The new CLE Test, a clear tool to strengthen our pupils' basic learning

The main challenges:

• Early detection of difficulties, to prevent school drop-out.
• A concrete tool for teachers to adapt their practices.
• Useful diagnosis for schools, to improve teaching methods.
• Reliable data for the education system.

Key messages:

• The CLE Test is a tool to better support pupils.
• It ensures that every child masters the fundamentals: calculating, reading, writing.
• It replaces two existing assessments that only targeted a single skill per level.

The CLE Test (“Calculer, Lire, Écrire”) will be introduced from the 2026-2027 school year at the start of the 4th year of primary school.

1. Objectives

• Get an accurate “snapshot” of the basic skills actually acquired by pupils.
• Detect any difficulties earlier to prevent them from worsening and to prevent school drop-out.
• Provide useful feedback to pupils, teachers and schools to adapt support and improve teaching practices.

2. In practice

External, non-certifying assessment:

• No diploma, no marks awarded, just the ratings “acquired”, “in progress”, “not acquired”.
• A snapshot of acquired skills.
• Also accessible to special needs education, upon decision of the class council.
• Identical for all pupils, in all schools.
• Internal correction by schools.
• Results are sent to the General Administration for Education to contribute to the overall improvement of the education system.

What the test measures:

• Three result categories: acquired, in progress, not acquired.
• Enables targeted support:
  • deepen if acquired,
  • reinforce if in progress,
  • re-explain differently if not acquired.

Link with existing assessments:

• The CLE Test replaces the mandatory assessments at the start of the 3rd and 5th years of primary school, which only targeted a single skill per level (French or mathematics). We want to focus on acquiring basic skills: calculating, reading and writing.
• The CLE Test covers all basic skills (calculating, reading, writing) in a single system.

A new test, but with reinforced periods of personalised support:

• 4 periods per week in the 1st and 2nd years of primary school (instead of 2).
• 2 periods per week from the 3rd to the 6th year of primary school.
• Objective: intervene early, particularly in the years when repeated years peak.
• Schools can hire additional teachers or speech therapists to work through co-intervention and strengthen individual monitoring.

3. Additional resources

Despite a difficult budgetary context, classes in the 3rd and 4th years of primary school will see 220 additional posts from 2026 for personalised pupil support. The aim is to give every pupil the support needed to master the fundamentals: calculating, reading and writing. These come on top of the 100 additional posts in the 6th year.

4. Expected benefits

• For the pupil: confirmation of acquired basic skills or rapid detection of difficulties, with personalised support.
• For the teacher: a concrete tool to adapt their practices and target needs.
• For the school: an overall diagnosis of its classes, allowing teaching methods to be questioned and improved.
• For the education system: reliable, comparable and usable data.

5. Response to criticism

• “The CLE Test adds work for schools” → False. The CLE Test replaces existing assessments in the 3rd and 5th years, simplifying the workload with a single system.
• “It's yet another assessment” → No, since it replaces two pre-existing assessments in the 3rd and 5th years. It is moreover a useful and coherent assessment, which covers all basic skills and automatically triggers personalised support when needed.
• “The CLE Test will stress children out” → No. It requires no preparation. It is a snapshot of acquired skills, used solely to help pupils progress.
• “The CLE Test is a new form of sanction” → False. The CLE Test is non-certifying: there is no pass or fail, no marks. The aim is to support, not to punish.

6. Key figures and references

• 2026-2027: first edition of the CLE Test at the start of the 4th year of primary school.
• 3 evaluated domains: calculating, reading, writing (basic skills).
• 4 reinforced support periods in the 1st and 2nd years, 2 periods in the 3rd and 6th years.

7. Key messages to remember

• “The CLE Test is not a sanction but a tool to better detect any learning difficulties and support each pupil in overcoming them.”
• “The CLE Test makes it possible to detect difficulties early and prevent them from worsening or even leading to school drop-out.”
• “The CLE Test simplifies schools' work by replacing several existing assessments with a single system.”
• “Every pupil, every class and every school benefits from clear and useful feedback.”
• “Our priority is that all children master the basic skills: calculating, reading, writing.”