06 - France - Admission requirements

The conditions of admission largely depend on the institutions and the degrees offered. One thing all institutions require, however, is the baccalauréator an equivalent diploma.

Access to the different levels of post- baccalauréateducation offered by institutions under the Ministry of Higher Education and Research – whether universities, institutes or public schools – can also be gained by the professional experience validation system. Students with foreign degrees, for example, can benefit from this validation process. Validation is decided by the president of the university or director of the institution, on advisement of a teaching committee.

Admission Requirements for universities

In order to enrol at university, students must have a French baccalauréat, or a document considered equivalent, or have passed the tests for the diploma giving access to university studies (DAEU). The DAEU is a national higher education diploma, created in 1994, that has replaced the special university admissions exam (ESEU). The DAEU is delivered by specially accredited universities and is designed for students who interrupted their studies at least two years prior to taking the exam. The diploma is granted after one year of studies sanctioned by passing an individual written and oral exam, which evaluates acquired knowledge and general cultural awareness, on the one hand, and the methods and skills employed by the candidate with respect to the requirements for engaging in tertiary studies, on the other. The DAEU confers the same rights as does the baccalauréat.

However, admission to IUTs (University institutes of technology) is based on an application process involving an interview of baccalauréat-holding candidates.

Admission Requirements for grandes écoles

Public and private institutes and grandes écoles are very diversified, but one thing they do have in common is a rigourous admissions process. Candidates must have their baccalauréat and succeed in passing a high-level test demanding two years of preparation (with the possibility of retaking the test if it is failed the first time and if the student’s case justifies it) in preparatory classes for grandes écoles(CPGE), that are also highly selective.

Students gain entry to preparatory classes with a baccalauréator equivalent diploma, and on the approval of the institution head. Students who are accepted must have a good school record and be able to consistently put in a lot of hard work to handle the heavy load and demands of this kind of teaching programme. There are places reserved for the best technological baccalauréatholders in these preparatory classes. The level of the programmes in the preparatory classes for grandes écoles(CPGE), which are held in the lycées, corresponds to that of the first cycle of tertiary education. They are broken down into three categories:

• Economic and business classespreparing students to take the admissions test for superior institutes of business and management and écoles normales supérieures.
• Literature classespreparing students to take the admissions test for écoles normales supérieures, the national institute for the conservation of written heritage, higher institutes of business and management and political studies institutes.
• Science classespreparing students to take the admissions test for engineering schools, écoles normales supérieures and national veterinary schools.
  

Students are not given a diploma on completion of the preparatory classes, however those students who fail their admissions test can be dispensed from taking certain university courses with the approval of the university president. Conventions drawn up between each lycée and a given university make it possible for students to validate their acquired knowledge in order to obtain a first cycle degree.

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