The original article requires translation.
The demands of the teachers' unions will have remained in vain. While the latter wanted a postponement of the baccalaureate specialty exams to May, or even June, at the same time as philosophy and the great oral, these exams will be held in March. And this for the first time. Canceled in 2020 and then postponed to 2021 due to the Covid, they have never yet taken place at this time of year since the implementation of the baccalaureate reform in 2019.
he demands of the teachers' unions will have remained in vain. While the latter wanted a postponement of the baccalaureate specialty exams to May, or even June, at the same time as philosophy and the great oral, these exams will be held in March. And this for the first time. Canceled in 2020 and then postponed to 2021 due to the Covid, they have never yet taken place at this time of year since the implementation of the baccalaureate reform in 2019.
However, behind this first hides a double challenge for candidates for the 2023 baccalaureate: that of passing these tests with a high coefficient to obtain their diploma, but also that of being admitted to higher education.
High coefficient
As a reminder, from March 20 to 22, students in the general and technological streams will be assessed on the two specialties kept in terminale. The latter will therefore be convened over two days, at the rate of one test per day, lasting three or four hours depending on the subject. With a coefficient of 16 for each of these lessons, these specialty tests have a significant weight in the general average of the baccalaureate for high school students. In total, the results of these tests represent a third of the final average for the baccalaureate (32%).
It is therefore a crucial first step that awaits the candidates in March, the latter having every interest in obtaining a good grade in order to secure the precious sesame towards higher education. But the challenge promises to be daunting given the timing: many teachers have indeed felt in recent months that students could not really be ready in the spring to take tests with a certain technicality, such as the essay for the tests literary which requires training throughout the year.
Taken into account in Parcoursup
In addition to obtaining the diploma, the specialty tests take on a whole new dimension this year: they will, for the first time, be taken into account by the post-baccalaureate admission platform Parcoursup and thus become a selection criterion in Higher Education.
This is the only reason for their holding in March. In other words, having good results, or even a mention, increases one's chances of being admitted to the training of one's choice. These notes will be particularly scrutinized to integrate selective training (preparatory classes, engineering or business schools, etc.), and in particular those which recommend the follow-up of a particular specialty. On Parcoursup, this information is available in the "application analysis criteria" section.
As a reminder, last year, the specialty tests had been postponed to May, which did not allow the notes to be included in the Parcoursup files of the candidates. This year, the results will, a priori, be known from the month of April, period of confirmation of wishes on Parcoursup.