France’s education minister has committed to reforming the university admissions process amid ongoing protests by students and sixth formers demanding unrestricted access to higher education. Edouard Geffray’s remarks came as part of the response to mounting pressure from a left-wing campaign advocating for open enrollment and greater student choice in university course selection.

The protests, which have caused disruption in several regions, are part of a broader lycée movement seeking substantial investment in education. Demonstrators are calling for an additional €10 billion in funding, increased teacher recruitment, reductions in school hours, and the removal of selection criteria for university admissions.

Central to the controversy is the Parcoursup system, France’s centralized platform for higher education admissions introduced by President Emmanuel Macron in 2018. Parcoursup replaced earlier methods that sometimes involved randomly selecting candidates, such as drawing names from a hat, to allocate university places due to oversubscription. The current system is designed to evaluate applicants based on academic records and other criteria to manage admissions more transparently and fairly.

However, the platform has faced criticism from student and teacher unions, as well as from some political actors, who argue that it restricts student choice and contributes to social inequality. The debate has intensified ahead of the upcoming presidential election, with figures like Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a radical left candidate polling strongly, making university admissions a key campaign issue. Mélenchon has been a vocal critic of Parcoursup, advocating for the elimination of selection processes in higher education.

While Geffray acknowledged the concerns raised by students, educators, and unions, he stopped short of pledging to abolish Parcoursup. Instead, he indicated that the government will undertake “improvements, reflection, reforms” to address the system’s shortcomings.

The education minister’s stance underscores the challenge of balancing demands for broader access to universities with the need to maintain academic standards and manage resource constraints within the higher education sector. As protests continue, lawmakers and education officials face mounting pressure to find solutions that respond to student demands while preserving the integrity of France’s university admissions framework.