these high school students who did not have the baccalaureate because of philosophy and the great oral

It’s the end of the suspense for 720,000 French high school students. The results of the baccalaureate fell on Tuesday, July 4 and the admission rate was close to 85% before the remedial session, announced the Minister of Education, Pap Ndiaye, on RTL. But for the remaining 15%, they still have to either work hard until Friday to grab some valuable points, or stay motivated until next year’s session. If the students already knew 82% of their final mark, including the continuous assessment and the specialty tests passed in March, only philosophy and the great oral were still uncertain. While these two subjects passed in June have penalized some, they denounce for the most part an inconsistent baccalaureate calendar. Franceinfo gives them the floor.

>> Baccalaureate: consult the official results on franceinfo

Axel: “I would have preferred to do the specialties in June”

Axel lives in the suburbs of Lille and had an average of 8.09/20: he therefore needs to make up 192 points to obtain his diploma. At the end of the line, the high school student said he was disappointed with his grade in the oral exam. “I came across what I wanted, Ilearned everything from my text. I struggled to answer all the questions, but I feel I deserved better than 8/20. Many students in my class had more than 15/20 without knowing how to answer”, assures Axel, who also scored 11/20 in philosophy, 5/20 in math and 7/20 in digital and computer science (NSI). The last two subjects are the ones he chose to “catch up”.

“I would have preferred to take the specialty exams in June and the rest in March. Having a few extra months to prepare for maths and NSI, which were my biggest coefficients, could have changed the situation”says the one who was absent from his high school in January and February due to illness. “Beyond my particular case, I know that there are a lot of high school students who think that.” Axel has been admitted to a digital marketing school, but will only be able to officially join it once he has passed his baccalaureate. “I’m not very basic in school. The baccalaureate didn’t stress me out more than that. But it’s still a step for higher education”admits the young man.

Anna: “I want to be able to tell myself that hard work pays off”

“My preparation for the baccalaureate as a free candidate was difficult. We have the program in front of us, but otherwise, you really have to do everything on your own. I managed quite well with YouTube”, says Anna, 21, from the Basque Country. But nothing is lost for her: with an average of 9.48/20, she must obtain 52 points in catch-ups. She obtained a score of 8/20 in philosophy and 9/20 in the oral exam. For this last test, “the teachers had nevertheless been smiling and reassuring in what I said”, Anna points out.

“Philo, I was no longer in it.”

Anna, free candidate for the baccalaureate

at franceinfo

“When you have to get back to philosophy months later, it’s complicated”, judges the young woman, one of whose specialties is precisely humanities, literature and philosophy (HLP). In his family, they are few to have the baccalaureate on their curriculum vitae. “My father started working very young, just like my brother, my mother was a housewife for a long time… Only my sister got it”, she lists. The young Basque woman, who first studied in a vocational school, puts more pressure on herself. “I burned out and was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. For three years, I worked remotely, starting over from scratch. I want to be able to tell myself that everything I’ve been through is n ‘will not have been for nothing, that the efforts, it pays’, explains Anna, who is stopping her studies to focus on “projects in writing”.

Sheik: “I know I did the bare minimum”

A general average of 7.6/20, with 4/20 in philosophy and 8/20 in the major oral: Sheik must repeat his terminal if he wishes to obtain the baccalaureate. “During these tests, it was really complicated. I was stressed, I wrote down what was going through my mind and I left after three hours. The fact of passing them three months later, it disturbed me, because I was no longer in the ‘mood’ [état d’esprit, en français]. Afterwards, I also know that I did the bare minimum, I revised at the last moment and it didn’t go through”assumes the high school student from the Parisian suburbs.

“We weren’t motivated in our high school.”

Sheik, high school student from the Paris suburbs

at franceinfo

“I had the impression that the teachers were doing their job, but without more to stimulate us, even if obviously everything is not their fault”, adds Sheik, who had been admitted to Parcoursup for a network and telecommunications purpose. He is therefore forced to abandon it. “I hope to have this wish again next year. And I intend to revise in advance”promises the high school student.

Jessica: “I thought I had done better”

With an average of 15/20 in philosophy for the year, Jessica did not expect less when she consulted her baccalaureate results. “I was planning to have the same and I got 9/20, so in itself that penalized me”judges the one who has obtained a general average of 9.90. “Even the big oral, where I had 15/20, I thought I had done better, it shocked me”, evacuated Essonnienne. However, she feels that the new baccalaureate schedule has enabled her to “better revise”. For the catch-ups, she has already chosen to retake the specialty tests, economics-law and management, management and digital sciences (MSDGN). Jessica hopes to become one of the first high school graduates in her family. “I did not receive any favorable response on Parcoursupshe testifies, but the baccalaureate would represent for me an accomplishment showing what I am capable of.”