Heatwave: Brevet, Bac exams could move to mornings next school year

Despite a sweltering heatwave gripping France, Education Minister Édouard Geffray confirmed that the first written exam for the Brevet, scheduled for Friday, will proceed as planned. This decision comes after parents and teachers voiced concerns amid ongoing heat affecting the Baccalaureate's oral exams, which began Monday.

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with a certain number of arrangements to allow students to be in more comfortable situations

While the 2019 Brevet was postponed due to heat, Geffray assured that this year's exam will include "a number of arrangements to allow students to be in more comfortable situations." These include allowing exam center principals to implement two 15-minute breaks during the test. Earlier, oral Baccalaureate exams scheduled for afternoons were moved to the following week to avoid peak temperatures.

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We will meet again at the start of the school year so that all students, teachers, and parents know the exam dates and know that their organization will take into account potential heatwaves

Looking ahead, Geffray acknowledged the need for a permanent solution to manage exams during potential heatwaves. He announced that the ministry is working to schedule all future written and oral exams exclusively in the morning, starting next year. The minister also suggested advancing exam start times from the usual 9 a.m. to 8 a.m. to take advantage of cooler morning temperatures.

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That is to say, rather than starting them at 9 a.m. as we usually do, systematically starting them at 8 a.m.