Students taking French-language exams across the Belgian education system will now need a minimum score of 60% in order to pass, increased from 50%, as announced by Valérie Glatigny, minister of education for the Wallonia-Brussels federation.
The new regulations will apply to exams such as CEB (sixth grade of primary school), CE1D (second grade of secondary school) and CESS (sixth grade of secondary school), among others. Glatigny explained the decision by the desire not to let students who have not "mastered learning" to the next phase of their curriculum. The minister said she had deemed the existing threshold too low for that purpose.
The rule change is also expected to help regain class councils' autonomy. "In 15 years, we have doubled the number of appeals against educational decisions," Glatigny said. "The class council will regain all of its prerogatives and its decision-making role. This means that if a student has not met or has not been able to participate in all the tests, they will be deliberated individually."
The thresholds will officially be increased from the 2026-2027 academic year.
