Over 126,000 French students still without university offer as main Parcoursup phase ends

End of main admission phase

The main admission round of France's Parcoursup higher-education platform closed on Saturday, 11 July, leaving 126,652 candidates without a placement. That represents 14.5% of the 872,000 active applicants who remained in the system after 36,720 people withdrew before receiving an offer. The total candidate pool at the start of the cycle in January was 908,974, an increase of about 33,000 over 2025.

The number of unplaced candidates rose by 23,070 compared with last year, when 103,582 applicants were still waiting at the same stage. The figures do not include around 122,000 people enrolled in continuing-education pathways.

Who is waiting?

Among those still without a confirmed spot, 57,024 are recent secondary-school graduates (bacheliers), 46,216 are students seeking to change their study path, and 23,412 are candidates who studied abroad. The bacheliers group includes holders of the baccalauréat général and technologique entering higher education for the first time, while the reorientation students had previously been enrolled in a different course and are looking for a new direction. Candidates schooled abroad often face additional administrative steps that are not reflected in the raw count.

Ministry response and support measures

A joint statement from the Ministries of Higher Education and National Education stressed that the majority of applicants had received responses.

Nearly 9 out of 10 high school graduates have already obtained at least one response to their study wishes and more than 7 out of 10 reorientation students have received at least one response.

The statement added that about 162,000 high school graduates and 50,000 reorientation students said, at the moment of confirming their choices, that they also had other plans outside Parcoursup.

Since 1 July, 5,781 high school graduates and 719 students without an offer have turned to the personalized assistance of the commissions d'accès à l'enseignement supérieur (CAES) for help finding a place.

A summer scramble for remaining places

The complementary admission phase runs until 10 September. Candidates can formulate new choices for programs that still have openings. The ministries report 83,000 vacant places across 6,000 courses, covering university degrees, technical qualifications (BTS, BUT), preparatory classes, and specialized schools.

This number continues to evolve over the summer.

Separately, applicants can target 11,300 apprenticeship-based courses until 8 September via centres de formation d'apprentis (CFA). The complementary phase gives the unplaced a final chance to secure a spot before the academic year begins.