Concerns
Why so many reviews? Let’s remember how the platform works: it records the wishes of the candidates, who must then accept or decline the proposals as they are made to them. Parcoursup had the merit, by replacing APB, the former “post-baccalaureate admission” portal, of putting an end to the draw to which the authorities sometimes had to resort when the number of applications exceeded the number of places. And let’s remember, before APB, the long queues at the beginning of July in front of the universities…
Parcoursup is contested mainly for two reasons. First, the opacity of the algorithms used by training to assess candidate profiles. High school students and their parents sometimes have the impression of a kind of “lottery”, which is obviously anxiety-provoking when it comes to their fate. Second grievance: a lack of information to orient oneself correctly, formulate relevant wishes and find one’s way in the jungle of the 15,000 training courses available on the platform.
“Stressful but clear”
Highly publicized reservations, to be tempered however. According to a survey conducted by Ipsos last September among 1,010 new bachelors, 73% of them say they have been supported in their high schools for the creation of their file and then for the formulation of their wishes on the platform. 70% consider that they were able to find information on the courses there and say they are satisfied with the responses received to their wishes. 82% consider the procedure “stressful” but 74% found it “clear”.
And if several candidates bluntly demand the removal of Parcoursup, they are less forthcoming in explaining how they would replace the platform. Imperfect, it contributes to responding to a structural problem which is not close to being resolved: the number of graduates increases each year (this should not be reversed before 2025) but the faculties and grandes écoles are not extendable to infinity… And requests flock to the same formations. Faced with this funnel, there must be regulation.
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