Maxime François is a PhD researcher in the Leuven Economics of Education Research group at the Faculty of Economics and Business, KU Leuven. He holds a BSc and MSc in Economics respectively from the Université de Namur and KU Leuven, as well as a Research Master’s in Economics from KU Leuven. He began his PhD immediately after completing his studies. His research focuses on education economics and policy evaluation. At KU Leuven, Maxime contributed to a report for the European Commission examining the various consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic on compulsory education. François acknowledges support from the Horizon Europe project BRIDGE (grant 101177154).