French schools to bring in new physical exercise tests for pupils

Pupils in France starting collège (middle school) in September are set to take fitness tests at the beginning of the school year, in a bid to help them improve their physical health.

Minister of National Education Élisabeth Borne made the announcement this week, reported by Le Parisien on April 2.

Endurance, muscular strength, speed

The tests will not be obligatory, but they will be available and encouraged for all pupils going into 6ème (the first year of collège, middle school), the equivalent of Year 7 in the UK.

There will be an endurance test, a muscular strength test, and a speed test.

It comes after the National Education and Sport Ministries have been conducting a trial into such a system since last year, on a representative sample of 4,000 pupils in 6ème. 

The three tests sought to assess the pupils’ physical abilities.

Pupils will be encouraged to accept support to improve their abilities and fitness during sports lessons and exercise at school and in extra-curriculars, whatever their level.

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Testing physical ability may reveal insights into academic ability in some cases, the trial also suggested, with the results of the physical tests correlating with those of the national assessments in French and mathematics taken by pupils of the same age, in September 2024.

It comes after President Emmanuel Macron first announced plans to implement such tests in 2023. 

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During a trip to the Pyrénées-Atlantiques that year, he said that the introduction of physical aptitude tests in 6ème would help to better assess young people’s physical condition and its change over time.