The second Saturday of cost-of-living protests, 24 October 2026, raised a question: why did France see far fewer smashed windows but far more arrests? The answer says a lot about how the government is now handling the crisis. The other big story of the weekend is a confusing name for most readers outside France: Parcoursup.
Arresting people before the damage
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez was openly pleased. He said nearly 1,000 people had been arrested by the end of the day, adding that "at the same hour on 17 October, we were at 385 arrests". That is not a sign that things got more violent. It is the strategy working as planned. On the eve of the march, Nuñez said some 70,000 police and gendarmes would be deployed, and that his instruction was to show "the greatest firmness".
The idea is to step in early. Police pick out groups that seem to be gathering to cause trouble and detain them before anything is broken. French law allows this, because simply joining a group with the intent to commit violence is an offence in itself. Nuñez claimed that "systematically, these attacks were prevented", with only "some damage or looting" of shops "in certain cities, in very limited numbers". Critics will point to the other side of this. A thousand arrests after a largely peaceful day will feed the claim, already raised by student groups, that the right to protest itself is being squeezed.
The new "union marches only" rule also showed its logic in Marseille, where a union march was allowed in the end. The prefect, Jacques Witkowski, explained that when a recognised union can negotiate a route and provide its own stewards, "there is no reason not to accept this type of protest". Put simply, the state wants organisers it can hold responsible.
Macron steps in personally
On Friday, 23 October, Emmanuel Macron got involved directly for the first time. Some twenty representatives of high school organisations spent nearly three hours at the Élysée, which meant he got to them ahead of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, who will receive them on Monday, 26 October. The students came out polite but not won over. Nathanaël Combary of Renouveau lycéen said "we're not satisfied, we're waiting for our meeting with the Prime Minister", and urged students to keep up the pressure.
So what is Parcoursup?
Macron reportedly promised a "reform of school democracy" and a "complete overhaul" of Parcoursup. Parcoursup is the national platform that assigns future students to higher education, and it has faced recurring criticism since its launch in 2018. Every final-year student applies through it and then waits for offers, sometimes all summer. France 24 told the story of an 18-year-old with a strong record who ended up with no placement at all. A 2023 education ministry study quoted in parliament found that 68% of high school students feel significant stress because of the platform.
The platform is a symbol, but it also stands for practical complaints. Students are protesting about overcrowded classes and missing teachers. At the start of the school year, at least one teacher was missing in 53% of public middle and high schools, according to the Snes-FSU union. The issue also crosses party lines: from Jean-Luc Mélenchon to Marine Le Pen, many presidential candidates call for scrapping Parcoursup. The government, for its part, rules out abolition but talks of changing the tool, with transparent selection criteria at the top of the list.
Some experts warn that scrapping the platform would not solve the real problem. In a column published on 24 October, former teacher Philippe Watrelot argued that the actual bottleneck is the insufficient supply of university places. However students are sorted, there are not enough places for all of them.
What comes next
Lecornu now has to put real measures on the table at the meeting on 26 October. Students have made clear that a friendly hearing is not enough. If he fails, the students and the unions could join forces ahead of the strike on Thursday, 5 November.
The second Saturday of cost-of-living protests, 24 October 2026, raised a question: why did France see far fewer smashed windows but far more arrests? The answer says a lot about how the government is now handling the crisis. The other big story of the weekend is a confusing name for most readers outside France: Parcoursup.
Arresting people before the damage
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez was openly pleased. He said nearly 1,000 people had been arrested by the end of the day, adding that "at the same hour on 17 October, we were at 385 arrests". That is not a sign that things got more violent. It is the strategy working as planned. On the eve of the march, Nuñez said some 70,000 police and gendarmes would be deployed, and that his instruction was to show "the greatest firmness".
The idea is to step in early. Police pick out groups that seem to be gathering to cause trouble and detain them before anything is broken. French law allows this, because simply joining a group with the intent to commit violence is an offence in itself. Nuñez claimed that "systematically, these attacks were prevented", with only "some damage or looting" of shops "in certain cities, in very limited numbers". Critics will point to the other side of this. A thousand arrests after a largely peaceful day will feed the claim, already raised by student groups, that the right to protest itself is being squeezed.
The new "union marches only" rule also showed its logic in Marseille, where a union march was allowed in the end. The prefect, Jacques Witkowski, explained that when a recognised union can negotiate a route and provide its own stewards, "there is no reason not to accept this type of protest". Put simply, the state wants organisers it can hold responsible.
Macron steps in personally
On Friday, 23 October, Emmanuel Macron got involved directly for the first time. Some twenty representatives of high school organisations spent nearly three hours at the Élysée, which meant he got to them ahead of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, who will receive them on Monday, 26 October. The students came out polite but not won over. Nathanaël Combary of Renouveau lycéen said "we're not satisfied, we're waiting for our meeting with the Prime Minister", and urged students to keep up the pressure.
So what is Parcoursup?
Macron reportedly promised a "reform of school democracy" and a "complete overhaul" of Parcoursup. Parcoursup is the national platform that assigns future students to higher education, and it has faced recurring criticism since its launch in 2018. Every final-year student applies through it and then waits for offers, sometimes all summer. France 24 told the story of an 18-year-old with a strong record who ended up with no placement at all. A 2023 education ministry study quoted in parliament found that 68% of high school students feel significant stress because of the platform.
The platform is a symbol, but it also stands for practical complaints. Students are protesting about overcrowded classes and missing teachers. At the start of the school year, at least one teacher was missing in 53% of public middle and high schools, according to the Snes-FSU union. The issue also crosses party lines: from Jean-Luc Mélenchon to Marine Le Pen, many presidential candidates call for scrapping Parcoursup. The government, for its part, rules out abolition but talks of changing the tool, with transparent selection criteria at the top of the list.
Some experts warn that scrapping the platform would not solve the real problem. In a column published on 24 October, former teacher Philippe Watrelot argued that the actual bottleneck is the insufficient supply of university places. However students are sorted, there are not enough places for all of them.
What comes next
Lecornu now has to put real measures on the table at the meeting on 26 October. Students have made clear that a friendly hearing is not enough. If he fails, the students and the unions could join forces ahead of the strike on Thursday, 5 November.
Sources