17 trajectories and pass rates in higher technical sections (STS), University technology institutes (IUT) and classes preparing for admission to Grandes Ecoles (CPGE)

At the beginning of the sixth year after obtaining their Baccalaureat, 74% of students who enrolled in higher technical sections (STS) in 2008 and 92% of those who enrolled in university institutes of technology (IUT) had obtained a higher education degree. A quarter of students from the STS study track and around two-thirds from IUTs even had a Bac +3 or Bac +5 level qualification. Three-quarters of Baccalaureat holders enrolled in classes preparing for admission to Grandes Écoles were still studying, half of them in the final year of a Bac +5 level qualification.

In the sixth year after obtaining their Baccalaureat, 74% of students who enrolled in higher technical sections (STS) in 2008 had obtained a higher education qualification (table 17.01). After obtaining a higher technical diploma (BTS) in two or three years, slightly over half of students continued their studies. The highest level qualification obtained was mostly Bac +2 level (47%), but 22% obtained Bac +3 and 5% Bac +5 level. A quarter of Baccalaureat holders who enrolled in STS in 2008 left their course without obtaining any higher education qualifications, including around half of vocational Bac holders. The success varied considerably according to the Baccalaureat series: 90% of general Bac holders and 78% of technological Bac holders obtained a higher education qualification, compared to just over half of vocational Bac holders.

Furthermore, general Bac holders obtained higher level qualifications than the others: 42% gained Bac +3 or Bac +5 level, compared to 28% of technological Bac holders and only 12% of vocational Bac holders.

After five years, a very large majority of Bac holders who enrolled in IUTs in 2008 had obtained a higher education qualification (92%) (table 17.02). Most students continued studying after obtaining a DUT in two or three years (85%). Only 29% of 2008 entrants obtained only a DUT (or other Bac +2 level qualification). The highest level qualification obtained at the end of the fifth year was therefore mostly of a higher level: four out of ten Bac holders who enrolled in IUTs obtained a Bac +3 level qualification and two out of ten obtained a Bac +5 level qualification. Only 6% of Bac holders enrolled in IUTs in 2008 left without a higher education qualification. Technological Bac holders were almost as likely as general Bac holders to achieve a higher education qualification (90% compared to 94%), but on average their level was lower: half obtained a Bac +3 or Bac +5 level qualification, compared to over two-thirds of general Bac holders. One-third of Bac holders enrolled in IUTs in 2008 were still studying in the sixth year after the Baccalaureat: the qualification level of this cohort is therefore even more likely to be higher.

In the sixth year after obtaining their Baccalaureat, nearly three-quarters of Bac holders enrolled in CPGE in 2008 were still studying (table 17.03). Out of the 27% who had already left higher education, a very large majority (85%) had obtained a degree, most often at Bac +5 level. Half of Bac holders were still enrolled in an institution, preparing for a Bac +5 level qualification, most in the fifth year (i.e. a one-year delay compared to a trajectory without retakes, interruptions or change of courses). Moreover, 15% were studying for a Master's degree and 4% were enrolled on a post-Masters course. Bac holders enrolled at scientific CPGE were more likely to have already left education (32%). Of those originally enrolled in economic or literary CPGE, around 8 in 10 were still in education. Students originally in literary CPGE were more likely to be studying for a Master's degree: 21% in Master 2 (one-year delay) and 10% in Master 1 (two-year delay). A large majority of those coming from economic and business CPGE were enrolled in Bac +5 level institutions (70%).

Christophe Jaggers