GUIDE TO EDUCATION HIGHER
Whether you’re returning to higher education as an adult or have children approaching this
stage in their schooling, the French system can seem confusing; Catharine Higginson runs through the diff erent stages of an application
F
rance off ers extremely generous access to higher education, with the majority of
courses being tuition fee free. In addition, means-tested maintenance grants are available for students, there are subsidised student restaurants on campus, reasonably priced student housing and numerous extra grants and benefi ts available for students. All of the above, combined
with a policy of allowing state funding for up to seven years of higher education adds up to a situation where large numbers of young people opt to stay in higher education for a considerably longer period of time than in many other countries. It’s not unusual to see job advertisements which require a ‘BAC+5’ or
even ‘BAC+8’, meaning that the candidate should have fi ve or eight years of post- baccalaureate education. The fi rst step onto the French
higher education ladder is via the online access portal known as Parcoursup. This is the national admissions platform for the fi rst year of higher education and currently contains over 19,500 fi rst cycle higher education courses. It is where lycée or high
school students, apprentices or students changing course go to access the fi rst year of higher education in 2023. They will need to create an account, submit course preferences and, eventually, respond to admission off ers from the institutions providing higher education courses. These include licences, equivalent
“The majority of higher education courses in France are tuition fee free”
to a BA degree, section de technicien supérieur (STS) - advanced technical section, institut universitaire de technologie (IUT) - university technology institutes, classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles (CPGE) classes preparing for admission to the grandes écoles, engineering schools and so on.
HOW TO ENROL Anyone wanting to enrol in the fi rst year of higher education must go via Parcoursup and this includes European students wanting to study in the fi rst year; non-European students who have passed a French baccalaureat in an AEFE (Agence Française pour l’Enseignement Français à l’Etranger) high school and who want to join the French higher education system; French secondary school students; French apprentices; and any students changing courses in their fi rst year. This also includes non-
State funding for higher education can be for up to seven years 88 FRENCH PROPERTY NEWS: March/April 2023
European students who want to register for a fi rst year in an institution which is outside the DAP (demande d’admission préalable) or initial request
for admission process; this is generally the case for institutions where admission is selective such as the IUT, STS and, of course, the famous preparatory classes (known as prépa) for the grandes écoles. Some categories of students
do not need to use Parcoursup and this includes students who are repeating a year and staying on the same course and candidates subject to a prior admission application (DAP). If you are already studying
and you are repeating the same course, you do not need to state your preferences on Parcoursup as you are entitled to repeat a year but you must immediately re-enrol with your institution. However, if you are changing to another course, you will need to use the platform, even if you are changing to a course in the same institution, as obviously availability will depend on student application numbers. The application will be
looked at in the same way as a fi nal year high school student’s application. In other words, the course content and the candidate’s suitability for it will be assessed. It is therefore a
© SHUTTERSTOCK
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148
