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10:46 15.10.2026 •
Tens of thousands of people joined rallies across France on Tuesday to support protesting high school students, boosting a movement that poses a major challenge to President Emmanuel Macron as his term in office winds down.
Some 161,500 people turned out, according to the interior ministry — more than double the 71,500 it gave for the last nationwide demonstrations on Thursday last week. Unions helping organise Tuesday’s rallies put the countrywide turnout at 480,000.
Mobilized high schoolers call on university students and Yellow Vest activists to take up the torch
Protests brought together between 161,500 and 480,000 people across France on Tuesday for the 'Act V' of the movement. High school students are now questioning what comes next. A call has been made to join a wider day of action on Saturday, Le Monde reports.
The joint union of student and high school organizations estimated that 480,000 people protested on Tuesday, a slight increase from the previous Tuesday. The Interior Ministry did not report the same trend, stating that 161,500 people protested, a decrease from the previous week.
In major cities, crowds remained large, bringing together high school students, parents, teachers and many university students. In Rennes, 7,300 people protested according to the prefecture, while in Marseille, police counted 3,800 participants (compared to 35,000 claimed by student organizers). In Lyon, the demonstration, which the prefecture estimated at 11,000 people, was marred by serious incidents and ended early due to around a hundred violent individuals. Union activists and parents were also struck by police, and a union banner was torn down. Additional clashes broke out in Paris, where police estimated 41,500 people marched in two separate groups.
Both university and high school students are united in their call for better conditions and for an end to the Parcoursup university admissions platform. The Ministry of Higher Education reported "35% of institutions disrupted," while the student union claimed "90%" of universities were "blocked" or "closed."
The upcoming protest on October 17 will target, among other things, the high cost of living – a subject that is on everyone's mind, even if not all of these young people from the Paris march plan to attend.
Photo: newsmedia
Just six months before France votes for a successor to Macron…
The numbers suggested snowballing street opposition to the government just six months before France votes for a successor to Macron, who is completing his maximum second mandate. On Saturday, national demonstrations against the spiralling cost of living are to take place, and unions and student groups see the two protest currents fusing together.
The agitation comes as Macron’s centrist government struggles to get a cost-cutting budget through parliament, in the teeth of worsening debt that has spooked the bond market. Although most of Tuesday’s demonstrations were peaceful, violence occurred on the sidelines of one of two marches in Paris, where the interior ministry said 41,500 people participated.
Journalists saw some cars set on fire and police fired tear gas as masked youths tried to erect barricades across roads and threw objects.
University students were prominent in Tuesday’s demonstrations, alongside teachers and union leaders. They were also backed by far-left opposition France Unbowed (LFI) party, whose chief, presidential hopeful Jean-Luc Melenchon, was seen among crowds in Paris.
Dialogue, ‘not repression’
Thousands also marched in the cities of Nantes, Lyon, Lens, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Bordeaux and Marseille, according to police and reporters. “We stand in solidarity with the high schools that are worse off. We need real measures and proper dialogue, not repression,” said 16-year-old Emeline, outside a Marseille school.
“We’re here because we really feel we’re not being heard by the government,” said Nina, 17. The student movement sprang up last month, with teenagers at France’s lycees — high schools for those aged 15 to 18 — blocking the entrances to many schools to demand better classroom conditions.
Perceived heavy-handed reactions from police against the students drove many to join Tuesday’s demonstrations. One teen lost his hand when he picked up a police stun grenade during the protests, while another lost an eye, and another teeth when an officer fired a teargas canister in his face.
Police have opened internal investigations into 34 allegations of violence against demonstrators. Some 147 teaching staff have been injured in the protests, the education ministry said.
‘Not budging!’
“We’re not giving up the fight, whether it’s for the high school students who were hit with a harsh crackdown, or for denouncing police violence,” said Patricia, a 20-year-old university student in Paris who did not give her last name.
Some Indian tourists who wandered into the Paris demonstration said they were unnerved. “Initially we were terrified,” said Snehil Jain, a 45-year-old visiting Paris for a week with his wife. “We had seen the media images of violence around these protests. But then we saw it was a peaceful protest, so we were OK then.”
France’s education ministry said 214 schools, mostly high schools, were closed on Tuesday.
University student union l’Union Etudiante reported 90pc of universities had closed nationwide to show support. French students say they are determined to press their demands over absent teachers, dilapidated buildings, overcrowded schedules and other grievances.
They have dismissed a government pledge — made after last week’s demonstrations — to send 3,000 substitute teachers to the 114 worst-affected schools. “We are continuing the blockades. We are not budging,” said Naouel, a high school student in Brest. She said she hoped the protests would continue after the half-term holidays, in late October.
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