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PUBLIC ENTITIES AND POLICIES

THE COST OF THE LYCÉE

Public thematic report

Summary

September 2015

NOTE

his summary is intended to facilitate the understanding and

use of the report produced by the

Cour des comptes

Solely the original report is legally binding on the

Cour des

comptes

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Summary of the Public Thematic Report of the

Cour des comptes

Introduction

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

A particularly heavy financial burden at national level . . . . . . . .7

A burden to be redistributed across the education system

. . .

Conclusion

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Recommendations

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

INTRODUCTION

Summary of the Public Thematic Report of the

Cour des comptes

The lycée (France’s upper secondary education establishment), an institution

created in 1802 for the elite, underwent profound change in the second half of

the 20

century in order to educate the whole school age population. This

change resulted in particular in the development of additional learning path-

ways alongside the general lycée education: the technological baccalaureate

was created in 1965 and the vocational baccalaureate was created in 1985, with

the goal of educating at least 80% of each year group to baccalaureate level.

Remarkable progress has been made. Upper secondary education, which only

20,000 pupils received in the lycée in 1930, became open to all.

However, although this numerical target has been met, it doesn’t mean the sys-

tem is efficient. Firstly, qualitative outcomes, whether in terms of success of

baccalaureate holders at higher education level or in terms of professional

inclusion, are failing to meet expectations. Secondly, the cost of providing lycée

education is high, particularly compared with other OECD and European Union

members whose results are equal to and even better than our own.

Changes in lycée pupil numbers in France (thousands of pupils)

Source:

Cour des comptes

based on National Education Ministry data

Summary of the Public Thematic Report of the

Cour des comptes

These mixed findings make improvement measures necessary, to enable grea-

ter resources to be devoted to the other less-well funded education levels. The

Court has conducted an in-depth analysis of the cost of lycée education and its

main explanatory factors, by type of curriculum, by establishment, by stream

and by subject, which has led to identify various areas in which action may best

be taken.

INTRODUCTION

Summary of the Public Thematic Report of the

Cour des comptes

A particularly heavy financial

burden at national level

A burden of €26bn, 92 % of which is

borne by the public purse

At national level, lycée expenditure

totals €25.9bn (or 18.6% of national

education expenditure), 92% of which

is met by the public purse. The State

finances 67% of this expenditure, or

€17.5bn, of which €16.5bn is paid by

the

National

Education

Ministry

alone: 75.3% goes to State lycées and

13.6 % to private lycées with the

balance allocated to support func-

tions.

The regions finance 19.4% of public

expenditure allocated to lycée educa-

tion, or a total of €5bn. This spending

rose significantly until 2009 under a

vigorous

investment

drive,

since

which time it has gradually decreased.

This spending is now principally on

operational

areas,

reflecting

the

impact of the transfer of technical

personnel, blue-collar workers and

service personnel by the State to the

regions. The burden of these predomi-

nant operational costs will ultimately

require rationalisation of the lycée

network by the regions.

Financers of French lycée education in 2012

Source:

Cour des comptes

based on National Education Ministry data

Summary of the Public Thematic Report of the

Cour des comptes

A particularly heavy financial

burden at national level

Higher spending than comparable

countries

As a ratio of the number of lycée

pupils, France’s spending is higher

than that of the majority of countries

comparable to France. The average

variation in costs between French

lycée pupils and those of other OECD

member countries is + 38%. France is

also set apart in terms of the diffe-

rence in the cost of lycée pupils and

primary school pupils, which is far

more pronounced than in other coun-

tries, to the detriment of primary

school pupils.

According to comparative studies by

the OECD, excess costs are for the

most part due to the teaching

volume, which is far higher, and the

number of pupils per class, which is

lower. The relatively low level of pay

of French teachers partially offsets

these variations.

Source:

Cour des comptes

based on OECD data

Annual cost per primary and lycée school pupil (in 2011)

Summary of the Public Thematic Report of the C

our des comptes

A particularly heavy financial

burden at national level

An approach for calculating the

total cost for each lycée

By developing a method for compu-

ting total costs for lycée pupils (exclu-

sive of costs borne by external contri-

butors) which was used on a group of

31 public and private establishments,

offering general, technological and

vocational education for the 2011-

2012

academic

year,

analysing

980 000 hours of teaching, the Court

was able to gain a better understan-

ding of the breakdown of costs for

lycée pupils and produce original data

on the cost for each stream and each

teaching hour. This data reveals that

average costs mask very large varia-

tions in expenditure. Accordingly, a

more detailed understanding of costs

is vital in order to successfully

manage the education system and its

reforms.

Although the average overall cost per

lycée pupil in the establishments exa-

mined was €9,862, close to the natio-

nal level, considerable variations from

the average were observed in the

case of the most atypical establish-

ments,

particularly

the

smallest

among them, which are often more

costly.

Payroll accounts for 80% of costs, of

which 53% is teachers’ salaries, whilst

operational expenses account for

only 7-14% of costs and optional

expenditure by the regions less than

1%. One of the key drivers is therefore

teaching costs, and to a lesser extent

the cost of administrative and techni-

cal support.

A particularly heavy financial

burden at national level

Summary of the Public Thematic Report of the

Cour des comptes

Breakdown of the cost per lycée pupil in the group of establishments studied

Source:

Cour des comptes

, study of a group of lycées

The cost of private education is less

than the cost of public education, due

in particular to differences in salary

contributions (private-sector teachers

are not required to pay into the spe-

cial pension fund for civil servants, so

called

the

CAS

Pensions

fund).

Structural differences in the teaching

body (lower numbers of qualified tea-

chers at aggrégation level, a less

costly replacement process, higher

proportion of contract staff) also

serve to explain what are sometimes

considerable variations.

The cost per pupil on a vocational

pathway is higher than for a general

or technology pathway, by 46% on

average, in the establishments under

study, with costs spread very widely

across a very diverse range of subjects

taught, and depending on

the specia-

lisations

vocational

establish-

ments. This high cost is explained in

the main by the size factor: vocational

establishments tend to be smaller,

and class numbers are also lower.

Finally, teaching costs vary signifi-

cantly by subject. Subjects termed

core disciplines (i.e. compulsory sub-

jects most commonly found in each

stream) in the LEGT (general and

technological lycées) cost on average

half as much as special subjects (whe-

ther these are optional or specific to

the various learning pathways), with

variations ranging sometimes from a

factor of 1 to as much as 6, between

core subjects and certain optional

subjects.

A particularly heavy financial

burden at national level

Summary of the Public Thematic Report of the

Cour des comptes

Average cost of core disciplines and special subjects in the group of

establishments under study (general and technological pathways)

Source:

Cour des comptes

, study of a group of lycées

In conclusion, more than the hourly

cost of teachers, classroom size is the

key factor in explaining variations in

cost per pupil observed between

streams and between learning path-

ways. Under such circumstances, the

teaching volume, i.e. the number of

teaching hours received by each pupil,

particularly in small classroom sizes

(special and optional subjects, small

establishments), is a decisive factor

governing expenditure.

Rebalancing the burden

within the education system

Teaching costs: cutting the num-

ber of teaching hours and simpli-

fying the learning offer

The French education system is cha-

racterised by a very high teaching

volume spread over a low number of

weeks, and provided by teachers with

low regulatory service obligations

that are set out strictly on a weekly

basis. All this means that the cost per

pupil

higher

France.

The number of teaching hours in

France is indeed high : 1 108 on ave-

rage for each French lycée pupil, com-

pared with 933 hours in Germany,

950 hours in the United Kingdom and

741 hours in Sweden. This teaching

volume is concentrated over a low

number of weeks, in theory 36 (38 in

Germany, 40 in the United Kingdom),

but in actual fact the number is often

much less, owing to the loss of two to

three weeks at the end of the year

due to the way the baccalaureate

exam is organised. Coupled with the

inflexible nature of the management

framework of teachers, whose regula-

tory service obligations are strictly set

at weekly level, with no room for

manoeuvre at annual level, and are

fewer than in many other countries

(648 annual hours in France for accre-

dited teachers compared with 718

hours in Germany or 692 hours in the

United Kingdom), this overall archi-

tecture pushes up teaching costs.

Summary of the Public Thematic Report of the

Cour des comptes

Rebalancing the burden

within the education system

Summary of the Public Thematic Report of the

Cour des comptes

The fact that many subjects are

taught in small classroom sizes, as a

result of the increase in the number of

optional subjects and of practical

classes in the vocational pathways,

also plays a significant role in pushing

up teaching costs.

Paradoxically, therefore, it is the

optional or elective subjects that cost

the most compared with core tea-

ching disciplines. This situation is exa-

cerbated by a prolific and poorly coor-

dinated teaching offer: the general

pathway offers 15 possible taster sub-

jects in the first year of the lycée

(

seconde

), 11 optional subjects in the

second year (

première

), and 15 sub-

jects in the final year (

terminale

), not

to mention the many options for

modern languages. The combination

of pathways is therefore very varied

as a result.

The range of subjects offered locally

is largely governed by supply, and the

partnership between local education

authorities and the regions means it is

not possible to regulate the way in

which these evolve. In fact, establish-

ments often begin offering options or

streams in order to improve or main-

tain their appeal and enable families

to work around school catchment

area restrictions, without effective

oversight by education authorities.

Finally the complexity of the bacca-

laureate makes structuring of the

learning offer difficult. The link bet-

ween learning streams and examina-

tion formats encourages the mainte-

nance of a highly diverse training

offer. The number of possibilities offe-

red for modern languages (58 in total

for which examinations may be sat,

out of which 20 are chosen by less

Volume of teaching and instruction (in 2012)

Source: Cour des comptes based on OECD data

Rebalancing the burden

within the education system

Summary of the Public Thematic Report of the

Cour des comptes

than 50 pupils) serves to illustrate the

complexity

the

baccalaureate

structure, offering what is sometimes

an over-abundance of subjects.

The network of establishments:

reviewing coverage densit

A close correlation has been found to

exist between the size and the cost of

an establishment, be this in terms of

the cost of teaching, which is higher in

those establishments in which ave-

rage classroom sizes are smaller, or

the cost of administrative or technical

support. For historical, geographical

and political reasons, France has

maintained a very dense network of

establishments, with a very high num-

ber of small establishments (11% of

establishments educating less than

100 pupils, representing only 1 % of

all lycée pupils).

General and technical lycées- figure showing

teaching ratios (teaching hours per pupil

per establishment) by size of establishment (strata) in 2011

Source:

Cour des comptes

Summary of the Public Thematic Report of the

Cour des comptes

Rebalancing the burden

within the education system

These small establishments are costly

and have counter-productive effects

on the education system: they offer a

smaller range of quality learning

options. The choice of a local esta-

blishment and territorial planning

imperatives are not always compati-

ble with the obligation to provide

equal access to a public education

service of the same quality, or with

the desire to raise pupil education

levels.

This is partially due to the way in

which competences are distributed

between the State and the regions,

making the decision to terminate

classes or close establishments a deli-

cate one. It is also due to the choices

made by the private sector under

contract, which keeps establishments

small to satisfy the requirements of

families. The development of digital

learning tools ought nevertheless to

facilitate innovative practices that

enable greater regulation of the lear-

ning offer.

The cost of the management struc-

ture: increasing the efficacy of

governance mechanisms

Some lycée costs are the result of fla-

wed management mechanisms. The

allocation of resources at national

and local level, for example, is not suf-

ficiently nuanced. All too often, small

establishments benefit, to the detri-

ment of education plans. Certain

good practices, such as management

incentivisation,

pooling

between

lycées and the inclusion of new digital

technologies are still too marginal

and should be more widely develo-

ped.

Technology pooling, which has been

cautiously embarked upon by local

authorities, deserves to be better eva-

luated and more extensively develo-

ped. The implementation of optional

actions in support of school life by the

regions, under the local public inte-

rest clause (

clause générale de com-

pétence

), ought, for its part, to be bet-

ter interlinked with the overall goals

of the state education system.

More broadly, the quest for a more

efficient lycée ought to be subordina-

ted to the renewal of the governance

mechanisms by means of which they

are managed at regional level. In fact,

both the State and the regions

finance local state education esta-

blishments to deliver a local public

service. However, their collaboration

does not use a sufficiently consensus-

based approach in attaining the goals

of the state education system: the

regions and the State sometimes pur-

sue divergent, if not contradictory,

Rebalancing the burden

within the education system

objectives. These divergent stand-

points explain to a large extent why

resource allocation mechanisms can

lack coherency and efficacy.

Finally, the hybrid status of the lycée

gives rise to management difficulties,

linked to a lack of coordination bet-

ween the State and the regions and to

the weak nature of the powers availa-

ble to the establishment head. This is

true in the case of personnel manage-

ment, which falls under different

authorities: the State for teaching

staff and the region for technical

staff.

Summary of the Public Thematic Report of the

Cour des comptes

Summary of the Public Thematic Report of the

Cour des comptes

CONCLUSION

The study by the Court has established that the relative cost of French lycée

pupils compared to those of other OECD countries is the result of very high tea-

ching volumes and an excessive, complex and poorly regulated education offer,

linked in part to the examination format of the baccalaureate and the inflexible

nature of the managerial framework, particularly for teachers.

The density of coverage provided by the network of establishments and the

maintenance of high numbers of small lycées also contribute to the generation

of high teaching and administrative costs.

Finally, regional governance of the education system and the inadequate

convergence between policies pursued by education authorities and the

regions result in flawed choices being made and in avoidable administrative

costs.

A significant improvement in the efficiency of lycées is possible. This would

allow for redistribution among school years which would help to raise the skill

and knowledge levels of pupils entering the lycée. It would also allow for contri-

bution to the financing of structural reforms of the education system, particu-

larly in the area of teaching personnel management, which the Court advocated

in earnest in its report entitled

Managing teachers differently (

Gérer les ensei-

gnants autrement

)

in May 2013.

With this in mind, the Court sets out two strategies:

• simplify the overall architecture of the general and technological pathways;

• make the vocational pathway, for which major financial investment has

already been made, more efficient.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Summary of the Public Thematic Report of the

Cour des comptes

To facilitate potential resource

redeployment in the education sys-

tem between education levels and

years, the Court recommends:



bringing the teaching time

for lycée pupils into line with that of

comparable countries, and distribu-

ting this more evenly across a longer

academic year



reducing

the

scattered

nature of the learning offer, particu-

larly in terms of options;



simplifying the baccalau-

reate format.

To boost the overall performance of

establishment coverage, the Court

recommends:



setting optimal establish-

ment size targets and developing a

more limited configuration for lycée

coverage, particularly by making use

of the possibilities offered by dis-

tance learning technologies.

To improve management, and to

simplify and increase the coherency

of state education system gover-

nance at regional level, the Court

recommends:



reviewing methods for the

allocation of resources to establish-

ments by the State and local authori-

ties, whilst neutralising the bias

towards small establishments with

low staff numbers ;



basing education expendi-

ture per lycée pupil on a documented

standard shared by both the State

and the regions



developing a tool for analy-

sing the consolidated cost per lycée

pupil at establishment level using a

representative sample;



implementing a single pro-

gramming and contracting plan at

local education authority and regio-

nal level



rolling-out tripartite contrac-

ting between lycées, the State and the

regions to increase the autonomy of

establishments and the responsibilities

of establishment heads



spreading the pooling of

establishment management bet-

ween regional councils.