The Reform Arrives After The President Leaves

France’s government has promised to replace its university admissions system in 2028. Emmanuel Macron leaves office in 2027. It is always moving when a politician believes so deeply in reform that he entrusts the difficult part to a person the public has not elected yet.

The Associated Press reports that ministers announced changes to Parcoursup next year and a replacement the year after. The replacement still needs designing, and legislation may be required. Think of it as a welcome package for the next administration: keys, security codes, and a large box marked SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED, STUDENTS WAITING.

There are nearer-term proposals with practical value. For 2027, applicants would get clearer selection criteria and explanations for rejections. The government also promises 15,000 additional higher-education places across 2027 and 2028. These are commitments, not seats that have already materialized. But making an admissions decision intelligible would be an improvement over expecting a teenager to develop expertise in administrative divination.

An explanation does not guarantee admission. It does make a rejection something a person can understand, question or use to plan another route. Public institutions ought to be able to describe their own decisions without treating transparency as an optional premium feature.

The larger timetable is where the announcement needs a pencil in the margin. Long reforms can legitimately cross presidential terms. Schools cannot be rebuilt and complex systems replaced on the same schedule as a press conference. The problem is collecting the political benefit of a firm promise while leaving its design, legal path and delivery to a future government.

The students, inconveniently, have their own deadlines. Their applications cannot be postponed until the republic has finished assigning responsibility.

AP reports that student groups welcomed some concessions but called for demonstrations to continue. That is not proof that nothing useful was offered. It is evidence that people can distinguish receiving a proposal from receiving the thing proposed. Governments often find this a disappointing level of consumer sophistication.

The same distinction applies to the money. The renovation package includes up to €4 billion in low-interest loans to regional authorities through 2030. Loans may help finance real improvements. They are still loans: the ribbon-cutting photo and the repayment obligation are different documents, and somebody needs to read both.

A credible reform now needs named responsibilities, visible milestones and a way for students to see whether the promises are turning into places and decisions they can understand. Otherwise every missed deadline arrives with a perfectly accurate explanation that another office was supposed to handle it.

The next president will inherit the job. The students should not have to inherit the excuse.