Previously reserved for high school students and apprentices, the general competition is now being extended to third-grade students starting from the 2026-2027 academic year. Edouard Geffray, the Minister of National Education, aims to "create emulation" and recognize excellence. However, unions have criticized the move, calling it an example of elitism. The official notice about the changes was published in the Official Bulletin on September 24. "Excellence is not a matter of place, geography, or sociology. It is a matter of work and talent," said Edouard Geffray, rejecting decades of sociological studies. This statement is prominently featured on the ministry's website, which outlines the general competition for middle school, high school, and vocational training. Including middle school students in the general competition is a new development. A decree from July 21, 2026, established this competition for this level of secondary education. Previously, only students in the first and final years of general and technical high schools, as well as those in the final year of vocational high school and apprenticeship training, could participate. Edouard Geffray explained to Dauphiné libéré on April 2, 2025, that the goal was to "create emulation in middle schools and to value different forms of excellence" and to "give a horizon to the most capable students who want to be nourished." According to the decree from July 21, the general competition for middle school, which will take place from the 2026-2027 academic year, covers five disciplines: Mathematics and sciences, French and general culture, History-geography, Visual arts, and Information technology, technology, and digital. Teachers in these subjects propose students' candidacies, with a "limited number of candidates for each school or teaching unit to 10% of the total number of students enrolled in the national diploma of the baccalaureate, all exams combined." An "objective of parity between girls and boys" is pursued, and "each student can be registered for only one exam." The candidates take a single exam lasting 2 hours and 30 minutes. Students from public middle schools, private middle schools under contract, those enrolled in Cned, in a French educational institution abroad accredited, or in a French-German high school can participate. Edouard Geffray mentioned in April that "the candidates can register for the competition as early as autumn to take the exams in January and February," with the ministry setting the competition's calendar each year. The general competition aims to recognize excellence, explains the minister, continuing a policy started by his predecessor Jean-Michel Blanquer, who made this concept one of his priorities. It also values competition, even earlier, thus favoring students with the most social and cultural capital. In a statement on May 13, an intersyndical group (SNES-FSU, SNEP-FSU, SNUEP-FSU, SE-UNSA, CFDT EFRP, CGT Educ’action and SUD Éducation) protested the lack of consultation on the issue, condemning the extension of the general competition as "a symbol of a form of elitism and in-group." According to the organizations, "it amounts to valuing knowledge and skills learned outside of middle school, thus promoting what is strongly determined by social origins. The social and academic sorting, the competition between students, rather than the opening and emancipation through knowledge for all: this is the program of this middle school general competition." The unions also criticized "a new media stunt to forget the deleterious effects of job cuts and lack of staff in public schools." The Snalc, on the other hand, does not oppose the principle of this competition but requests guarantees, notably regarding the pay of teachers who would be required to work more for this competition, for the supervision and correction of papers. In its statement on June 5, the union also questioned the need for such a competition when "there are already many others." The origin of the general competition, which had a very different form back then, dates back to the middle of the 18th century and was only held in Paris, according to the association of laureates of the general competition. It was extended to the departments in 1864 by the work of Victor Duruy, minister of Public Instruction, with competitions that remained different in Paris and in the provinces. Abolished in 1904 because it required too much investment from the institutions, the competition was reinstated in 1921 for students in first and final years. It was only in 1923 that it took its current form, unified between Paris and the provinces, before opening to girls the following year. The field of disciplines subject to the general competition has been gradually extended, explains the association based at the Louis-le-Grand high school in Paris. In 1995, the general competition for vocational training was created, aimed at students in the vocational track. The calendar for the 2027 session includes registration from Monday, October 12, 2026, at 10 am to Thursday, November 19, 2026, at 11:59 pm (Paris time), with national exams on Tuesday, February 2, 2027, and the publication of results and ceremony for awarding prizes to academic laureates in March 2027.