For the first time since the reform of the Baccalaureate in 2019, the specialty tests will take place in March, from Monday 20 to Wednesday 22. A timing criticized by many teachers, despite the decision of the Minister of Education Pap Ndiaye to suspend classes last Friday and Saturday to allow high school students to revise. Here is the program that awaits Terminale students and the challenges of these specialty tests.

As a reminder, after choosing three specialties when entering high school, candidates finally keep only two specialties for the Bac. To allow them to take these two subjects over two days, most of the tests will take place twice, on Monday and Tuesday.

The calendar of events

This is the case for History-Geography, Geopolitics and Political Science (HGGSP), Humanities, Literature and Philosophy (HLP), Mathematics, Physics-Chemistry, Economic and Social Sciences (SES), Digital and Computer Sciences (NSI), Engineering Sciences (SI), Life and Earth Sciences (SVT) and Physical Education, Sports Practices and Culture (EPPCS).

Only the Arts specialty will take place exclusively on Mondays and foreign and regional languages, literatures and cultures (LLCE and LLCER) on Tuesdays. Finally, Wednesday will concern only a minority of students, since it will be devoted only to two tests: literature and languages and cultures of antiquity (LLCA) and biology-ecology.

A high-stakes choice

Designed to allow students to choose their subjects of interest, the system of specialties continues, however, in practice, to reproduce the old system of the two Bacs S of the Bac ES. Le Parisien notes that the most frequently chosen double in the final year is "mathematics, physics-chemistry", then "HGGSP and SES" and finally "physics-chemistry, SVT". In 2022, mathematics was the specialty most chosen by Terminales (39.6%), followed by SES (36%) and physics and chemistry (30%).



Constituting 32% of the Bac mark (out of the 60% of the final control), the specialty tests represent an important deadline for students. Especially this year, since the holding of the tests in March will allow these results to be taken into account on the post-baccalaureate admission platform Parcoursup, says TF1 Info. These grades will be particularly scrutinized by the most selective courses and the courses directly associated with the chosen specialties.

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