Higher Education Qualification Recognition

All information regarding the recognition of international qualifications is available via France Education International.

Credits for previous studies

If you already have a higher education qualification and want to continue your studies at a French higher education institution, you can apply to the French institution for exemption from elements of the course. To do this, you will need to show the foreign qualification(s) that you have along with translations in French and an official description of the course(s) taken from the Australian institution. The chancellor of the university or the director of the institution concerned will decide at which level you will be admitted, on the recommendation of a teaching committee (see Décret n°85-906 du 23 août 1985 fixant les conditions de validation des études.)
This exemption is intended to allow you to gain accreditation for part or all of your previous university studies in the aim of continuing studies in France.
 

Certificate of comparability

In France, training institutions and authorities organising competitive examinations may offer or recognise a certificate of comparability. A committee may recognise your study level and authorise you to take part in a competitive examination or allow you to continue your studies at the level that it considers corresponds to the training you have completed outside France in relation to the courses on offer in the institution. Equivalencies of foreign qualifications are not offered however.

You can obtain a certificate of recognition of your study level. This certificate helps make your course more transparent and can be shown to universities/training institutions, employers and authorities organising competitive examinations.

The ENIC-NARIC is the European information centre for the academic and professional recognition of qualifications. Their missions include:

• Evaluating foreign diplomas and issuing certificates of comparability and certificates of recognition of studies + training
• Providing information on the French higher education system and its diplomas
• Providing information on the procedures to follow in order to work in a regulated profession

ENIC-NARIC Centre in France assesses foreign diplomas and issues certificates of comparability for the purpose of:

• Continuing studies in France
• Seeking professional employment
• Applying for citizenship (not applicable for Australian diplomas)

To apply for a certificate of comparability, follow the process outlined here.

Obtaining authorisation to practise your profession in France when you have a foreign qualification.

If you have a higher education qualification awarded outside France and want to practise your profession in France, the employers interested in recruiting you or the authorities organising a competitive examination are responsible for assessing whether the qualifications in question teach the skills required for the job concerned.

You can also apply for a certificate of recognition of your study level from the French ENIC-NARIC Centre (see above). For regulated professions (for which, in France, it is compulsory to have a qualification), a certificate of recognition of your study level in not sufficient to allow you to practise the profession concerned in France. You may need to contact a specific person or regulatory body, depending on the profession concerned. You will find on the Europa website of the European Commission a page with an alphabetical list of regulated professions.

To find out about practicing a regulated profession, visit guichet-qualifications.fr

The qualification recognition Agreement between France and Australia

The "Agreement on the recognition of academic qualifications between Australia and France with a view to pursuing further studies in the partner country" was signed on 6 October 2009, by French Ambassador, His Excellency Mr Michel Filhol, the President of Universities Australia, Chair of the Association of the French universities (Conférence des Présidents d’Universités), and by the President of the association of the French Engineering schools (CDEFI).

This agreement encourages the mutual recognition of periods of study and recognised higher education Awards, in order to facilitate study in the partner country.

The Agreement does not cover programmes of study in healthcare nor the recognition of diplomas in either country for the purposes of professional activity.

Download the agreement (in English)
Download the agreement (in French)

The objective of the agreement is to encourage the student mobility between the two countries, to promote study in the partner country thanks to the mutual recognition of awards and Higher Education qualifications, and widens the scope of tertiary study opportunities for students. It provides a clear framework of the higher education qualifications of the two countries, and the organisation of the two higher education systems (Universities, Grandes Ecoles). Therefore, it will be easier for each higher education institution to understand the awards presented by a student who wants to undertake further study in an institution.

It explains the necessary requirements to enter to Higher Education institutions, for example:

• an Australian student who has been awarded an honours degree, may be admitted to a Doctorate in France.
• the holder of a Diplôme Universitaire de Technologie (DUT) may be admitted to the third year of a Bachelor Degree in Australia
• an Australian student with a three-year Bachelor degree majoring in science or technology or who has completed the first three years of a four-year Bachelor Degree in engineering, may be admitted to the first year of an engineering programme offered by an engineering school in France.

Who is covered by this agreement ?

• In France, all the French universities (78) and the schools of Engineering (more than 250 schools).
• In Australia, all institutions that are members of Universities Australia (39 universities)

The agreement is binding for all Australian unis, French unis and engineering institutes - bearing in mind that each uni/institution has the ultimate decision on who they will admit to their programs and what credit they’ll grant.

This Agreement does not cover programmes of study in healthcare.
This Agreement does not cover the recognition of diplomas in either country for the purposes of professional activity.
For information about the recognition of the Diplôme d’Ingénieur in Australia, click here.