Student demonstrations in France have spiralled into widespread riots, with schools set ablaze and teachers reportedly attacked and doused with petrol.
What began as largely peaceful protests over the state of education has erupted into violence across several major cities, leaving a trail of disorder.
The protests began last Monday, as students and teaching staff took to streets across French towns and cities. They were calling for absent teachers to be replaced, more educational resources, school renovations and what they described as “decent” learning conditions.
However, tensions have intensified since Tuesday, with around 600 people arrested and 85 police officers injured.
The unrest accelerated this week after Bally Bagayoko, the left-wing mayor of Saint-Denis, told demonstrators on Tuesday that “violence can be legitimate” — remarks that triggered widespread anger in France.
In Marseille, staff at Victor Hugo High School were sprayed with petrol during an attempted arson attack. Every member of staff was forced to shelter inside the building for protection.
In Nantes, flames tore through the entrance hall of Nelson Mandela High School this morning.
Gaëlle Cordier, the school’s deputy head, described the incident as an act of “arson.”
The entrance hall of Nelson Mandela High School (pictured) was engulfed in flames today
High school students gesture as a fire burns in the background during a demonstration near Lycée Déodat in Toulouse, southwestern France, on October 1, 2026
Video from inside the school showed flames spreading across every level of the entrance hall while onlookers gathered outside.
A second recording filmed from a distance captured thick smoke billowing from the building.
Elsewhere in Marseille, a firefighter was injured after rioters torched a fire engine near Saint-Exupéry High School this morning.
Footage showed young men dressed in black striking the emergency vehicle with metal objects before cheering as flames rapidly engulfed it.
Marseille mayor Benoît Payan issued an appeal for calm.
Writing on social media, he said: “Our youth is legitimately concerned about its future and that of the public service. It must be able to express itself within a calm framework.”
He added: “Today, our city is the scene of unacceptable violence, fires and assaults suffered by teachers, firefighters, journalists and Marseillais, which no cause can justify.”
“I call for calm from each and every one, and for finding a path towards democratic expression of these grievances,” Payan said.
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The left-wing mayor of Saint-Denis, Bally Bagayoko (pictured), told protesters on Tuesday ‘violence can be legitimate’
Protesting students throw items onto burning trash bins, as part of ongoing student blockading action calling for the hiring of substitute teachers, increased resources, and decent learning conditions in Lille, northern France, on October 1, 202
A protester kicks tear gas canister amid clashes with French riot police during a protest by high school and university students near Lycee Paul Eluard high school in Saint-Denis, near Paris, France, on October 1, 2026
Trash bins are set on fire in front of the Lycee des Menuts secondary school during a student protest in Bordeaux, south-western France, on October 1, 2026
‘Marseille stands alongside those who defend the public service and the future of our youth, not alongside those who destroy, set fires, and commit violence.’
Speaking in Madrid yesterday, President Emmanuel Macron slammed hard-Left politicians he accused of ‘legitimising violence’ in the French school protests.
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Mr Macron has since called a crisis meeting in Paris to deal with the continually growing violence.
French media reported that all ministerial trips have been cancelled until the beginning of next week, in light of the heightened security situation.
Interior minister Laurent Nuñez slammed the ‘targeting of law enforcement officers, the throwing of projectiles, acts of violence, verbal abuse, attempted arson, and what amounts… to urban violence’.
Education minister Édouard Geffray today called for classes to be held remotely at schools where blockades are taking place.
He described the violent scenes this morning as ‘extremely serious’, calling for ‘those who commit this violence to be prosecuted and punished’ and adding: ‘It goes far beyond the issue of schools alone. No demand can justify such acts.’
In Pas-de-Calais, the headteacher of the Fernand Degrugillier vocational high school in Auchel was injured by a ‘mortar’ firework this morning.
A student kicks a trash bin on fire as students carry out a blockading protest at the Louis Pasteur middle school, in Strasbourg eastern France, on October 1, 2026
Students burn garbage as they protest to demand more resources, in Lille, France, Thursday, October 1, 2026
French national police in anti-riot gear detain a protester as students carry out a blocking protest at the Cesar Baggio secondary school during a day of nationwide public sector strikes and demonstrations, in Lille, on September 29, 2026
The man, in his fifties, was hit in the ear and taken to hospital, officials said. Regional authorities said that 37 have been arrested since this morning.
In Bordeaux, dramatic footage taken on Rue Sainte-Catherine in Bordeaux, one of Europe’s longest shopping streets, showed teenage protesters lighting cans of aerosol on fire in a pile.
After a few seconds, the pile exploded and the gathered crowd of thugs cheered.
At the Claude Fauriel high school in Saint-Étienne, countless young men in hoodies were seen running through the campus.
Several cities have said that their public transport systems have come to a complete standstill.
Marseille officials announced it will stop bus, tram and metro services following a targeted attack against a bus driver near high schools in the north and east of the city.
Meanwhile, Strasbourg has suspended its tram services ‘in order to limit the movement of vandals and protesters’.
Grenoble officials said they were shutting off the city’s bus and tram services due to the ‘high school student movement’.
In Marseille, a firefighter was injured after rioters set a fire engine alight near the Saint-Exupéry high school this morning
A student displays a placard which reads ‘Gen Z is Angry’ near burning trash bins, as part of ongoing student blockading action calling for the hiring of substitute teachers, increased resources, and decent learning conditions in Lille, northern France, on October 1, 2026
At the Claude Fauriel high school in Saint-Étienne, countless young men in hoodies were seen running through the campus
Bins were set alight by rioting young people across France
The left-wing mayor of Saint-Denis, Bally Bagayoko, said early this morning that he stood by his Tuesday remarks as ‘they are the correct words of a mayor who does not wish to engage in a logic of escalating violence’.
The Paris Police Prefect has since filed a complaint against Mr Bagayoko for ‘incitement to commit a crime’.
Yesterday evening, French security services said they had arrested over 600 people during the national riots.
Eighty-three police officers and gendarmes were wounded on Wednesday during the protests, which affected a total of 356 schools, he added.
