The list of the best schools: a means of standardising scholarship ?

Each year, the publication of the list of the top business grandes écoles (prestigious state-run schools at university level with competitive entrance examinations) sparks off reactions from those which have been graded, ranging from pride at the progress accomplished, to indignation - even rage – from those which have dropped down the list. Patrick Fauconnier explains how the success of this ranking system is based on the demand of students and their families to guarantee that they have made a good investment. It has been shown that a publication produced by a journalist can be a very useful guide both for schools and for students. This is because such a publication shows clear evaluation criteria and conforms to the ethical rules of the profession of journalism. However, is it the journalist’s role to produce such lists because schools fail to do so, and there is no regulatory mechanism ? Is it really the journalist’s role to define evaluation criteria and to produce a comparative study of a group of educational institutions ?