Summary

  • Fires are burning across parts of France as riot police are responding to student protests over school conditions

  • Images from this afternoon show burning barricades in Pantin, bins set alight in Paris and crowds of protesters and riot police on the streets

  • More than 500 schools are facing disruption. At least 65 staff members have been injured in the unrest, the country's education ministry says

  • The demonstrations - over a lack of teachers, overcrowded classrooms and run-down buildings - started earlier this week in Paris then spread across the country

  • "We are angry," one 16-year-old in Paris tells the BBC, adding "a lot of noise" is needed to bring about change in French schools

  • France's justice minister, Gerald Darmanin, says: "We have gone from high-school student demonstrations to a public order disturbance"

  • Some of the violence and damage has been truly shocking, with teenagers suffering eye injuries and one losing his teeth, writes our digital Europe editor

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Live Reporting

Edited by Jenna Moon, with James Waterhouse reporting from Paris

  1. What to know as student protests sweep France

    Demonstrators run from tear gas during student protests in Lyongetty

    Thousands of students across France are continuing to protest across the country today over concerns about education standards.

    If you're just joining us, here's what to know.

    More than 500 schools are facing disruptions as a result of the demonstrations, with at least one school damaged by fire saying it will be closed to in-person learning until next month.

    French authorities report that at least 65 staff members and 305 police officers have been injured during the unrest, with nearly 2,000 people arrested.

    Verified footage shows violence and disorder breaking out in France’s second-largest city, Marseille. The BBC has confirmed that a video circulating on social media shows a fire engine being attacked outside a school.

    As the demonstrations continue, our Europe editor writes that "the question has now become how to stop 'unbridled violence' as much as deal with high-school shortages."

    We're continuing to follow the situation - stay with us here for updates.

  2. Education minister sets out details on consultation for students

    Manon Prat
    Reporting from Paris

    Édouard Geffray leaving a meeting at the Elysee PalaceReuters

    France's education minister, Édouard Geffray, has set out the details of a consultation platform proposed to students.

    During a meeting with teachers’ trade unions on Friday morning, Geffray stated that the consultation platform will go live next Monday.

    Two questions will be asked:

    • What difficulties are you facing?
    • What are your expectations?

    Students will have three weeks to respond before a phase of analysis and discussions, following the All Saints’ Day holidays.

    This feedback phase will take place alongside the budget debates in the National Assembly.

  3. In Paris, students are still demonstrating into the afternoon

    There's still a heavy presence of students - and, consequently, police - on the streets of Paris this afternoon.

    We're receiving pictures from our team on the ground showing large groups shielding themselves from grey smoke that is filling the street with masks, their own shirts or other pieces of cloth.

    Some have been spotted stopping to talk with the police.

    In the foreground, a large group of youth in hoodies, shirts and jeans observing white smoke arising at the end of the street, where an unidentified object appears to have been set aflame
    A group of nine teens in casual wear (t-shirts and jeans) speak to a lone police officer in riot gear (his back to the camera) on a Parisian boulevard during protests

    Some students stopped to speak with a police officer to calmly explain why they are protesting

  4. 'We're not here to be nice but we don't want chaos,' says Parisian student

    Marianne Baisnée
    Reporting from Paris

    A student who identified himself to journalists by the pseudonym Jean is attending the final year of high school in Paris.

    The 17-year-old says he and his classmates don’t want schools to burn – they just want education to be "better".

    "I think France is one of the worst European countries when it comes to education. We’ve decided that’s enough," he tells the BBC.

    He says anyone causing damage "has got nothing to do with us" and "are not helping” deliver the change students are demanding.

    "We're not here to be nice but we don't want chaos," he adds. "We just want our voice to be heard by the government."

  5. Student 'in serious condition' after protests in Alsace - local party leader

    Police officers in riot gear patrol a street outside Strasbourg University, debris and cartons littering the street, some of it on fireAFP via Getty Images

    Protests have been taking place across France, including Alsace near the border with Germany

    A high school student has been seriously injured during protests in the border region of Alsace, the president of the Horizons party in the Grand Est area says.

    Franck Leroy tells BFMTV the student appears to have been injured while "handling a device that another young person had brought" to demonstrations in the commune of Selestat.

    "His life is not in danger but he's in a serious condition," Leroy says, adding that the device - which he describes as "an aerosol or explosive device of pyrotechnic type" - was allegedly put into a bin which the teen then "grabbed", injuring himself.

    He calls for "calm and responsibility", saying that the protests had now "fallen into the hands of vandals". Leroy says that violent demonstrators should be held accountable for any damage caused.

  6. Protesters need to make 'a lot of noise' across France, student says

    James Waterhouse
    Reporting from Paris

    Diego looks at the camera outside a stone building. He has long curly hair and is wearing a black Brazil football shirt with yellow details.

    Diego told the BBC he is protesting for the first time due to unsafe conditions in schools

    A protester in Paris has told the BBC that pupils want French classrooms to become safer.

    The student, who identified himself as Diego, says "it's not normal" for there to be 40 students in a class for two hours. "We are angry," he says.

    The 16-year-old says that "a lot of noise" is needed to bring about change and says that all French schools will need to protest.

    Diego adds that pupils from his school have not caused any damage.

    "The guys who are making trouble here are not from the school," he says.

  7. Photos show fires burning as French education protests continue

    It's early afternoon in France, where student protests are continuing across the country.

    We're seeing photos of fires in multiple locations and riot police responding to protesters.

    Young people wearing masks look on as a bike and wheelie bins set fire in front of themGetty Images

    Near Place de la Nation in Paris

    Lines of police stand on a pedestrianed street wearing protective masks and pointingGetty Images

    Police line a street in Nancy, northeastern France

    A few lines of female students look forwardsGetty Images

    Students gather after a fire destroys the entrance of their school in Nantes, western France

    A police man pulls a young man down the street, pictured from behindGetty Images

    An arrest made in Lyon on Friday. Some 1,949 arrests were made on Thursday alone

    Huge flame on the road opposite shop frontsReuters

    Firefighters extinguish burning road materials set up as barricades amid clashes during a protest in Pantin, France

  8. Students just want to study with dignity, youth centre head says

    Laëtitia Degeuse speaking in a park in front of a cameraEVN

    Degeuse says she's "devastated" by the violence being directed at students

    Laëtitia Degeuse, a director of a youth centre in Rennes, north-west France, says she's "stunned and shocked by such a massive deployment against young people". She says students "are simply trying to live and study in dignified conditions".

    Degeuse tells the Eurovision News Exchange that "with all this violence, we can’t even hear their demands anymore, even though they’re entirely legitimate."

    The director says it's not just education that is suffering in France, but all public services. "We all have a stake in showing solidarity with a movement like this," Degeuse says.

    Overcrowded classrooms, unsanitary facilities, and a shortage of teachers is the current state of education in France, she explains.

  9. Some 564 French schools facing disruption, education ministry says

    Manon Prat
    Reporting from Paris

    Secondary school protests are continuing today, with 564 schools which "have been or are currently the subject of industrial action or disruption since the start of the day", the Ministry of National Education says.

    Minister Édouard Geffray said earlier that nearly 400 of France's 3,700 secondary schools were closed on Friday, with many schools planning to deliver lessons remotely.

  10. Protests causing major transport disruption across France

    High school students stand amid tear gas as clashes erupt between students and riot police during a protest over conditions in the education system in Montpellier on 2 October 2026.EPA/Shutterstock

    Cities and towns across France are reporting widespread disruption to local transport because of the protests.

    In the south of the country, the official website for a local transport network in Bordeaux has disruption alerts for all six of its tram lines.

    It says "manifestations lycéennes sur la Métropole" (high school student protests in the city) is the reason for the disruption.

    In the north, some transport services in Lille are no longer running because of the closure of a nearby school, where protesters had recently gathered.

    And in the east, school protests in a town south of Strasbourg have also resulted multiple transport services being stopped, according to one local transport website.

    French newspaper Le Monde reported that transport in Orléans, Nice, La Rochelle, and Marseille were suspended for part of Thursday.

  11. BBC Verify

    Verified videos show violence and disorder in Marseille

    A side-by-side of two screengrab showing a fire engine being attacked by people in black, then it being set on fireX

    By Paul Brown and Shayan Sardarizadeh

    One video shows a group of masked people, some of whom are dressed all in black, attacking a fire engine outside Lycee Saint-Expury, a school in France’s second largest city.

    The group can be seen hitting the emergency vehicle with blunt objects and smashing its windows.

    At one point a bright flame is seen in the driver's cab, and a cheer from the crowd can be heard.

    A second video also shows protesters attacking the fire engine, with one individual seen brandishing a saw. The vehicle is then seen fully engulfed in flame.

    Aftermath photos of the scene show the fire engine completely burned out on the road, as well as the school building daubed in graffiti.

    Another video, also filmed yesterday by a bus stop near the city’s port, shows a hooded individual spraying what appears to be a makeshift aerosol flamethrower at a woman’s face, before walking away.

    The details of the attack and the extent of the woman’s injuries are unclear.

  12. Parents should be liable for children's actions, says justice minister

    French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin looks over his left shoulder at a meeting. He is wearing a dark suit and is in front of a light blue backgroundGetty Images

    We can bring you a bit more from French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin, who has spoken to local media today.

    He has said he wants parents to be liable for damage caused by children during the school protests.

    He tells France's RTL radio that parents should be held accountable for their children's actions and explains he has asked prosecutors to seek "civil liability" from parents to cover the cost of damages.

    He says: "Parents must fulfill their responsibilities as parents. What are 15 and 16-year-old kids doing attacking bus shelters or their school principals?"

  13. Union member says students 'fundamentally right' to demand better conditions

    Vincent Martin, a 49-year-old member of an education union in France, tells Reuters he is attending a protest in support of his daughter and her classmates who had blockaded access to their high school.

    "We’re here both to support them, because we believe they’re fundamentally right to demand more teachers, better learning conditions, classrooms that aren’t overheated, and substitute teachers when their regular teachers are absent," he says.

    "There are 36 students per class in 10th grade. These aren’t ideal conditions for studying."

  14. Shock of Nantes school fire devastates students

    Paul Kirby
    Europe digital editor

    Firefighters manage the damaged entrance hall at Nelson Mandela High School in Nantes, western France on October 1, 2026. after a 'deliberately set fire' engulfed the lobby of the establishment which was under blockade by students.AFP

    The school in Nantes will remain closed for several weeks

    Students stood outside the lycée Nelson-Mandela in Nantes yesterday, some of them in tears as they watched the attractive glass facade burn down as fire spread inside the building and damaged the cafeteria and other areas.

    The Nantes fire has become one of the defining images of the school protests, and it has prompted widespread anger.

    "Today my high-school burned. OUR school," one teenager called Juliette posted on Instagram. "People from outside... (non-pupils) came to blockade the school; things degenerated and they started a fire."

    Although it was one of three schools in the city where fires were lit, the Nelson-Mandela stands out as it is only 12 years old. It cost €64m (£54m) to build and provides education for 1,700 students. Like most of the other school fires, it apparently began with protesters setting fire to bins outside the school.

    There is a widepread belief that the students' campaign is often being hijacked by external casseurs (vandals) and it means that many pupils whose schools have been damaged or closed are having to continue their education remotely, if their safety cannot be guaranteed.

    Nelson-Mandela high school won't reopen until the end of the half-term break early next month.

  15. Some protests on Thursday led to disorder around France

    What started as a coordinated blockade of secondary schools across France has spiralled into disorder in some parts of the country.

    Many of those protesting are doing so peacefully. But on Thursday, some demonstrations escalated into violent incidents and prompted the government to call a crisis meeting with its intelligence agencies.

    These pictures were all captured on Thursday.

    A rally in central Brest, western FranceAFP via Getty Images

    A rally in central Brest, western France

    A row of riot police stand behind a burning bin and one protesterAFP via Getty Images

    Riot police confront protesters outside Le Corbusier secondary school in Aubervilliers, north of Paris

    Burnt in front of the Blaise Pascal high school entrance in Rouen, north-west FranceAFP via Getty Images

    The entry to Blaise Pascal high school is burnt in Rouen, north-west France

    Students hold placards and raise their fists in the airNurPhoto via Getty Images

    Many students have been protesting peacefully - including outside this school in Strasbourg, France

    A burnt fire truck outside Saint-Exupéry high school in northern MarseilleAFP via Getty Images

    This fire truck was burnt outside Saint-Exupéry high school in northern Marseille

  16. 'We've won' because school is closed today, protester says

    A police officer with a riot shield stands in the shade at the end of a street. At the other end of the road a small fire can be seen in the road. Several people can be seen standing watching on from a bus shelter nearbyGetty Images

    High school students confront authorities in Rennes, western France, on Thursday

    Students dressed in black and wearing balaclavas are protesting outside a high school in the city of Rennes in western France. Students there have spoken to journalists from AFP news agency.

    "As far as we're concerned, we've won - our school is closed this morning," Lola, a 16-year-old protester tells the AFP.

    She condemns what she describes as police violence.

    "It makes us even angrier - the police have no right to hit us or use tear gas on us."

  17. Photos from France show blazes and police confronting protesters

    These are some of the latest pictures coming in to us from across France, where disorder is continuing, sparked by a wave of student protests against conditions in schools.

    In Paris, emergency personnel have been working to put out fires, while police in Brest are deploying tear gas on some demonstrators.

    A protester throws a stop sign into a fire near Kerichen High School in Brest, western FranceAFP via Getty Images

    A protester throws a stop sign into a fire near Kerichen High School in Brest, western France

    Thick plumes of tear gas cover people wearing black jumpers and face coverings who stand against riot policeAFP via Getty Images

    Police have used tear gas against protesters in Brest

    The burnt-out entrance to Roger Verlomme secondary school in Paris with charred lime bikes and rubbish lying outsideAFP via Getty Images

    The charred entrance to Roger Verlomme secondary school in Paris this morning

    Emergency responders put out a fire burning outside a schoolAFP via Getty Images

    Firefighters put out a blaze outside Leonard de Vinci secondary school in Paris

  18. French justice minister says 'not entirely sure' all protesters are students

    French Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin wears a blue suit as he steps out of a building at the Elysee Palace in ParisReuters

    French Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin has said there is an "active and violent minority" taking part in the protests.

    "We're not entirely sure that they are even high school students themselves," he tells France's RTL radio. He adds that two-thirds of the 2,000 people arrested since protests began have been placed in police custody.

    "We have gone from high-school student demonstrations to a public order disturbance. When people target buses and set schools on fire, it is no longer simply a protest issue," he adds.

  19. More than 100 schools severely damaged since protests began, says education minister

    An employee in an orange vest washes graffiti off the front street near a school. The entrance has been burnt and there is debris scattered across the streetGetty Images

    An employee cleans a graffiti at the entrance of Nelson Mandela's high school after a fire

    French Education Minister Édouard Geffray says "more than a hundred" schools have experienced "severe damage" since the beginning of the protests.

    He tells French broadcaster BFMTV that 65 staff members were injured, including 40 head teachers, and that 1,207 high schools were disrupted or blocked on Thursday.

    Geffray adds that 160 students had to be evacuated by staff at Nelson Mandela high school in Nantes, western France.

    The education minister argues that the student protests movement had been "hijacked" and that teachers had told him that "the people in front of me were not my students".

  20. Students, unions, politicians: Who is involved in the school protest movement

    Ryad Rani, president of the USL union for secondary schools in FranceAFP via Getty Images

    Ryad Rani, president of the USL union for secondary schools in France

    Though protests first broke out in schools around Paris last month, the demonstrations spread nationwide after France's main union for secondary school students called for a nationwide blockade.

    Union Syndicale Lycéenne (USL) called for the school blockade last week because, it said, "other student actions, such as petitions or demonstrations, elicit no response from our political leaders".

    This blockade, which took place on Tuesday, was organised to coincide with a wider public sector strike against spending cuts in the government's draft budget.

    With teachers among those striking on Tuesday, education union Fédération Syndicale Unitaire (FSU) backed the movement and called for the "fight for public services and education to become a collective struggle" in a statement on Thursday.

    But the protests have also become a site for party political sparring, with the government and hard-right politicians blaming the hard left - in particular the radical La France Insoumise (LFI) party - for igniting the protests. LFI's leader said blaming the left would not solve issues underlying the demonstrations.