Being a student with a disability in France

If your disability prevents you from travelling, you can take correspondence classes. The Centre National d’Enseignement à Distance (CNED - National Centre for Education by Correspondence) in particular offers complete higher education programmes and preparation for the competitive entry exams for the Grandes Ecoles and the civil service specifically for students with disabilities.

If your university offers a remote-teaching service, you can also use it.

Support for students with disabilities in the university

Each university's support service has information on the support available for students with disabilities. These students, for example, often receive dedicated administrative support, adapted access to premises, teaching assistance (tutorials, support, note-takers, etc.) and techniques.

It is also possible to have an education assistant. The role of these education assistants is to provide support for and help the integration of students with disabilities that the Commission des Droits et de l'Autonomie des Personnes Handicapées (CDAPH - Commission for the Rights of Disabled People) has declared to be in need of assistance. This assistance may concern writing down or translating classes, and also the management of daily life.

In French universities, the Service Universitaire de Médecine Préventive et de Promotion de la Santé (SUMPPS -  the University Department of Preventive Medicine and the Promotion of Health) monitors student health. It offers free preventive health assessments, various services (vaccination and testing, for example) and certain care for students with disabilities.

The Department for Higher Education centralises many useful factsheets for students with a disability, including resources for student's psychological counselling and financial services.

CROUS advisors help students with disabilities access adapted student lodging. They also make sure the university restaurants are accessible to all.

Transportation expenses for students with disabilities enrolled in a public institute of higher education may be covered. Contact the Prefecture to request this.

The FÉDÉEH (Fédération Etudiante pour une Dynamique Etudes et Emploi avec un Handicap - Student Federation for Working and Studying with a Disability) is a national federation which assists young people with disabilities in their professional training and work.

In particular, it supports the development of a support network for young people with disabilities (students or graduates) and a network of student associations for the disabled in universities and the Grandes Ecoles.

The FÉDÉEH also conducts actions which help young people with disabilities succeed: tutorials in secondary school, social activities, opinion campaigns or meetings between the disabled and employers. It also collects funds from companies and the general public to finance bursaries for students with disabilities.