16 student trajectories and pass rates for higher technical sections, university technology institutes and classes preparing for admission to Grandes Écoles

In the 5th year after obtaining their baccalauréat, 72% of students who enrolled in higher technical sections and 89% of those who enrolled in university institutes of technology had obtained a higher education diploma, 22% and 52% (respectively) with a Bac + 3-level qualification. After two or three years, eight out of ten students with a baccalauréat who had enrolled in classes preparing for admission to Grandes Écoles in scientific or business subjects were enrolled on a Bac + 5-level programme in a school. Conversely, nearly half of the students who had initially enrolled in classes preparing for admission to Grandes Écoles in arts and humanities subjects went to university, even though the number going to a Grande École had increased.

At the end of October 2012, in the fifth year after obtaining their baccalauréat, 72% of students who were awarded a baccalauréat in 2008 and went on to enrol in higher technical sections (Sections de techniciens supérieurs – STS) had obtained a higher education diploma (chart 16.01a and chart 16.01b). Half of the students stopped studying after obtaining a higher technical certificate (Brevet de technicien supérieur – BTS), while nearly a quarter (22%) continued their studies and went on to obtain a Bac + 3-level qualification (demonstrating the successful conclusion of three years of higher education following the baccalauréat). ¹ However, a quarter of the students who enrolled in STSs left higher education without obtaining a qualification. Since the previous sample group, the total proportion of students graduating has remained stable, while that of those graduating with Bac + 3-level qualifications has increased by 5 percentage points. Students with technological baccalauréats are the main contributing factor to this increase. Graduation rates for STSs varied significantly depending on the type of baccalauréat students had obtained previously: 89% of those with general baccalauréats and 76% of those with technological baccalauréats obtained a higher education qualification, as compared with only half of those with vocational baccalauréats. Similarly, students with general baccalauréats were more likely to continue their studies, with 32% of these students still studying in the fifth year, than students with other types of baccalauréats (23% and 10% respectively of those with technological and vocational baccalauréats).

In the fifth year after obtaining their baccalauréat, 89% of the students who had started at university technology institutes (Instituts universitaires de technologie – IUT) in 2008 stated that they had obtained at least one higher education qualification (52% achieving Bac + 3 and 37% Bac + 2-level qualifications, demonstrating the successful conclusion of two or three years of higher education following the baccalauréat respectively). The proportion of students graduating with Bac + 3-level qualifications fell slightly for those from IUTs in comparison with the previous sample group. Students with general baccalauréats were slightly more likely to graduate than those with technological baccalauréats, were more likely to obtain a Bac + 3-level qualification and were the only group where the majority of students went on to continue their studies (63% as compared with 41%). In total, 56% of students who started at an IUT in 2008 were still continuing their studies five years later (21% were at Grandes Écoles preparing for a Bac + 5-level qualification, 21% were on Master’s degree programmes, 6% were on Bachelor’s degree (Licence) programmes and 8% were on other courses), while 38% stopped studying after obtaining a Bac + 2 or Bac + 3-level qualification. Only 6% left education without obtaining any kind of higher education qualification (chart 16.02a and chart 16.02b).

In the fifth year after obtaining their baccalauréat, 70% of the students who had started classes preparing for admission to Grandes Écoles (Classe préparatoire aux Grandes Écoles – CPGE) in scientific subjects in 2008 were enrolled on a Bac + 5-level programme at a Grande École. 23% were enrolled on other types of courses, primarily at universities (17%). Only 7% had left education. Less than a third of students on CPGEs for arts and humanities subjects were enrolled on a Bac + 5-level programme at a Grande École, although this was still higher than the previous sample group, doubtless due to the increased opportunities offered by the humanities test bank (Banque d’épreuves littéraires – BEL). Nearly half were enrolled at university (21% in the second year and 18% in the first year of a Master’s degree) and two thirds obtained a higher education qualification. The vast majority of students who started CPGEs in scientific subjects and in economics and business were enrolled on a Bac + 5-level programme at a Grande École (80% and 75% respectively). Students who had done CPGEs in economics or social sciences were slightly more likely to go on to university (13% as compared with 9%) and were more likely to leave education (10% as opposed to 5%) (diagram 16.03a, diagram 16.03b, diagram 16.03c).

Christophe Jaggers

¹ Some STS graduates will have continued beyond Bac + 3 level. In the 1995 sample group, 7% of BTS graduates obtained a Bac + 5-level qualification.