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Students occupying universities in Paris, Grenoble, Lyon and Marseille have stopped mid-term tests in external exam halls from taking place as the government struggles to contain protests against a new undergraduate admissions system.
A group of students who had been occupying Paris Nanterre University since 9 April moved their protest to exam halls in Arcueil to the south of Paris on 11 May. They joined up with striking postmen, railway workers and others from France’s far-left unions, leading to a stand-off with police.
During the standoff, Gérard Collomb, the minister of the interior, said on Twitter that the police would do “what was necessary to allow students to take their exams in peace, as is their right”. But later that morning, after skirmishes with police, Paris Nanterre University and the Sciences Po grande école, whose students were also due to sit exams that morning, postponed the exams.