Breaking news! Private English language certifications will become compulsory in higher education!

15/04/2020 12:49

Arrêté du 3 avril 2020 relatif à la certification en langue anglaise pour les candidats inscrits aux diplômes nationaux de licence, de licence professionnelle et au diplôme universitaire de technologie | Legifrance

L'article 10 de l'arrêté du 30 juillet 2018 susvisé est ainsi modifié : 1° Au troisième alinéa, après les mots : " Une certification du niveau qu'il a obtenu ", sont insérés les mots : " ...

https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000041782410&categorieLien=id

The French government has just passed a law making it compulsory for all higher ed students at BTS, licence and DUT level to take an external and internationally recognized English certification.

It will no longer be possible to take only the French state's own language certifications (CLES, DCL).

Some students will be concerned by this obligation as of the rentrée 2020 and others by the rentrée 2021. Other foreign language are not yet concerned by this rule much to the dismay of teachers of these languages.

The certification cost will be financed by the university or school, which means they will probably be giving priority to the cheapest options, rather than the certifications best adapted to students' needs.

There has understandably been quite a lot of opposition to this move.

It will be up to teachers to push for a variety of certifications, depending on students' profiles and needs, to avoid a massive push for TOEIC for example, which unis are likely to favour for cost reasons.

You can read the full text here:

https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000041782410&dateTexte=&categorieLien=id