Driving license, English test… How do the French use their CPF?

According to the Caisse des Dépôts, the most oversubscribed certifications via CPF are the driver's license, training for business developers and the TOEIC English test.

Employees will be hired soon. As part of a €10 billion savings plan announced by Bruno Le Maire on Sunday, the government confirmed flat-rate contributions to the Personal Training Account (CPF) for workers.

“As you know the Personal Training Account represents an effort of more than 2 billion euros, we have decided on a policy of flat-rate participation from 2023, except for employees, companies and jobseekers,” Public Accounts Minister Thomas announced on Monday. Cazenave promises that introducing a co-payment of at least 10% would generate savings of 200 million euros.

The move follows recommendations by the Court of Auditors from June 2023, which recommended establishing a small financial contribution using employees' CPF, and channeling their choices towards training “towards improving skills and employability”.

“This balance should be set at a very low level, for example 5% or 10% of the cost of training, and adjusted according to the level, so as not to deter CPF holders, especially those with low incomes, from using it. The qualification of the training desired by the beneficiaries was assessed as “an even more significant area” where the training “costs do not lead to a qualification, even if they have a positive effect on the career of the beneficiaries (for example a driving license)”.

Driver's license in mind

According to data from the Caisse des Dépôts, 1.8 million training files were verified by the CPF in 2022. By the end of that year the Mon Compte Formation site had another 200,000 offers. However, the latter “focuses on a small number of training areas, as one in two training courses” is “offered in transport, handling, shopping or modern languages”, the Caisse des Dépôts noted in September 2023. He added that “out of more than 80 training areas, the top 20 account for more than 90% of the training available on the site.”

Of the certificates actually subscribed by CPF, the driver's license comes first (17% of the training), followed by the training offered to business developers and buyers (14%), and the Toeic English test (7%). This is followed by skill assessment (5%), training in the use of spreadsheet software (2%) and Excel Office certification (2%).

While the average cost of CPF-provided training is €2,280 in 2022 for an average of 130 hours, the prices and durations of actually subscribed training are much lower: €1,430 for 53 hours. For a driver's license, the average price is 910 euros for an average 19-hour training period.

These differences between the prices shown and the prices actually paid underline, on the one hand, that “personal training account holders train primarily according to their available balance, which is an average of 1,460 euros at the beginning of 2022”. Caisse des Dépôts. In addition, jobseekers, employees and the self-employed, who represent a third of training courses, choose certificates that are on average 13% cheaper (1,310 euros on average) than subscriptions (1,490 euros).

The difference is also because job seekers “often prepare for certification training directly linked to an occupation, while employees and the self-employed are more likely to pursue certifications in languages ​​or information technology.” Caisse des Dépôts. “Though the top two ranks of the most subscribed certificates are the Class B driver's license and the Training Activities for Business Developers and Buyers (ACRE)”.

Geographical differences

Another study by the Caisse des Dépôts found that the use of CPF is higher in cities than in rural areas by the beginning of 2023. “The rate of use of CPF (employed workers) is very important as the level of density is high,” he noted: 5.5% in dense areas, 3.6% in intermediate density areas, 2.9% in low density areas and 2.2% in very low density areas in 2021, we read. .

This observation is amplified when we focus only on job seekers. “It is jobseekers in dense areas who, relative to their numbers, are more willing to mobilize their CPF entitlements (13.9% compared to 11% in middle-income areas and 10.6% in low-income areas”), the report said.

The study also underlines that the training courses followed are “directly linked to the training of a particular profession in rural areas”. Thus, “use of CPF to fund B permit is ten times higher in dense areas than in rural areas”. In these areas, obtaining a driver's license “occupies the first rank of training funded by CPF entitlements (19% of all beneficiaries), third in medium density areas (7%) and, ninth and tenth ranks in low density and least dense areas (3% of beneficiaries).