How to apply in an institute of higher education?

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Depending on your nationality, your residence country, your High school diploma and the level of studies you want to join, the process may differ to apply in a Higher education institution in France.

Timetable of procedures

If you want to join the French higher education system for the academic year 2024-2025, here are the important timetables.

Parcoursup 

  • Opening of the platform: 20 December 2023

  • Start and complete your registration: 17 January - 14 March 2024

  • Complete your list of academic choices before: 3 April 2024

  • Launch of the main admission phase: 30 May 2024

  • End of the main admission phase: 12 July 2024

DAP – “Demande d’Admission Préalable” (preliminary request for admission)

  • Registrations open on  1st October 2023

  • Registrations close on 15 December 2023

Your application will be examined at the same time by the 3 universities you have requested. 

  • University response and proposals for acceptance : before 30 April 2024
    If it occurs, universities will share with you exemptions from which you may benefit. 
     
  • Student response : before 31 May 2024
    If you have received several acceptance proposals, you will have to make a choice.
    Attention, if you do not answer before 31 May, the absence of answer will be condidered as a refusal. 

CampusArt

This exceptional program makes it possible to submit an online application at different levels of courses in art, design, fashion, music, architecture, etc. and thus gives students from all countries access to artistic training that school managers have. chose to offer via CampusArt. » : www.campusart.org

Registrations open on 1st October 2023 and close on 29 February 2024.

 

Feel free to check out the Website of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation to know more.

The "Etudes en France" enrolment procedure

The "Etudes en France" (Studying in France) procedure becomes the reference procedure for non EU countries. It involves foreign students residing in one of the following 69 countries/territories :

Algeria, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea, Haiti, Hong-KongIndia, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Ivory Coast, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam.

procédure Etudes en France
©MEAE

If you live in one of these countries, the "Etudes en France " procedure is mandatory to enroll in French Higher education. It is conducted online, from the enrollment request to obtaining a visa.

You can find all of the details of the procedure in the article  "You reside in a country affected by the "Etudes en France" procedure.

“Parcoursup” to apply in 1st year

La plateforme Parcoursup
©MESRI

 

Parcoursup is the French platform dedicated to registrations in first year in trainings of the 1st cycle of higher education (1st year fo Bachelor's)

You must follow follow this process if : 

  • You are a European student who want to study in 1st year of Bachelor's ;
     
  • You are a non-European student who passed a French baccalauréat in a lycée français à l'étranger (French High school abroad) placed under the supervision of the AEFE (Agence Française pour l’Enseignement Français à l’Etranger - Agency for French Education abroad) and you want to join the French higher education system in 1st year of Bachelor's ;
     
  • You are a non-European student who want to register in 1st year of a "filière sélective" (courses with a selection process). It is generally the case for IUTs (Instituts Universitaires Technologiques), STS (Sections de Techniciens Supérieur) and preparatory classes to “Grandes Ecoles” (CPGE). Enrolment process for "filières sélectives" is excluded from the DAP procédure (“Demande d'Admission Préalable”, Preliminary request for admission).
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Register to the French higher education system

The Preliminary request for admission (DAP)

The "Demande d'Admission Préalable - DAP" (preliminary request for admission) applies to all foreign students wishing to enrol in the first year of Bachelor's at a university or in school of architecture. It is mandatory for the non-European foreign students.

If you live in one of the countries affected by the "Etudes en France" (Studying in France) procedure, the DAP procedure is conducted online on the "Etudes en France" platform. Otherwise you must file a request with the department of cooperation and cultural action at the French Embassy in your country of residence. The white files concern enrolment in first-year university; the yellow for first year in a school of architecture.

Complete the procedure as soon as possible. Ideally, in November of the year preceding the academic year you are applying for. Regularly check your personal account on the Campus France site so you don't miss the deadline.

Enrolling in an arts programme

CampusArt, the website to choose a program in arts and architecture
Apply online
©Campus France

The CampusArt platform is the entry for enrolling in an arts programme in France. It covers approximately one hundred institutes that offer programmes in fine art, design, fashion, music and architecture, from preparatory classes to the Doctorate.

The CampusArt application area is accessible from anywhere around the world. Nonetheless, it does not replace the "Etudes en France" procedure in the countries where that applies. A single file is used for applying to several institutes or programmes at the same time. The filing fees are only invoiced if you are accepted.

How do you confirm your enrolment?

After your application is accepted, you must confirm your enrolment in your host institute before classes start. For universities, final enrolment includes an administrative component and a pedagogical component. The first consists of filling in your file; the second involves you choosing a cursus and options (optional classes, sport, etc.).

Your institute will then give you a certificate of school attendance and a student card that attest to your legal status as a student. The documents are given to you in person, after payment of enrolment fees has been received.

 

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