In 2018, things went a step further. The joint Mines–Ponts entrance examination permanently banned calculators from all papers in every stream (the institutions concerned are: École des Ponts ParisTech; Isae-Supaero; Ensta ParisTech; Telecom ParisTech; Mines ParisTech, Saint-Étienne and Nancy; IMT Atlantique; Ensae ParisTech). Moreover, rumor had it that most of the other grandes écoles entrance examinations might follow suit in 2019.
The admissions regulations for the joint entrance examination state explicitly: "Calculators are prohibited in all written papers. Slide rules, however, are permitted. For science papers, any numerical data needed for calculations will be provided in the questions." You read that correctly: the slide rule is making a grand comeback, along with rounding numbers in scientific notation and orders of magnitude!
Over time, calculators have become more powerful and acquired new features (academic databases, graphics, programming, connectivity…). But technological progress ultimately created a situation that had spiraled out of control. At high-school level, an "exam mode" can restrict calculators, so they may still be used. But for reasons of social inequality (linked to their cost), an examination such as the baccalauréat banned them in 2018.
Calculators in entrance exams: end of an era | Tangente
Calculators in entrance exams: less and less often allowed
For several years now, some written papers in the competitive entrance examinations for France's engineering grandes écoles have prohibited calculators. But this was not a blanket rule.
