Stricter French baccalaureate marking sparks debate over student engagement

More than 500 000 French high-school pupils sat down on Thursday morning to the anticipated French exam, the first major hurdle of the 2026 baccalaureate, as the education ministry urged examiners to apply stricter standards on spelling, syntax and grammar. The written test, which runs from 08:00 to 12:00 local time, is the same for all streams—general, technological and vocational—though the coefficient varies by series. Education minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra told regional rectors in a circular on 9 June that “the quality of written expression must be restored,” adding that “every avoidable error will be penalised.”

The call for greater rigour comes as teachers report a widening crisis of motivation for reading and literature among 16- and 17-year-olds. In a survey published by *Le Monde* on Thursday, 62 % of French literature teachers said the current list of set texts—unchanged since 2021—fails to engage students, while 71 % argued that the formalised commentary and dissertation formats prescribed by the national curriculum discourage spontaneous reading. “We are grading essays that read like algorithmic outputs rather than personal responses,” said Claire Martin, a lycée teacher in Lyon. “The system rewards technique over curiosity.”

Thursday’s written exam is followed on Thursday and Friday by the oral assessment of foreign-language communication skills, a two-day sequence that completes the first session of the 2026 baccalaureate. Candidates must demonstrate comprehension, interaction and production in one of eight languages—English, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic or Chinese—before a panel of two examiners. The format, introduced in 2021, allocates 10 minutes of preparation and 10 minutes of speaking, with a maximum score of 20 points.

Ministry data show that 518 000 pupils are registered for the first session, a 2.3 % increase on 2025, driven largely by demographic growth in Île-de-France and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. The overall pass rate is expected to remain above 90 %, though officials caution that stricter marking in French could lower the proportion of “mention très bien” grades. The second session, for candidates who fail or are absent, is scheduled for 15–19 July.