Training providers are vehemently opposed to the new restrictions on the CPF (Personal Training Account).

In 2024, nearly 1,4 million training courses were financed by a CPF (Personal Training Account), including 22,3% for car (B) driving licenses and 9,5% for motorcycle (A1 and A2) licenses. Language training accounted for 9,9%, business creation training for 6%, and skills assessments for 5,7%.

Employees working at least half-time have their CPF (Personal Training Account) credited with 500 euros per year, up to a maximum of 5.000 euros. Unused funds in the CPF, managed by the Caisse des Dépôts (French public sector financial institution), are allocated to the general resources of the State.

The draft budget, which still needs to be validated by the Constitutional Council, provides for each training course a "ceiling of rights that can be mobilized", which is 1.500 euros for training courses falling under the "specific directory (RS)" (mainly in languages ​​and office skills) and 1.600 euros for skills assessments, according to a draft decree obtained by AFP.

According to the Ministry of Labour, RS training courses cost on average 1.600 euros and skills assessments 1.700 euros in 2025.

But according to Déborah Guillotin, president of My English School France, we are most often "on average packages of 2.200 - 2.500 euros" for language courses.

Her company has already felt the impact of the introduction of the out-of-pocket expenses. "Before, we had cleaning ladies who came to train. Today, we're dealing with upper-class employees," she reports.

"This will prevent or severely limit training in digital skills and AI, which are almost all in the specific directory," also states Orianne Ledroit, general manager of EdTech France, an association that federates 450 training organizations for education and training in digital technologies.

"Social exclusion"

And "skills assessments will never be co-financed" as the government wants, "because people who retrain generally do so without the agreement of an employer and in a confidential manner," emphasizes Garance Yverneau, general secretary of the Skills Actors, which brings together 1.150 professional training companies.

The government explains that the caps are intended "to contain the inflationary effects observed on certain training offers".

In 2023, a report by the Court of Auditors highlighted "abuses" of the CPF, including abusive sales tactics and the financing of "non-certifying training".

Today "we are in crisis, but we must not say that training organizations are abusing (the system), that has not been the case for a long time," assures Arnaud Portanelli, co-founder of Lingueo, a certification body that delivers the Lilate, a test of aptitude to work in English.

The effect of the reform will first be "a mechanical social exclusion, that is to say of all the groups concerned by the skills assessment who are a little more in difficulty, for example the middle classes, single-parent families", points out Ms. Yverneau.

"The population of micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses is the public that will be most impacted by this reform," says Anaïs Prétot, head of LiveMentor, which trains business creators.

She highlights the sensitivity of CPF users to the cost of training: "We have barely 10% of users who spend 1 euro more than the 103,20 euro co-payment", which will increase to 150 euros.

To achieve 250 million in savings in a full year, the reform will also prohibit the use of the CPF for driving licences B and A2 (motorcycles of less than 35kw), except for the unemployed and employees in the context of a professional project, a provision that the professional federation Mobilians, as well as the RN and LFI, have asked the Constitutional Council to annul.

The cost of the driving licence will also be limited to 900 euros (excluding heavy goods vehicle licences).

In a statement released at the end of January, the ECF network of 500 driving schools warned of "increased difficulties in accessing employment and in getting around in rural or peri-urban areas".

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.