# France Pledges to Scrap Parcoursup by 2028 After Weeks of Student Protests URL: https://edufabtech.com/news/france-parcoursup-replacement-student-protests Section: News · Education Published: 2026-11-01 Publisher: EduFabTech (https://edufabtech.com) > France's government pledged on 26 October 2026 to replace Parcoursup by 2028 and add 15,000 higher-education places, after weeks of student protests. Unions call the offer insufficient. France's government announced on **26 October 2026** that it will replace Parcoursup, the national platform that handles university and higher-education applications, with a new admissions system from 2028, and will publish clearer selection criteria starting with the 2027 admissions round. Higher Education Minister Philippe Baptiste described the 2027 changes as a "substantial change" ahead of the later replacement, according to the Associated Press. The unrest that forced the announcement began among secondary-school students in September 2026 over teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms and deteriorating buildings, then spread to universities. By 2 October 2026, Times Higher Education reported that Paris Nanterre University had closed its main campus after a student blockade, Toulouse Jean Jaurès University had shut its Mirail site, and the University of Montpellier Paul Valéry had closed its Route de Mende campus "for an indefinite period." L'Union Étudiante counted blockades at 25 campuses that week, with around 400 schools closed nationwide and nearly 2,000 people arrested, the paper reported. Protests escalated further after unrest on 17 October that included rioting and looting, with around 2,400 arrests, Fortune reported. Demonstrations continued after the government's 26 October announcement, including marches that authorities said drew hundreds of thousands of people on 31 October, Al Jazeera reported. ![A three-stage timeline tracks the arc from September's school closures and campus blockades through October's mass unrest to the government's 2027–2028 reform response.](https://edufabtech.com/uploads/2026/11/france-parcoursup-replacement-student-protests-2.png) *A three-stage timeline tracks the arc from September's school closures and campus blockades through October's mass unrest to the government's 2027–2028 reform response. — EduFabTech · Own work* ## Why Parcoursup became the target Parcoursup processes applications from more than 900,000 students a year, who can each apply to up to ten courses, and it replaced an older lottery-based system when it launched in 2018, Times Higher Education reported in 2026. The platform allocates places at universities, in vocational BTS programmes and on other post-secondary tracks, and is comparable in function to the UK's Ucas system, though the paper notes it covers more tracks and is considerably more complex. > "We just don't know how these schools are making their decisions," Julien Jacqmin, a higher education researcher, told Times Higher Education, adding that universities apply undisclosed "local algorithms" to rank applicants. Agnès van Zanten, also quoted by the paper, said "selection has been introduced without the government saying that selection is now allowed in public universities," and that wealthier families can hire coaches to help applicants navigate the platform while less-advantaged applicants are more likely to be discouraged by long waiting lists. ## What the government is offering A committee bringing together secondary and university students with teachers will help design the replacement system, with its first recommendations due by the end of November 2026, Times Higher Education reported. From the 2027 admissions round, institutions must publish more detailed selection criteria and explain a rejection when an applicant requests a reason. Alongside the platform changes, the government pledged 15,000 additional higher-education places introduced across 2027 and 2028: 10,000 in BTS vocational programmes from autumn 2027, 4,000 in bachelor's-level BUT technology degrees over two years, and 1,000 in health-access university licence pathways, according to France Info. Student maintenance grants will be indexed to inflation from the start of the 2027 academic year. The government also committed €1 billion to university campus investment, on top of €4 billion in loans for school renovations, The National reported. "I also believe there is a right to study," Baptiste said, while also calling for a return to normal activity on campuses. ![A side-by-side comparison contrasts what the French government offered on 26 October against the larger reforms — 250,000 places, bigger grants, an end to selection — that student unions say are still missing.](https://edufabtech.com/uploads/2026/11/france-parcoursup-replacement-student-protests-3.png) *A side-by-side comparison contrasts what the French government offered on 26 October against the larger reforms — 250,000 places, bigger grants, an end to selection — that student unions say are still missing. — EduFabTech · Own work* ## Why students call it not enough L'Union Étudiante, a national student union, told Times Higher Education that the government's offer falls well short of the 250,000 additional places it says are needed, against the 15,000 pledged, and said the rise in grants should go further than an inflation link alone. The union also rejected the idea that more transparency is sufficient while selection itself remains in place. Student leaders say they will keep pressing. "If we don't see concrete changes in the lives of high school students, we will call for mobilisation," Louis Letoublon, a secondary-school student representative, told The National, adding that protesters were "expecting new proposals from the government." ## What it means beyond France For prospective applicants and advisers outside France, the practical change to watch is the shift from a criteria-light application process to one in which institutions must publish and justify how they rank applicants, beginning with the 2027 cycle. The design committee's recommendations, due by the end of November 2026, will show how far France intends to go before the full replacement platform takes effect in 2028. ## Sources 1. Thomas Adamson, Sylvie Corbet. (2026). France pledges new university admissions to quell student anger — but only after Macron leaves office. Associated Press, via PBS NewsHour https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/france-pledges-new-university-admissions-to-quell-student-anger-but-only-after-macron-leaves-office 2. Seher Asaf. (2026). Why French students want 'opaque' Parcoursup scrapped. Times Higher Education https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/why-french-students-want-opaque-admissions-platform-scrapped 3. Nancy Lafine. (2026). Parcoursup : une nouvelle plateforme en 2028, des changements dès 2027. France Info (France Télévisions) https://la1ere.franceinfo.fr/guyane/parcoursup-une-nouvelle-plateforme-en-2028-des-changements-des-2027-1752237.html --- Source page: https://edufabtech.com/news/france-parcoursup-replacement-student-protests Quote with a link to the source page. © EduFabTech.