A leap into the unknown. The first written specialty tests of the new Blanquer sauce baccalaureate took place from Wednesday until Friday for mainland France, Reunion and Antilles-Guyana. And they will take place on May 18, 19 and 20 for Mayotte.
Terminale high school students had to pass two “major” subjects that they had chosen. These tests had been canceled two years in a row due to the pandemic. No question for the ministry to adjourn them again this time. The fact that they have been maintained at all costs does not necessarily displease the students. Many high school students in Terminale who had only been evaluated in continuous assessment the previous two years, had regretted not having taken exams, believing that their baccalaureate had less value.
A postponement of double-edged trials
To take into account the disorganization of the year due to the Covid, the Ministry of Education has decided to postpone the tests from March to May. On the other hand, they related to the same program as if they had taken place in March. This gave them more time to revise, like Gwezhenneg, who responded to our call for witnesses: “The two-month postponement of these specialty tests allowed me to fully master the math and SES chapters. “, he believes.
For Louise, this postponement was a double-edged sword: “I’m happy that the baccalaureate took place, but the delay did not facilitate learning for the course subjects since you had to keep in mind all the notions in the head. It was also complicated since it fell during orals to integrate schools after the baccalaureate. Marie also has the impression that the end of the school year is a little too dense: “The fact that the tests take place after we have made our wishes on Parcoursup was not so bad. But this postponement has upset the calendar, since we must at the same time prepare for the Grand Oral and classes continue… ”
“We should all go through the same tests”
Another boost given to the candidates this year: always to take into account their learning difficulties this year due to the Covid, the subjects have been arranged, with a greater choice of questions or exercises. What did not escape Gwezhenneg: “The arrangements for the tests (possibility of choosing 3 exercises from 4 offered) and the relative ease of the subjects were appreciable”.
This did not prevent some candidates from hitting dead ends: “In physics, the compulsory subject which counts the most points, we had not studied it in class”, declares Clément. And to others like Kandas, to have good surprises: “For the SVT it was seriously good. I managed my time and finished a minute early. I still didn’t expect to have “Plants and climate”, but to my surprise it was good”.
The candidates being very numerous, they did not all pass their specialty tests on the same day, each subject being the subject of two test sessions. Suddenly, some had the feeling of falling on a harder subject than that which had their comrades in the same subject another day. This is the case for Louise: “I’m disappointed that everyone didn’t have the same subject! I think that can create inequalities. For example, Wednesday’s SVT subject, which I passed with great difficulty, was harder than Thursday’s”. Same story with Rania: “I took my math test on Wednesday and Thursday, the test was simpler. Same for SVT. The value of the baccalaureate is not fair, we should all take the same tests, ”she believes.
Nicolas felt the same way: “Some subjects were much easier than others depending on whether you took the test on Wednesday or Thursday. Particularly in SES and geopolitics specialties. I personally had the chance to come across the easiest subjects, but I find it unfair to those who had difficult subjects”.
“I hope they will be lenient with us on the notes”
And as these candidates were the first to pass the specialty tests, they hope for a certain benevolence on the part of the correctors. “I hope they will be lenient with us on the notes”, says Marie. The challenge is less this year since, due to the postponement of the tests, the marks in these disciplines are not taken into account in Parcoursup, the platform for admission to higher education. And the specialty marks together count for a third of the baccalaureate results, calculated out of 100 points.
It will still take a little patience to have the verdict, since the students will know their marks in these tests at the same time as the rest of their baccalaureate results, on July 5.