42 (school)

42 is a private institution of higher education in computer science founded by Xavier Niel, Nicolas Sadirac (former executive director at Epitech), Kwame Yamgnane, and Florian Bucher (former executives at Epitech). The school opened in Paris in 2013. The school does not have any professors and is open 24/7. Students are trained through peer-to-peer pedagogy, and project-based learning.

42's name is a reference to the book The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy written by British author Douglas Adams: in the book, 42 is the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.

History


Announced on March 26, 2013, 42 was opened in Paris on July 15, 2013, for the selection phase called La Piscine (the swimming-pool).

On May 17, 2016, 42 announced plans to open a second campus in Fremont, California. The Fremont campus was closed in 2020.

As of 2023, 47 campuses have been opened in 26 countries. In addition to the official campus in Paris, France, the school model was adopted in Lyon, Reims, and Mulhouse, France, as well as in Spain, Romania, South Africa, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Moldova, Belgium, Russia, Morocco, the Netherlands, Indonesia, Finland, Germany, Adelaide, Australia, Armenia, the United Arab Emirates, London, Quebec, Canada, Bangkok, Florence, Rome, Lausanne, Switzerland and Turkey.

In June 2024, Québec numérique (the non-profit organization hosting 42 Québec and its campus) announced its closure in the following month, blaming a missing grant payment from Quebec's Ministry of Employment and Social Solidarity. The Ministry blamed "possible irregularities [...] on the management of the grant."

Operation
The mode of operation of 42 was notably inspired by that of Epitech: selection using "swimming pool" sessions and teaching according to the project mode. 42 Network attempts to establish 24/7 technology support communities in major cities worldwide through the participation of collaborative entities, achieving integration of education, industry, and technology exchange.

Admission and registration
The candidate must be at least 18 years old or hold a baccalauréat (it is possible to start an application for candidates in the year of their baccalaureate). No diploma is required for applicants over 18 years of age. In 2015, an experiment took place with Pôle Emploi to train a group of around thirty unemployed seniors in programming for ten months. This training has since been renewed each year.

The first selection is made using a series of logic and memory tests on the institution's website intended to assess the students' abilities to learn computer science. The second selection is called the “piscine”, meaning "pool" in French: an intensive four-week selection process during which the applicant must carry out practical work in the C Language as well as community service, sometimes considered by students as a degrading punishment. It's not uncommon for students to work 10 to 12h per day, including on week-ends, to complete the "piscine". Under the eye of the educational team who scrutinizes all their actions from the "jar" (office of the educational team) using surveillance-based big data: where are the students sitting? With whom are their usually pairing? ….

Registration for training is free and concerns each year about 850 students in Paris.

Particularities of the training
There are no lectures or practical work supervised by professors. Students are free to organize their days to carry out the projects proposed by the teaching team. The establishment is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The training provided is intended to be inspired by the changes brought about by the Internet with a pedagogy qualified as "peer-to-peer". Depending on the course chosen by the student, it delivers an RNCP title of level 6: a certificate recognized by the French State, but no diploma.

Program
The first projects are mainly focused on development in C language in a UNIX platform environment. Depending on their level, the student can enroll in two-week educational “pools” to discover new programming paradigms: web in PHP, object-oriented in C++, functional in OCaml and Unity. Other projects introduce students to computer security, mobile development and the network.

Business model
The investment was made by Xavier Niel: 70 million euros, including 20 million for the creation of the Parisian establishment and 50 million to cover its operating costs for 10 years. The objective when creating 42 is to allow the creation of 150 companies each year, including five Internet giants, in the hope that these young shoots pay their apprenticeship tax to the establishment. At the start of 2015, Nicolas Sadirac said "If we are not able to generate five big successes per year, it is because we will have failed. Then there will be no more reason to finance us."

Controversies
The 2nd of November 2014, one of the 6- cameras installed at Nicolas Sadirac's request, caught him spanking a young women, followed by sexual intercourse, in one of the school's amphitheater.

In 2017, with less than 10% of female students, a report from the magazine Usine Nouvelle highlighted sexist behaviors like pornographic websites as wallpapers, misogynistic pornographic content being commonplace on some public Slack channels, upskirt pictures, … Fabienne Haas, director of communication, argue that since the slack is managed by the student themselves, it's hard for the school to moderate it. Some sanctions against students were taken, but none were expelled from the school.

In July 2018, Nicolas Sadirac left after a financial audit ordered by Xavier Niel, giving away all his parts in the school.

42 Network
42 Network is a network of partner institutions funded by institutions, companies and investors around the world. In 2020, Sophie Vigier announced that 33 establishments are open on 5 continents and in 22 countries. The educational curriculum of these establishments is based on a common core, but the campuses can adapt their projects to the labor pools in which they are located.

On December 6, 2017, Xavier Niel announces the creation of a 42 school in Algiers, during Emmanuel Macron's visit to Algeria. This announcement has not yet been followed by an opening.

In 2018 Corinne Vigreux announced the opening of Codam College as part of the 42 network in Amsterdam.

In June 2019, 42 announced the opening of eleven new campuses by 2020, including 42 Rio, 42 São Paulo, 42 Jakarta, 42 Yerevan, 42 Tokyo, 42 Bogotá, 42 Angoulême, 42 Madrid, and 42 Quebec.

In December 2022, 42 Berlin commenced operations.