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Key Facts: Agrégation Exam
Catégorie A+
Civil service grade of Professeurs Agrégés in France
Décret n° 72-580 du 4 juillet 1972 modifié
15 Hours
Statutory weekly teaching service (ORS) in secondary education
Décret n° 2014-940 du 20 août 2014
1,681 Posts
Total 2026 external posts (1,628 external + 53 special external)
Arrêté du 29 janvier 2026
Master 2 (Bac+5)
Strict degree requirement (excluded from bac+3 reform)
Arrêté du 28 décembre 2009 modifié
384h TD
Annual statutory teaching obligation for PRAG in higher education
Décret n° 93-461 / Décret n° 2014-940
Note zéro
The only eliminatory mark, on any written or oral test (no 5/20 floor)
Arrêté du 28 décembre 2009 modifié / descriptifs d'épreuves, devenirenseignant.gouv.fr
The Agrégation is France's elite competitive civil service concours (Category A+) recruiting secondary and higher education professors. Unlike CAPES, it is strictly excluded from the bac+3 reform and remains a Master-level (bac+5) concours. Successful candidates are appointed as Professeurs Agrégés with a statutory 15-hour weekly teaching load (8 to 13 hours in CPGE, 384h TD in universities). OpenExamPrep provides a 100-question English-language study adaptation covering the statutory decree frameworks, CPGE and PRAG teaching environments, epistemology and jury expectations, and Republican ethics.
Sample Agrégation Practice Questions
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1Under Décret n° 72-580 du 4 juillet 1972 modifié, what is the statutory civil service classification and corps status of a Professeur Agrégé in the French national civil service?
2Under Décret n° 2014-940 du 20 août 2014, what is the standard maximum weekly teaching service obligation (ORS) for a Professeur Agrégé teaching in a secondary school?
3If the operational needs of an educational institution require a Professeur Agrégé to teach beyond their 15-hour weekly statutory obligation, how are these additional permanent weekly hours classified and remunerated?
4Under Article 7 of Décret n° 2014-940 du 20 août 2014, what weighting coefficient (pondération) is applied to each teaching hour delivered in Sections de Techniciens Supérieurs (STS / BTS)?
5A Professeur Agrégé is assigned to teach 12 weekly hours exclusively in STS (Sections de Techniciens Supérieurs). According to the statutory pondération rules under Décret n° 2014-940, how does this affect their 15-hour weekly service obligation?
6Under Décret n° 50-581 and Décret n° 2014-940, how is a Professeur Agrégé's weekly service obligation modified when assigned entirely to Classes Préparatoires aux Grandes Écoles (CPGE)?
7What is the statutory weekly teaching maximum for a Professeur Agrégé of mathematics, physical sciences or natural sciences serving full-time in a second-year scientific CPGE class (classe de mathématiques spéciales, e.g. MP or PC) enrolling more than 35 students?
8A Professeur Agrégé of mathematics teaches full-time in a first-year scientific CPGE class (classe de mathématiques supérieures, e.g. MPSI) enrolling between 20 and 35 students. What is their statutory weekly teaching maximum?
9How are oral interrogations ('interrogations orales' or 'colles') conducted by professors in CPGE regulated and compensated under French civil service rules?
10What is the annual statutory teaching service obligation for a Professeur Agrégé assigned to higher education as a PRAG (professeur agrégé affecté dans l'enseignement supérieur)?
About the Agrégation Exam
The Agrégation de l'Enseignement du Second Degré is France's most prestigious and academically rigorous competitive recruitment concours for secondary and higher education educators, conferring the high-ranking civil service status of Professeur Agrégé (Catégorie A+). Established historically to select intellectual and disciplinary elites, the Agrégation recruits educators who teach across Classes Préparatoires aux Grandes Écoles (CPGE: MPSI, PCSI, BCPST, ECG, AL, BL), higher education institutions as PRAG (professeurs agrégés affectés dans l'enseignement supérieur in universities and IUTs), Sections de Techniciens Supérieurs (STS / BTS), and lycée classes (Première and Terminale enseignements de spécialité). Regulated by Décret n° 72-580 du 4 juillet 1972 and Décret n° 2014-940 du 20 août 2014, professeurs agrégés benefit from a reduced maximum statutory teaching obligation (ORS) of 15 weekly hours in secondary schools (reduced further in CPGE, where décret n° 50-581 sets maxima between 8 and 13 hours according to the discipline, the class and its enrolment) or 384 annual TD hours in higher education. Laureates demonstrate encyclopedic disciplinary mastery, advanced epistemological and didactic reflexivity, exceptional oral argumentation, and exemplary adherence to Republican civil-service ethics (neutrality, laïcité, and academic freedom within national curricula).
Exam sponsor: Ministère de l'Éducation Nationale. The requirements and fees below concern the certification or admission exam, separate from our free practice resources.
Assessment
Organized under the governing arrêté du 28 décembre 2009 modifié fixant les sections et les modalités d'organisation des concours de l'agrégation. The Agrégation is strictly excluded from the bac+3 teacher recruitment reform and remains firmly a bac+5 competitive civil service examination requiring a Master 2 degree (or equivalent). Admissibilité comprises sequestered written papers whose number and duration are fixed section by section: the agrégation externe de mathématiques sets two 6-hour compositions (coefficient 4 each), while the agrégation externe de lettres modernes sets six papers ranging from a 7-hour composition française (coefficient 12) to 3-hour grammatical studies (coefficient 4). Admission comprises multiple rigorous oral examinations before a national jury: disciplinarily specialised oral lessons (leçon), text commentary or source explication (explication de texte), laboratory practical examinations (travaux pratiques) or specialized technical interrogation, and — in most sections — a short entretien following each admission test, in which the jury may also assess the candidate's capacity to take account of pupils' learning and of the values underpinning the profession, drawing on the référentiel de compétences of 1 July 2013. All tests are marked from 0 to 20 and, unlike the CAPES/CAPET/CAPLP rule, the agrégation applies a single notation rule: 'pour toutes les épreuves, la note zéro est éliminatoire'. Note: Disciplinary written papers and oral tests are entirely section-specific; this question bank does not simulate any single section's technical syllabus, but rather the cross-disciplinary civil-service status, CPGE/PRAG teaching environments, high academic epistemology, and ethical duties common to all agrégés.
Time Limit
Roughly 12 to 25 hours of written admissibility examinations depending on the section, followed by multi-part oral admission examinations
Passing Score
Ranked competitive admission (numerus clausus) based on national post quotas fixed by ministerial decree (1,628 external posts plus 53 special external posts in 2026 under the arrêté du 29 janvier 2026); tests are marked from 0 to 20 and a mark of zero on any test, written or oral, is eliminatory
Exam / Certification Fees
No examination registration fee is charged; candidates register free of charge via the national Cyclades portal.
Exam sponsor websiteFees, eligibility, and exam policies can change. Confirm them with the exam sponsor before applying or paying.
Our practice resources: topics covered
We aim to reflect publicly available exam outlines and topic information in our study resources. Coverage, format, and difficulty may differ from the actual exam, and we cannot guarantee that every detail is accurate or current. Confirm exam requirements, fees, and policies with the official exam sponsor.
Statutory Status & Service Obligations (ORS)
Special status of the corps of Professeurs Agrégés governed by Décret n° 72-580 du 4 juillet 1972 (Catégorie A+ civil service). Obligations réglementaires de service (ORS) under Décret n° 2014-940 du 20 août 2014: maximum statutory teaching load of 15 hours per week (compared to 18 hours for professeurs certifiés). Specific weighting and teaching load reductions: STS/BTS pondération of 1.25 under Article 7 of décret n° 2014-940 (each teaching hour counted as 1.25 hours), CPGE teaching service maxima, which remain governed by Articles 6 and 7 of décret n° 50-581 rather than by the 2014 decree and range from 8 hours (mathematics/physics/natural sciences in a second-year class of more than 35 pupils) to 13 hours (other disciplines in the smallest preparatory classes), and university service requirements for PRAG (384 hours of Travaux Dirigés or 192 hours of Cours Magistraux per year). Career progression, PPCR evaluations, and civil servant leave and mobility frameworks.
Teaching Environments: CPGE, STS & Higher Education
Pedagogical architecture and specificities of elite secondary and tertiary teaching environments. Classes Préparatoires aux Grandes Écoles (CPGE): scientific tracks (MPSI, PCSI, MP, PC, PSI, PT, BCPST), economic tracks (ECG), and literary tracks (AL, BL), managing high-cadence syllabi, preparing students for competitive examinations (concours d'entrée aux Grandes Écoles), weekly devoirs surveillés (DS), and conducting individual and small-group oral interrogations (colles). Sections de Techniciens Supérieurs (STS / BTS): vocational-academic bridge, modular and applied didactics, and professional insertion. High school senior cycles (Première and Terminale): advanced disciplinary specialty courses (enseignements de spécialité) and transitional methodology for higher education. University assignment as PRAG: undergraduate teaching, curriculum coordination, and academic mentoring without statutory research obligations.
Disciplinary Epistemology, Didactics & Jury Standards
Epistemological foundations, scientific methodologies, and jury expectations (rapports de jury) across academic disciplines. Historical methodology and source criticism (critique interne et externe), mathematical rigor and axiomatic proof structures, experimental epistemology and error analysis in physical/chemical and life sciences, and rigorous literary commentary and philological textual analysis. Advanced didactic transposition (Yves Chevallard's transposition didactique): transforming academic knowledge (savoir savant) into curricular content (savoir à enseigner) and instructional practice (savoir enseigné). Architecture, time management, and criteria of the oral competitive tests: épreuve de leçon, explication de texte, épreuve sur dossier, and response to jury interrogations.
Civil Service Ethics, Deontology & Republican Values
High-level civil service ethics, professional deontology, and republican values in education. Freedom of teaching (liberté pédagogique) and academic freedom exercised strictly within national programs. The principle of strict public-service neutrality (philosophical, political, religious, commercial) and secularism (laïcité under the 1905 law, 2004 law on religious signs, and the Charte de la laïcité à l'école). Statutory civil service obligations: professional secrecy, discretion, loyalty, and duty of reserve. Jury deontology: candidate equality, confidentiality of deliberations, and prevention of conflicts of interest. Cultivating critical thinking (esprit critique) and intellectual integrity in students, integrating the ecological transition into secondary and tertiary programs, and fulfilling student protection obligations (Article 40 CCP reporting, bullying prevention under the pHARe program).
Preparing for the Agrégation Exam
What You Need to Know
- Passing score: Ranked competitive admission (numerus clausus) based on national post quotas fixed by ministerial decree (1,628 external posts plus 53 special external posts in 2026 under the arrêté du 29 janvier 2026); tests are marked from 0 to 20 and a mark of zero on any test, written or oral, is eliminatory
- Assessment: Organized under the governing arrêté du 28 décembre 2009 modifié fixant les sections et les modalités d'organisation des concours de l'agrégation. The Agrégation is strictly excluded from the bac+3 teacher recruitment reform and remains firmly a bac+5 competitive civil service examination requiring a Master 2 degree (or equivalent). Admissibilité comprises sequestered written papers whose number and duration are fixed section by section: the agrégation externe de mathématiques sets two 6-hour compositions (coefficient 4 each), while the agrégation externe de lettres modernes sets six papers ranging from a 7-hour composition française (coefficient 12) to 3-hour grammatical studies (coefficient 4). Admission comprises multiple rigorous oral examinations before a national jury: disciplinarily specialised oral lessons (leçon), text commentary or source explication (explication de texte), laboratory practical examinations (travaux pratiques) or specialized technical interrogation, and — in most sections — a short entretien following each admission test, in which the jury may also assess the candidate's capacity to take account of pupils' learning and of the values underpinning the profession, drawing on the référentiel de compétences of 1 July 2013. All tests are marked from 0 to 20 and, unlike the CAPES/CAPET/CAPLP rule, the agrégation applies a single notation rule: 'pour toutes les épreuves, la note zéro est éliminatoire'. Note: Disciplinary written papers and oral tests are entirely section-specific; this question bank does not simulate any single section's technical syllabus, but rather the cross-disciplinary civil-service status, CPGE/PRAG teaching environments, high academic epistemology, and ethical duties common to all agrégés.
- Time limit: Roughly 12 to 25 hours of written admissibility examinations depending on the section, followed by multi-part oral admission examinations
- Exam / certification fees: No examination registration fee is charged; candidates register free of charge via the national Cyclades portal. Official sources
Using Our Practice Resources
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Agrégation: Suggested Study Strategy
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Agrégation de l'Enseignement du Second Degré?
The Agrégation is France's highest competitive civil-service recruitment concours for secondary and higher education teachers, establishing laureates in the high-level civil service corps of Professeurs Agrégés (Catégorie A+). Administered by the Ministère de l'Éducation Nationale, the Agrégation selects subject-matter experts who teach primarily in Classes Préparatoires aux Grandes Écoles (CPGE), higher education as PRAG (professeurs agrégés affectés dans l'enseignement supérieur), Sections de Techniciens Supérieurs (STS/BTS), and upper high-school classes (Première and Terminale enseignements de spécialité).
Is the Agrégation affected by the recent bac+3 teacher recruitment reform?
No. The Agrégation is explicitly excluded from the bac+3 recruitment reform (which reformed the CAPES, CAPET, CAPLP, and CRPE). The Agrégation remains strictly a bac+5 (Master 2) competitive examination. Candidates for the concours externe must hold a Master 2 degree, a doctorate, an equivalent diploma, or recognized equivalent qualifications at the time of publication of the admissibility results.
What are the statutory weekly teaching obligations (ORS) of a Professeur Agrégé?
Under Décret n° 2014-940 du 20 août 2014, the maximum weekly teaching service obligation (Obligations Réglementaires de Service - ORS) for a Professeur Agrégé in a secondary school is 15 hours of teaching per week (compared to 18 hours for a Professeur Certifié). In higher education institutions (PRAG), the statutory annual service is 384 hours of Travaux Dirigés (TD) or 192 hours of Cours Magistraux (CM). CPGE service is not covered by the 2014 decree: it remains fixed by décret n° 50-581, which sets weekly maxima between 8 and 13 hours according to the discipline, the class and its enrolment.
How does teaching in CPGE reduce a Professeur Agrégé's teaching hours?
Articles 6 and 7 of décret n° 50-581 du 25 mai 1950 keep CPGE service outside the ordinary secondary regime and set maxima in a table indexed on three variables: the discipline taught, whether the class is a first-year or second-year preparatory class, and the number of pupils enrolled. A teacher of mathematics, physical sciences or natural sciences serving entirely in a second-year class (mathématiques spéciales) of more than 35 pupils has a maximum of 8 hours; the same teacher in a first-year class (mathématiques supérieures) of 20 to 35 pupils has 10 hours; teachers of the other disciplines in preparatory classes have maxima of 11, 12 or 13 hours on the same enrolment brackets.
What is the weighting (pondération) for teaching in STS / BTS?
Under Article 7 of Décret n° 2014-940 du 20 août 2014, each hour of teaching delivered in a Section de Techniciens Supérieurs (STS) or preparatory class for the Diplôme de Comptabilité et de Gestion (DCG) is multiplied by a weighting coefficient of 1.25. For example, a professeur agrégé teaching 12 hours in STS is credited with 12 × 1.25 = 15 hours of service, thereby fully fulfilling their 15-hour statutory weekly teaching obligation.
Does this question bank simulate a specific disciplinary section's technical exam?
No. The disciplinary written papers and oral admission tests of the Agrégation are entirely section-specific (e.g., Mathematics, Modern Literature, Philosophy, History, Physics-Chemistry, English, Economics and Management). This question bank does not simulate any single section's technical curriculum. Instead, it provides a rigorous study adaptation covering the statutory framework common to all sections: the civil service decree statutes, service obligations, teaching environments in CPGE and universities, disciplinary epistemology and jury expectations, and Republican ethics.
How many posts are offered for the 2026 Agrégation session?
For the 2026 session, under the arrêté du 29 janvier 2026, the French Ministry of National Education established a total of 1,628 posts for the concours externe of the agrégation, plus 53 posts for the concours externe spécial (reserved for doctoral degree holders in specific sections).
What marks are considered eliminatory in the Agrégation examination?
The agrégation applies a notation rule of its own, which differs from the CAPES, CAPET and CAPLP. Under the arrêté du 28 décembre 2009 modifié, the descriptive pages published by the ministry state simply: 'Les épreuves sont notées de 0 à 20. Pour toutes les épreuves, la note zéro est éliminatoire.' There is therefore no 5/20 admissibility floor as in the bac+3 concours: only a mark of zero, on a written or an oral test, eliminates the candidate. Beyond that, admission is purely by merit ranking within the published quota of posts.