With 77,388 new high school graduates, Senegal has seen a slight decline in its success rate, which has fallen to 47.62%. The Minister of Higher Education is calling for strengthening the fundamentals. Indeed, Abdourahmane Diouf spoke to the press this Wednesday at his ministry in Diamniadio. It should be noted that figures show that the Senegalese baccalaureate is in the process of becoming more widespread: more students, more institutions, and more candidates. But this openness is not enough to guarantee success for all. "What we want now is a quality baccalaureate. A diploma that reflects excellence, fairness, and the ability of our young people to face the academic and professional world," argued Minister Abdourahmane Diouf.

The 2025 baccalaureate exam reveals a system that is moving forward, but is struggling to combine accessibility and performance. The high participation rate, the breakthrough of the technical baccalaureate, and the dominance of the public sector are all positive signs.

But the decline in the success rate, the low proportion of distinctions, and the inequalities between statuses and territories remind us that Senegalese schools continue to face fundamental challenges.

In numbers and in letters

The minister, who gave the official results figures for the 2025 baccalaureate in detail, emphasized that "with 77,388 candidates admitted out of 162,527 present, the national success rate stands at 47.62%, down from 2024 (50.50%) and 2023 (51.61%). A moderate but significant decline, which gives rise to reflection within the educational community." Despite this decline, the minister continued, participation continues to grow. "The number of registered students increased from 157,318 in 2021 to 166,403 in 2025, and the number of present students from 151,525 to 162,527. Senegal is thus showing positive momentum in terms of access to the baccalaureate, although the issue of quality remains," he said.

An analysis of the past five years reveals a jagged curve. After a historically low rate of 45.33% in 2021, results jumped to 51.99% in 2022, before gradually declining. "We must strengthen the quality of learning upstream. The baccalaureate is a mirror of the entire system. This decline should alert us collectively," declared Abdourahmane Diouf, Minister of Higher Education and Research.

The technical baccalaureate surpasses the general baccalaureate

The technical baccalaureate continues to show the best results: 69.24% success rate at the national level, compared to 47.16% for the general baccalaureate. A marked difference, confirmed year after year. Among the 3,384 candidates for the technical baccalaureate (1,965 girls and 1,419 boys), 2,343 were admitted, a performance well above that of the 159,143 candidates for the general baccalaureate.

Between Catch-up and Honors

Of the 77,388 baccalaureate holders, 33,750 were admitted in the first round (43.61%), and 43,638 in the second round (56.39%). And according to the minister, this trend is confirmed year after year, highlighting the strategic importance of the second round in the exam architecture. He emphasized the need for better support for students from the intermediate classes onwards, to avoid last-minute rescues. For honors, only 10% of baccalaureate holders were distinguished. Of all those admitted, 8,081 received a honors, or only 10.44%. The "Assez Bien" honors remain the most common (6,661 candidates), followed by "Bien" (1,281) and "Very Good" (only 139). The L2 and S2 series account for the majority of honors, with a clear advantage going to the S2 series for "Bien" and "Very Good" honors. Literary remains the majority but less effective.

The number of high school graduates is distributed as follows: literary stream: 59,575 admitted (42.70% success rate for girls, 47.46% for boys), science and technology stream: 15,888 admitted (60.69%), tertiary stream: 1,925 admitted (71.56%). Despite its demographic weight, the literary stream remains the least successful in terms of success rate, raising questions about its attractiveness and long-term career prospects.

Public vs. Private: Disparities Persist

Public sector: 50,387 admissions, success rate of 57.92%, private secular: 22,478 admissions, rate of 42.05%, individual unsupervised: 4,523 admissions, rate of 20.49%. Here again, the gap is clear. Individual status remains the most vulnerable. The only exception is denominational institutions, which stand out with an impressive success rate of 89.16%, with no significant difference between girls and boys.

Regions and academies: Dakar still in the lead

Regarding the ranking of results by region, Dakar comes first (60.41%) among the best academies in terms of success rate. It is followed by Louga: 52.69%, Rufisque 52.04%. The least performing areas remain Sédhiou: 36.69% and Ziguinchor: 38.42%.