerbate inequalities (OECD, 2023b), monitoring of the impact of these measures will be essential. France is also continuing its efforts to reduce socio-economic inequalities, mainly targeting priority education areas. As of September 2024, lower secondary schools in these areas are planned to have extended opening hours from 8 am to 6 pm, with homework support and artistic and sports activities (MENJ, 2023). New curricula are currently being developed to better define the common core of knowledge and competences that pupils are expected to acquire at each level.

The school climate has become a national priority, with the fight against bullying at the forefront. Students’ well-being impacts on their performance: exposure to bullying at least a few times a month (which concerns more than one out of five students (22.1%) (and even more in disadvantaged schools) correlates with a score drop by 13 points in mathematics (European Commission, 2024a). Despite a positive school climate overall, pupils can be exposed to violence, mainly verbal attacks (DEPP, 2024b). In 2022/23, 30% of pupils in upper secondary education reported having experienced at least one repeated incident of violence during the school year; 2.2% of pupils were exposed to severe forms of bullying defined as being victim of five or more repeated incidents per year. This figure increased compared to 2018 (DEPP, 2024c). In 2023, the government launched an interministerial plan to counter bullying, including a national awareness‑raising campaign, the mandatory extension of the ‘pHARe’ anti-bullying scheme to all schools and a self-assessment survey for schools (MENJ, 2023b). New measures in 2024 include immediate response mechanisms and a focus on the more exposed primary school level (MENJ, 2024a). Other measures to improve the school climate are planned to start in September 2024: the rolling out of empathy classes¹³ to all primary schools (MENJ, 2024e), an experiment in wearing a school uniform in 100 voluntary schools (MENJ, 2024b), and the setting up of a secular youth council (MENJ, 2024c). Mental and physical well-being is further promoted by improving digital literacy using the ‘PIX’ certificate as well as daily physical activity in primary schools (European Commission, 2024b).

Despite efforts, the teaching profession is still not attracting enough staff. Recruitment competitions are still not meeting needs: despite a slight improvement on the previous year, 3 000 positions were not filled following the 2024 competitions (MENJd, 2024). To compensate, the Ministry of Education asked permission to hire temporary teachers and recently retired teachers (Belloubet, 2024). In a survey, teachers said that, while they feel their work has a purpose and is useful for society, they lacked support and recognition. They experience greater constraints in their working conditions in terms of work intensity and emotional demands compared to other workers with a tertiary degree (DEPP, 2024d). The degradation of the school climate challenges their well-being and motivation, calling for specific initial and in-service training, greater parental involvement and better protection for teachers (Médiatrice de l'Education nationale et de l’Enseignement supérieur, 2024). As regards continuous learning, a project funded by the EU Technical Support Instrument supported the new training centres for education staff (écoles académiques de la formation continue), which need to become more visible, mainly by developing a genuine professional culture of lifelong learning (OECD, 2024).

4. Vocational education and training

Enrolment in upper secondary vocational education and training (VET) is progressing and more and more apprenticeship contracts are being signed. Enrolments rose slightly by 1.8% in 2023/24 compared to 2022/23, reaching 633 000 pupils (excluding apprentices). Additionally, for the first time in 3 years, the number of pupils dropping out of vocational training fell (DEPP, 2023). Two thirds of recent VET graduates have experienced work-based learning (68.3% in 2023 vs. EU: 64.5%). However, only 40.6% of pupils at medium-level education¹⁴ attended programmes with a vocational orientation in 2022, compared to 52.4% in the EU. The number of new apprenticeship contracts continued to increase to over a million in February 2024 (+4.7 % compared to February 2023) (DARES, 2024).

Significant investment under the EU’s recovery and resilience plan (RRP) supports apprenticeships, mainly through hiring subsidies. Under the RRP, employers of apprentices received subsidies during the first year of contract (EUR 8 000 for over 18-year-olds and EUR 5 000 for minors), funding over 330 000 hiring subsidies. A similar scheme allowed the funding of more than 100 000 work-study-contracts. This scheme was renewed for the 2023‑2027 period, beyond RRP support, though with smaller amounts. The number of centres for training apprentices (centres de formation d’apprentis, CFA) has tripled in the last five years, thanks to the recognition of company training centres and a more flexible approach towards opening such centres (3 440 in 2023 compared to 954 in 2019). Especially in the sports, medical-social care and services sectors, and in French overseas territories, new training centres opened (Joseph, 2024). At the same time, between 2019 and 2022, 61 000 young people enrolled in preparatory VET classes (prépa apprentissage), of which more than 80% belonged to low-qualified groups. More than half (59%) went on to start apprenticeships or other training programmes (DARES, 2023).

Reforms of the initial VET system are ongoing, as graduates still face challenges on the labour market. In 2023, only 75.6% of recent VET graduates successfully entered the labour market, compared to 81% in the EU. This points to the need to continue measures supporting their integration into the labour market. Twelve reform measures, announced in September 2023, aim to reduce school dropout, improving the labour market prospects and the success of VET graduates in further studies. They include investment in pupils’ basic skills, academic and employment guidance and adjusting existing curricula to labour market needs.

5. Higher education

France has a high tertiary education attainment rate. In 2023, 51.9% of people aged 25-34 held a higher education degree (EU: 43.1%), an increase of 8 pps over the last decade, in line with EU trends¹⁵. Both men (47.8%) and women (55.8%) reach the 45% EU-level target, resulting in one of the lowest gender gaps in tertiary attainment in the EU (8 pps vs EU 11.2 pps). Compared to 2021, the proportion of STEM graduates increased by 4.9 pps to 30.5% in 2022, one of the highest rates in the EU (EU: 26.6%)¹⁶. The share of women among STEM graduates is 42.6%, the second highest rate in the EU. However, women who study sciences less often choose to enter highly selective higher education institutions, partly due to persistent gender stereotypes and lack of confidence, even though they have equivalent skills (DEPP, 2024).

Persisting inequalities are making it less likely that people from certain backgrounds choose to go into higher education, and harder for them to do so when they do. The tertiary education attainment rate in 2023 was much higher in cities (61.1%) than in rural areas (38.9%)¹⁷ and outermost regions (32.2%)¹⁸. Socio-economic and gender inequalities that already exist at school are perpetuated in higher education. Disadvantaged students are less likely to study or opt for highly selective higher education institutions because of their subject choices in secondary education (France Stratégie, 2023). To overcome mobility-related barriers, a system of ‘connected campuses’ (campus connectés) offers distance learning with personalised mentoring: their success advocates for their continuation, as they contribute to social empowerment through training and are vital in overseas territories (IGESR, 2023).

One in five graduates have international study experience. In 2022, 19.1% of all higher education graduates had a learning experience abroad, well above the EU average (10.9%), but below the 23% EU target for 2030 (see Figure 2)¹⁹. In the same year, 11.2% of students enrolled in France were from abroad²⁰. Despite a proactive policy on learning abroad, the Ombudswoman for National Education and Higher Education found that students wanting to do so still lack clear information as well as consistent procedures. She recommended better informing incoming and outgoing students and increasing the transparency of recognition procedures (Médiatrice de l’Education nationale et de l’Enseignement supérieur, 2024).

Figure 2: Outward learning mobility rate of graduates (ISCED level 5-8), 2022 (%)

Efforts to make higher education more inclusive continue. Between 2017 and 2023, the number of students with disabilities accompanied by universities’ disability services doubled, to 2% of all students. Since 2023, they have easier access to scholarships based on social criteria. The portion of the 2024 state budget allocated to improving their study conditions has increased by 50% compared to 2023 (MESR, 2024a). To encourage the transition towards inclusive institutions, in 2024, six universities were awarded funding to showcase good practice and further develop inclusive teaching (MESR, 2024b).

6. Adult learning

While participation in adult learning is comparatively high, France did not make significant progress towards its 65% target by 2030. In 2022, adult participation in education and training in France stood at 49.2%, above the EU average of 39.5%²¹. Higher educated individuals participate in adult learning substantially more than people with low qualifications (68.7% vs. 23.6%). Similarly, women participate more in adult learning than men (50% vs. 48.3% respectively). The level of digital skills of the population is slightly above the EU average (59.7% had at least basic digital skills in 2023, EU: 55.6%) (European Commission, 2024c). Further efforts to continuously increase the level of digital skills of the population and train ICT specialists will contribute to an inclusive digital transition (idem).

In recent years, significant investment has been made to support access to training for all. Between 2018 and 2023, the skills investment plan (Plan d’investissment dans les compétences, PIC) invested EUR 13.8 billion in access to training for unemployed people, of which 43% was allocated to supporting vulnerable groups. In synergy with other instruments, such as the individual learning account, the PIC is one of the sources of funding contributing to support 1.6 million entries in training for unemployed people in 2022 (DARES, 2023). Despite the efforts made, low-skilled people remain under-represented among beneficiaries of training courses²², in particular those leading to qualifications (formations certifiantes); in 2022, only 3.9% of low-skilled jobseekers benefitted from training leading to qualifications. Moreover, only one in four training courses funded under the PIC was linked to skills and occupations in priority areas to meet current and future labour market needs (DARES, 2023). In 2024, the PIC was renewed for 4 years with reinforced targeting of vulnerable groups, but with a smaller budget (around EUR 640 million), in the broader context of the plan to ease recruitment bottlenecks (EUR 1.4 billion, including the PIC). The effectiveness of the funding is undermined by a low level of basic skills, fuelled by persisting socio-economic inequalities in the education system (see Section 4).

In 2024, a reform of the quality assurance obligation (Qualiopi) has been launched, based on the conclusions of its latest evaluation. The Qualiopi scheme, introduced in 2022, aims to certify training bodies run by a third party using a single national reference system, so that these bodies can get public or public‑private funding. The reform aims to increase the transparency and quality of the training offer. The National Court of Auditors found that better quality control would also help to fight against fraud (Cour des comptes, 2023b).