The government expects the nationwide survey to reveal the scale of abuse as authorities face scrutiny over tens of thousands of cases awaiting action.
French schools will add questions on sexual and gender-based violence to an annual questionnaire completed by millions of pupils, Education Minister Édouard Geffray announced on Monday.
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Geffray said he expected the survey to produce "seismic results" because of the scale of the problem.
Around 10 million pupils, from the final year of pre-school through to the end of secondary education, will be asked about sexual or gender-based violence they may have experienced, Geffray told several French regional newspapers.
"One child in 10 is a victim of sexual violence in France," he said.
The questionnaire will initially be anonymous, although pupils will have the option of giving their name if they want to speak to a trusted adult.
Geffray said the questions would be drawn up in consultation with school staff, parents' associations and a committee of experts including child psychiatrists.
The minister also said France's national education system was the country's leading source of reports concerning violence against minors.
A total of 88,000 reports raising concerns about children were filed in 2025 in connection with sexual violence or parental failings.
Tens of thousands of complaints awaiting action
The announcement comes after a series of cases raised concerns about the handling of sexual violence against children in France.
Last autumn, several scandals involving allegations of sexual violence emerged in after-school childcare services in Paris, leading to the suspension of dozens of activity leaders, including over allegations of sexual assault. Similar cases were reported elsewhere in France.
More recently, the death of 11-year-old Lyhanna, whose body was found in the Gers department in southwestern France in early June, triggered a fresh wave of public outrage.
The main suspect in her murder, Jérôme Barella, had previously been the subject of several complaints alleging sexual assault against minors but had not been questioned over them.
Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin subsequently asked France's chief prosecutors to review complaints involving children.
The review found that 85,047 complaints involving sexual violence against minors were still being processed. The findings were forwarded by Darmanin to the interior minister Laurent Nuñez.
The figure does not include so-called “phantom” cases — complaints or investigations that remained within the system but were not properly reflected in official records.
In Nîmes, in southern France, magistrates uncovered 3,972 pending cases within investigative services, nearly three times the 1,497 cases that had previously been recorded.