Parcoursup is "a technical success" but "a political failure," according to a parliamentary report presented Tuesday by MPs Pierrick Courbon (Socialist Party) and Frantz Gumbs (Democratic Movement). The two elected officials believe that the platform, launched in 2018 and expected to be used by 980,000 applicants by 2025, functions better than the former APB system, but that it has failed to achieve several stated objectives.
The report criticizes, in particular, a timetable deemed anxiety-inducing, designed more for the constraints of schools than for the best interests of high school students. The members of parliament also believe that transparency remains insufficient regarding selection criteria, especially due to the "local algorithms" used by some programs, which reinforces the perception of an opaque system.
Social and territorial inequalities persist
Fundamentally, they observe that the rate of students changing their course of study remains high, that success rates in undergraduate programs have not improved as hoped, and that Parcoursup is not reducing social and geographical inequalities in access to higher education. They point out, in particular, that only 40% of high school graduates obtain a bachelor's degree in three or four years.
The co-rapporteurs formulated 51 proposals, including a modification of the application timeline, the publication of local algorithms, the display of elimination criteria, the removal of the personal statement requirement, and the deletion of the applicant's high school from applications submitted to programs in order to limit bias. They also emphasized that Parcoursup is often used as a "scapegoat," noting that the platform itself does not rank applicants: this is done by the admissions committees of the programs.
