Toussaint holidays: a quick diagnosis before starting a catch-up programme

The Toussaint holidays (the autumn half-term break around All Saints’ Day) can be an opportunity to tackle a school difficulty, but not every student needs a catch-up programme. Before filling the diary with revision, it is better to identify what is really getting in the way: a forgotten concept, shaky foundations, a poorly understood method or a lack of independence. A 20-to-30-minute diagnosis, based on exercises already done in class, can help you choose between rest, targeted revision and support from a tutor. The aim is not to redo the curriculum since September, but to know precisely what to work on before school starts again.

1. Toussaint 2026: why start with a diagnosis?

For zones A, B and C (France’s three school-holiday zones) and for Corsica, the 2026 Toussaint holidays began after lessons on Saturday 17 October, with school resuming on Monday 2 November. Students who do not have lessons on Saturdays finished on Friday 16 October. These dates appear in the official school calendar of the ministère de l'Éducation nationale (the French education ministry). Some overseas territories follow a different calendar.

After several weeks of school, families often have some first clues: assessments, marked homework, teachers’ comments and difficulties encountered at home. These can help guide revision, provided that not every mistake is mistaken for a lasting gap.

A disappointing mark is not enough to conclude that a student needs academic support. A test may have been poorly prepared, an instruction misunderstood or an exercise unusually difficult. Conversely, a satisfactory average can hide a difficulty: some students succeed at their homework only because an adult guides them through every step.

The diagnosis should therefore answer three questions:

• What can the student do alone today? The aim is to identify the knowledge and methods genuinely available without a correction in front of them.
• Where does the block begin? In understanding the instruction, choosing a method, a calculation, a missing piece of knowledge or organising the work?
• Is the problem isolated or recurring? A mistake on one exercise does not necessarily call for the same response as a difficulty that has been present across several chapters.

These questions avoid automatically turning the holidays into a period of catching up. They also make it possible to distinguish work that can be done independently from a need that warrants a tutor’s involvement.

2. The quick diagnosis: 25 minutes to spot the priorities

This protocol is a practical suggestion, not a standardised school test. It replaces neither teachers’ assessments nor an in-depth educational diagnosis. Its value lies in gathering concrete observations before deciding how to use the holidays.

Step 1: select a specific problem (5 minutes)

Ask the student to choose a subject in which they are having difficulty. Then take a marked paper, an exercise from their exercise book or a recent assessment.

Avoid vague objectives such as “go over maths” or “improve in French”. Prefer wording that can be checked: “solve an equation without help”, “identify the important information in a text” or “build an argued paragraph”.

Also keep the teacher’s correction. It can help distinguish a simple careless mistake from reasoning that has not been understood.

Step 2: let the student try alone (10 minutes)

Set a representative exercise, of comparable difficulty to those studied in class. The student works without a correction and without immediate hints.

Above all, watch what they do when they hesitate: do they reread the instruction, start an approach, look for a relevant formula or wait to be told the first step?

Do not try to step in at every mistake. A wrong answer may reveal an approach that is almost acquired. Conversely, a correct result reached by chance does not demonstrate mastery of the method.

Step 3: ask for an explanation (5 minutes)

Invite the student to explain their reasoning in their own words: “Why did you choose this operation?”, “What made you hesitate?” or “How would you check your answer?”

They do not need to use perfect technical vocabulary straight away. The aim is to understand what they can justify and what remains implicit.

Step 4: test another situation (5 minutes)

After a short explanation if needed, set a similar but not identical exercise. This new attempt shows whether the student can begin to transfer the method.

If the exercise is successful, the result is encouraging, but not conclusive. A new check a few days later will show whether the method is still available without an immediate reminder.

3. Decision table: what revision depending on the result?

The diagnosis should not automatically lead to more hours of work. Depending on what is observed, it may lead to a short revision session, targeted help or simply protecting the holidays.

Result observed	Possible interpretation	Decision for the holidays
The student succeeds alone and explains their method.	The skill tested seems to be mastered.	Possibly plan a short reminder, without organising a catch-up programme.
One specific concept is blocking, but the foundations are solid.	Probably a targeted difficulty.	Review the concept and check how it is applied in a new exercise.
Several mistakes point back to the same earlier knowledge.	Prerequisites potentially shaky.	Go back over the basics in a logical order, with help if needed.
The student knows their lesson but cannot get started.	A possible difficulty with method or independence.	Work on reading instructions, choosing an approach and self-checking.
The student succeeds after an explanation, then fails a few days later.	Learning still fragile over time.	Space out reminders and plan exercises done without help.
The student is exhausted or very anxious about work.	The problem may go beyond the school concept.	Protect rest and talk with the school’s education team before stepping up the work.

This table helps you make a first decision, but a single observation cannot determine all the causes of a difficulty. When the block persists, talking with the teacher remains essential for understanding what is expected in class.

In particular, avoid labelling a student “unmotivated” too quickly. A child who systematically puts off their homework may lack method, not understand the instructions or be anticipating another failure. The right support depends on this distinction.

4. A concrete example: should all of maths be revisited during the holidays?

Imagine a student in 5e (the second year of collège, lower secondary school) whose last maths assessment was disappointing. His parents are considering several support sessions during the Toussaint holidays, because they feel he “hasn’t understood anything since September”. To know whether a full intensive course is needed or whether two or three targeted sessions are enough, the diagnosis must tell a specific gap apart from a set of shaky prerequisites.

The diagnosis first focuses on a proportionality exercise. The student correctly identifies the information, but makes a mistake when he has to calculate with fractions. On a second exercise, this time without proportionality, the same difficulty appears.

This finding changes the decision: there is no need to go back over every maths chapter straight away. The first objective is to check his mastery of operations with fractions and to identify precisely which ones cause problems.

Two scenarios are then possible.

Scenario A: an isolated difficulty

After going back over the operations concerned and doing a few exercises, the student finds a correct approach again. Two days later, he succeeds at an unfamiliar exercise without help. A one-off revision session, followed by a reminder before school starts, may then be enough for this objective.

Scenario B: several shaky prerequisites

The student keeps confusing operations, does not know how to check his calculations and runs into the same problems in different chapters. It then makes sense to build a progression: go back over the prerequisites, apply them separately, then use them in more complex exercises.

In this second case, a tutor can help put the work in order and stop the student from repeating incorrect procedures on his own. This does not necessarily mean he needs an intensive course or sessions for several months: the length should be reassessed according to progress.

This situation is fictional. It illustrates why two students who got the same mark may need two different arrangements.

5. A realistic schedule for the end of the 2026 Toussaint holidays

For a family starting its diagnosis on 21 October, there are still several days left before school resumes on 2 November in the mainland zones concerned. That is enough to identify a priority, hold a few targeted sessions and test what has been learnt, without filling every day.

Here is an example schedule for a collège student with a clearly defined difficulty. The durations and dates are indicative: they should be adapted to the student’s age, availability, tiredness and the work set by their school.

Dates	Suggested action	Objective
21 or 22 October	25-minute quick diagnosis.	Identify one or two real priorities.
23 October	First targeted revision session, about 25 to 40 minutes.	Understand the concept and start applying it.
24 and 25 October	Rest and personal activities.	Protect the holiday break.
26 or 27 October	Second session, independent or supported.	Work on the remaining mistakes with new exercises.
28 October	A break, or very light revision if useful.	Avoid work piling up.
29 or 30 October	A new check without a correction.	Assess what has been learnt after a few days.
31 October and 1st November	Rest and getting things ready for school.	Go back to school without extra overload.

This is neither an official programme nor a scientifically optimal frequency. A student whose knowledge is solid does not need to follow all these steps. Another, with significant gaps, may need a more gradual programme that continues after school resumes.

The key is to keep alternating between learning, independent attempts and delayed checking. The What Works Clearinghouse practice guide on organising instruction recommends, among other things, spacing out revision and using questions or exercises to actively retrieve knowledge.

These principles do not mean you should pile on quizzes during the holidays. A few well-chosen exercises can tell you more than a long session spent passively rereading several chapters.

6. Revise alone, ask for a session or consider a supported catch-up programme?

Once the diagnosis has been carried out, the question is no longer simply “how many hours of support are needed?”, but “what intervention will resolve this specific block?”.

Favour independent work if the method is already understood

When the student can identify their mistakes, find the relevant part of their notes and apply a correction, targeted independent work may be enough. It is then better to give them a precise task and check the result than to sit beside them for the whole session.

This approach is in line with the principles of metacognition and self-regulation analysed by the Education Endowment Foundation: learning to plan, monitor and evaluate your own work is a relevant educational lever, provided these strategies are taught and applied to concrete school tasks.

Call on a tutor if the block persists

If the student does not understand why their method fails, is building up gaps or cannot move forward without repeated hints, one-to-one support can be useful.

The Education Endowment Foundation’s synthesis on one-to-one tutoring highlights the value of support that targets identified needs, is linked to regular classroom learning and is accompanied by progress monitoring. The research synthesised concerns a variety of educational programmes; it does not guarantee the result of any particular service.

For a one-off need, a session can help clarify the difficulty and set the exercises to do afterwards. When several areas of knowledge are shaky, a few appointments spread over time may be more appropriate. The choice between regular follow-up and a concentrated format is explored further in our article on weekly sessions and intensive courses.

Check what the school offers

A paid private tutoring session is not the only option. The Éducation nationale notably provides stages de réussite (catch-up courses during the school holidays), organised according to schools and needs. They focus in particular on consolidating fundamental knowledge.

The fact that they exist does not mean that a course is available in every school for these holidays. You need to ask the school’s education team about the arrangements and local options.

7. How can you check that the catch-up work has worked?

A student may succeed at an exercise immediately after an explanation, then no longer know how to do it when school starts again. It is therefore useful to distinguish understanding during the session from the ability to reuse the knowledge later.

To assess the result, keep three pieces of work:

• An initial piece of work: the exercise done before any revision, with the mistakes observed.
• A piece of work after revision: a comparable exercise, done without a correction or guidance.
• A delayed piece of work: a new task, done a few days later or after school resumes.

The comparison should look at the method as much as the result. Does the student understand the instruction more quickly? Can they choose the right operation? Do they spot a mistake without waiting for an adult to point it out?

For example, a student who used to spend ten minutes waiting for help and who now manages to start an exercise alone is showing a worthwhile change. It remains to be confirmed that this independence carries over to other situations.

A school test can then provide additional information, but a change in mark should not be mechanically attributed to the few revision sessions done during the holidays. The difficulty of the test, the concepts assessed and the working conditions can also vary.

If the difficulty persists, the review should make it possible to adjust the approach: go back over a prerequisite, change the type of exercise, ask the teacher’s opinion or consider different support.

8. How NOEO can support targeted catch-up work

When a family identifies a need for support, NOEO makes it possible to search for an online private tutor and exchange messages with them before booking. Signing up and being put in touch are free for families, with no subscription; only the sessions booked are charged, with a final price shown before confirmation.

The value of support does not lie solely in the hour spent with the tutor. It also depends on how the session is prepared and on what the student can work on again afterwards.

On NOEO, a session can be organised around a precise objective and documents that are already available. The session takes place in the built-in NOEO Live space. After the session, the tutor can send a Session report setting out, in particular, the concepts covered, the difficulties encountered and the work to prepare.

Depending on eligibility, the student can also create a Learn pack on their own initiative, made up of a revision sheet, flashcards and a quiz. This revision tool is not generated automatically after each session and does not replace the work set by the tutor.

The aim remains the same: to enable the student to work on a concept again and check what they have learnt. You can find out how NOEO works before, during and after a session or browse the tutors available to present the need you have identified.

9. Mistakes to avoid during the holidays

Going back over the whole curriculum without setting priorities

Rereading every chapter since September can feel serious without addressing the main difficulty. Start with the knowledge that is genuinely stopping the student from moving forward and with what their teachers are asking them to consolidate.

Confusing time spent with progress

Two hours in front of an exercise book do not prove that knowledge has been acquired. It is more instructive to check what the student can explain, solve or recall alone after their work.

Turning every holiday day into a school day

Rest is not wasted time. A programme that stops the student from enjoying their holidays can become hard to sustain. It is better to set a few realistic priorities than to multiply sessions without taking their tiredness into account.

Waiting until school resumes to check the result

When the family only looks at the first mark obtained in November, it risks missing useful information. A short exercise done before school starts again already shows whether the work has produced more independent understanding.

Forgetting to involve the student in the decision

A programme imposed without explaining its purpose may be experienced as a punishment. Asking the child what they find difficult, what they would like to understand and what they think they can work on alone helps build a clearer approach.

The Toussaint holidays need not, therefore, become a revision boot camp. For some students, one corrected exercise and two reminders will be enough to consolidate a concept. For others, the holidays will help identify gaps that call for support after school resumes. A successful diagnosis means knowing what to work on, why, and how to check that the difficulty is really starting to be overcome.