A general competition is established for middle school students

The general college competition is inspired by certain aspects of high schools and trades, which distinguishes the best students from general, technological and vocational high schools.

This new open competition, intended for students of 3^e, will be held in voluntary colleges starting in the 2026-2027 school year. Each establishment will be able to register up to 10% of its students of 3^e.

The Ministry of National Education states that, in general, registration for the open competition must be a reflection of the student who may be a candidate, his family and his teachers.

Each student participating in the open competition will enter a single event, which he will have to choose from the following disciplines:

• mathematics and science, with a problem-solving test;
• french and general culture, with the drafting of a long document in which various cultural references must be mobilized;
• history-geography ;
• visual arts ;
• computer science and coding, with a test centered on computer thinking and future technologies.

The exact schedule for the 2026-2027 college open competition is not yet known. The tests will take place in January 2027 in all academies. The results will be announced in the spring, and then a national ceremony will gather the candidates with the best results.

The Ministry of National Education points out that the open competition is likely to evolve in future editions: a broadening of the school disciplines proposed is possible, as is the introduction of collective tests.