During the 1980s and 1990s, education levels rose amongst all age groups, firstly in secondary education, then in higher education. Prolonged studies applied more to girls than to boys because a greater number of girls chose general training at the end of year 11. Amongst the generations born before 1970, the disparities in duration of studies were highest between young people with the highest levels of training and those leaving the school system early. Amongst the generations that followed, who experienced the expansion of secondary education, these disparities grew less pronounced, before stabilising.