Around the table, agents from the Paris Academy, heads of establishments, a representative of agricultural education and the private sector. Everyone has in their hands the files of the “failed” candidates from Parcoursup. The sheets are scribbled, annotated, a few words for each student. A commission for access to higher education (CAES) meets as the main admission phase of Parcoursup ends, Friday July 15. CAES take place in all the academies, all summer long, to find a place for baccalaureate holders and students in reorientation, still without an admission proposal. An important role in a stressful period less than two months before the start of the academic year. In mid-June, 16.5% of candidates had not received an admission offer, according to the Minister of Higher Education Sylvie Retailleau.
The commission is looking into the file of a candidate with a vocational baccalaureate in fashion. This baccalaureate did not receive any positive response for her BTS applications in the tertiary sector. “The 1ère and Terminale report cards show that she was a serious and diligent student, but she does not have a favorable opinion since we are very far from her field of origin, she is not in the expected “underlines Corinne Pasco, inspector.
A specialist in eco-management courses, Corinne Pasco knows the training requirements well and can identify strengths in each profile, beyond school report cards. An associative commitment or a summer job, for example. “Having this global vision of the centers of interest on the activities, will make it possible to compensate for a simple arithmetic vision which would be only on the notes”explains the inspector. “We look at them, of course, but not only !”
>> Complementary phase of Parcoursup: students should not hesitate to “geographically extend the wishes”, advises a specialist in orientation
The CAES can provide some advice to candidates. “Some time, they have not widened their choices, so the first advice we will give them is to geographically widen their choices and we will see if they are mobile”, specifies Virginie Cousin-Douel who directs these commissions for the rectorate of Paris. But this decision is not always easy for families. Distance can be a problem.
Apprenticeship training, less known, is also offered.
Virginie Cousin-Douel claims to be tailor-made: “It’s completely personalized. The CAES is human. We manage a large number of files, but each file is looked at, so it’s lace.” In a meeting, about fifty files are observed with a magnifying glass. In all, 1500 will be treated, from mid-June to September, just for Paris.
When the wishes of young people are too disconnected from their course, they are redirected to the Information and Orientation Centers (CIO) to review their project. In all cases, students receive feedback in the wake of the commission, on the Parcoursup platform.