France to have enough teachers for 2026 school year, minister assures

France's Education Minister Édouard Geffray assured the nation that there will be sufficient teachers for the 2026 school year, with 24,000 candidates successfully passing the national teaching exams. This increase, up from 16,000 last year, is attributed to reforms aimed at broadening the pool of potential educators.

The long-standing issue of teacher shortages, with thousands of positions remaining unfilled annually, prompted the ministry to overhaul the recruitment process. A significant change allows candidates to take the exam after obtaining a bachelor's degree (bac+3), a shift from the previous master's degree (bac+5) requirement. This transitional system, which also included a double session for both bac+3 and bac+5 exams this year, is set to continue until 2027 before the bac+5 exam is permanently phased out in 2028.

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on avait 40% de places en plus, on a eu 49% de recrutements en plus

Successful candidates will enroll in a two-year, paid Master of Teaching and Education (M2E) program. Geffray highlighted the success of the reforms, noting a 49% increase in recruitment compared to the previous year, partly due to a higher pass rate. He expressed satisfaction that academies historically struggling with teacher vacancies, such as Créteil and Mayotte, are now fully staffed.

Addressing concerns that the lowered entry requirement might compromise quality, Geffray asserted that the exams were not "given away." He stated that average scores across all tests have actually increased, refuting claims that the competition was "sold off." The minister emphasized that while ensuring every single teacher is present and replaced within two hours is unrealistic, the overall recruitment numbers provide a solid foundation for the upcoming academic year.

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