Continuous assessment
Supervised assignments and submitted work, spread over the semester · Up to 50% of the average, per assessmentConsistency: every mark counts, including small submissions.
School, bac and university · degree
The degree is decided over six semesters, not on one exam
The framework is national, the rules are not: each faculty votes its arrangements, unit by unit. What decides is consistency and reading those rules before the first assignment.
- Access
- Bac via Parcoursup, in principle no selection
- Validation
- 180 ECTS credits, 30 per semester
- Second chance
- Sometimes a paper, sometimes built into continuous assessment
What you need to understand.
The real format of the exam, and what actually decides it.
The degree is a national diploma, but no national exam validates it. You accumulate credits unit by unit: 30 per semester, 180 in total. Each university votes its assessment arrangements, so two faculties can assess the same mention with different coefficients and exercises.
What decides is consistency: the supervised assignments of the semester count, and a validated unit stays acquired. The second chance exists, but its form changes from one faculty to another. At Sorbonne Université, the session 2 mark replaces the session 1 mark, even if it is lower: read your MCC (assessment arrangements) before retaking a unit.
Continuous assignments, a final exam, then a second chance
The format and weight of each paper, without the noise around it.
Final assessment
Final exam for the unit, at the end of the semester · Often 100% of the unit markA script covering the whole syllabus, in the required exercise: essay, document commentary, case study or quiz depending on the mention.
Initial session (session 1)
Written papers, sometimes orals; at Sorbonne Université, January for S1 and May for S2 · Reference mark for the unitThe same requirement as the final exam, with less time to catch up.
Second chance (session 2)
Resit in June on units not validated, or an additional assessment depending on the faculty · At Sorbonne Université, the mark replaces the session 1 mark, even if lowerTarget units under 10/20: a validated unit cannot be retaken.
Dissertation or placement report (third year)
Writing and defence, depending on the mention and pathway · —Documented work and a held defence, not a summary of the course.
The calendar.
The dates that matter, with their status.
- Dec 17, 2026Parcoursup 2027 course map
Official date: the 2027 map opens, with degree pages and their intake capacities.
- Jan 2027 / May 2027 / Jun 20272026-2027 semester exams and resits
For students already enrolled: no national calendar, each university sets its dates. Dated example: at Sorbonne Université, initial session in January and May, resits at the end of June (MCC 2026-2027, art. 12).
- Jan 18, 2027 → Mar 11, 2027Registration and choice submission
Official date; after 11 March 2027, no choice can be added.
- Apr 1, 2027Application and choice confirmation
Official date: last day to validate your file and rank your choices.
- Jun 1, 2027 → Jul 10, 2027University responses
Main phase; complementary phase open from 10 June 2027.
Dates checked on October 28, 2026. Any date that hasn’t been published is flagged as such.
What actually blocks you.
The obstacles that cost you points, not the clichés.
Continuous assessment cannot be caught up in June
In fully continuous assessment, the second chance is built into the continuous assessment arrangements, not postponed to the June session (decree of 30 July 2018, art. 12). At Sorbonne Université, only papers for units assessed in mixed or final mode go through the examinations service.
Session 2 replaces, it does not improve
At Sorbonne Université, the resit mark cancels the initial mark, even if it is lower. It is not a formality: it is a new draw, and not every faculty votes the same rule.
Applying another faculty's rules
Assessment arrangements are voted by each university, under the decree of 30 July 2018 (art. 12 and 16). Two faculties award the same diploma with different scales, coefficients and resits.
Dropping off between two assessments
Allow 20 to 30 hours of classes and at least 20 hours of personal work per week (ONISEP). The degree is rarely lost during the exams: it is lost in the weeks without assessment.
The method, in 3 steps.
A course goes in. Ready-made materials come out. You study.
- 01
Read the MCC from day one
This document says, unit by unit, what is assessed continuously or finally, with the coefficients and compensation rules. Your strategy follows from it.
- 02
Split each unit into syllabus chapters
The final assessment covers the whole syllabus, not the last sessions. Make one sheet per chapter, starting with what remains unclear.
- 03
Test fragile units before session 2
A quiz per unit shows where you are under 10/20. Then check in your MCC how that unit gives its second chance: in June or within the semester. The answer changes the preparation.
What Summry does for this exam.
Study materials, not a promise you’ll pass.
Sheets per unit for the final assessment
Import your course — PDF, photos of notes, Word file — and get one sheet per unit, aligned with the syllabus, to revise what the final exam covers in full.
Quizzes for the semester assignments
Generate questions by chapter and redo them before each supervised assignment. The chapters you fail are the ones to rework before the next mark.
A chat that stays inside your handout
For the initial session, the answer comes only from your handout: a quoted definition, without reopening your PDFs.
A mind map for the third-year dissertation
Import your notes and sources: the map connects the parts of the dissertation, and the sheet helps you hold the defence without reading your notes.
Summry does not say whether your unit is validated, does not mark your script and does not replace tutorials: the method of the exercise and the reading of your MCC remain to be worked on with your teachers.
Frequently asked questions.
The questions we get asked most often about University degree.
How does assessment work in the degree?
Two models, often combined: continuous assessment, with assignments and work spread over the semester, and final assessment, a final exam. The decree of 30 July 2018 asks for continuous assessment to be favoured and sets a rule: no continuous-assessment mark can count for more than 50% of the average. Each university then votes its arrangements, unit by unit.
How many credits are needed to validate a year?
60 credits per year, 30 per semester, 180 for the diploma (decree of 30 July 2018, art. 2). According to ONISEP, a semester is validated from an average of 10/20 across its units. The compensation rules between units are then set by each university in its assessment arrangements.
What happens if you fail a semester?
You keep the units acquired: they are capitalisable and definitively acquired from the average (art. 14). For the others, the university must provide a second chance, either through an additional paper or in the organisation of continuous assessment (art. 12). Many faculties schedule a session 2 in June, covering the teaching of both semesters.
When do the semester exams take place?
No national calendar exists: each university sets its dates. At Sorbonne Université, the initial session is held in January for semester 1 and in May for semester 2, with resits at the end of June (MCC 2026-2027, art. 12). For your faculty, the only valid date is the one published in your assessment arrangements.
Is the degree selective?
In principle no: the bac, the DAEU or a diploma accepted as equivalent is enough, and first-year registration goes through Parcoursup (art. 4 of the decree). Some degrees with limited intake capacity add a motivation interview or level tests, particularly in music. Selection therefore rarely happens on entry, much more at the end of the first year.
Sources.
Information gathered from official websites, checked on October 28, 2026. The links open the original source.
See also.
Other exams you can prepare with the same method.
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