This thesis examines how the educational provision in lower secondary schools is structured and the forms of differentiated access it creates for pupils. Drawing on a longitudinal cohort of 571 pupils followed over three years (2022–2025) in four contrasting lower secondary schools, it combines institutional ethnography, iterative interviews and administrative data to understand how resources, mechanisms and modes of access are organised at the school level.
The analysis traces the progression of this provision – as it is implemented institutionally – right through to the educational package that each pupil actually encounters, demonstrating how the regulations specific to each school translate an educational stance into differentiated access. It thus sheds light on the organisational logic and local configurations through which inequalities in educational pathways are created, often in ways that are not readily apparent.
The examination board will consist of Anne Barrère and Georges Felouzis (rapporteurs), as well as Xavier Pons and Ariane Richard-Bossez (examiners).