#MENE2609636AFrance updates teaching hours for vocational baccalaureate programs from 2026
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This order updates the timetable for school-based vocational baccalaureate programs in France. It replaces the reference schedule with a three-year total of 2,474 student hours, split between vocational teaching, general education, and student support, plus mandatory workplace training periods. The main practical change is that final-year vocational students will no longer have four dedicated weeks at the end of the year. Instead, schools will organize two dedicated weeks for either workplace-based career preparation or preparation for further study. The change applies from the 2026 school year to all students entering the final year of a vocational baccalaureate program, including in Wallis and Futuna.
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Key Changes
- Replaces the reference timetable for vocational baccalaureate programs with a three-year total of 2,474 student hours.
- Cuts the dedicated final-year preparation period from four weeks at the end of the year to two weeks organized by each school.
- Applies from the 2026 school year to all students entering the final year of a vocational baccalaureate program, including in Wallis and Futuna.
Obligations
What this law requires
From the 2026 school year, schools providing school-based vocational baccalaureate programs must apply the revised timetable to all students entering the final vocational year, using a three-year total of 2,474 student teaching hours.
Schools must organize two dedicated weeks in the final vocational year for either preparation for workplace-based professional insertion with workplace training or preparation for further study; the organization, allocation, and scheduling of these two weeks are left to each institution.
Schools must no longer conclude the final vocational year with four dedicated weeks at the end of the year; the amended framework replaces that arrangement with two dedicated weeks organized by the institution.
Schools must ensure students complete the mandatory workplace training periods required for the examination: 4 to 6 weeks in seconde professionnelle, 6 to 8 weeks in première professionnelle, and 6 weeks in terminale professionnelle, for a total of 16 to 20 weeks over the three-year program.
Schools must apply the revised timetable in Wallis and Futuna as well as in metropolitan France and other applicable French territories.