Are you an architect planning on moving to France? Are you a Non-European citizen and want to practice architecture in the City of lights?

If it is the case this post is for you…

Just a quick catch up, I am a Mexican Architect who lived and worked in Ireland for five years and then moved to France in 2018, at the moment I am seeking registration in the UK and France. I went through all the procedures to get recognized for my Mexican Bachelor’s Degree in England and I am also studying at Oxford Brookes in Oxford whilst living and practising in France (I’m also an architectural photographer so please like my Instagram page :D ).

I often write about how procedures work in the UK, but this time I would like to share my experience doing the same in France.

Firstly, basic things:

Registration: In order to call yourself ‘architect’ and be able to practice independently in the majority of the European countries you must be registered in the regulatory body of the country where you live.

Equivalent of ARB and RIBA (regulatory authority): Ordre des architects (Ministère de la Culture)

Equivalent of Part 2 (level towards registration) : Master or Cycle 2

Equivalent of Part 3 (level that allows registration): HMONP

Now we know how things are called in this country let’s discuss practising in France.

PRACTISING IN FRANCE AS A NON-EUROPEAN CITIZEN

Let’s imagine you move to France and wish to get a job in this country, well there are two things you need to know. First, to be able to join a practice you don’t need to be registered or get any equivalence of your degree. You are free to apply for whatever job you wish, however, registration would give you more chances to get a good position. Second, if you wish to get equivalence, get registered and be called architect one day, you need to apply for a Master’s degree (even if you already have one) in one of the architecture schools of France and then study the HMONP. You will need three years to complete the whole procedure. There are other routes for French who studied abroad.

If you decide not to get registered and join a practice (agence d’architecture) you can call yourself Diplômé Architecte.

While looking for a job you will read these titles:

Architecte D’Etat (DE): This means that you studied for five years (licence+ Master) in one of the recognized French Architecture schools, basically there are three, all the ENSA schools, ESA Paris and INSA de Strasbourg (Check the link of recognized schools here: https://www.architectes.org/les-%C3%A9coles-darchitecture ). PLEASE be aware that there are many architecture schools in France that are not recognized, if the school of your choice is not listed in the previous link and you are seeking registration you would need to revise your options.

Architect DPLG: This is the title given to all people who graduated from French architecture schools before 2007, they used to study for six years and then get registered right away.

Architecte HMONP: This replaced the DPLG, now you study five years and then optionally you apply for this one-year programme. This gives you access to registration in the Tableau of the Ordre des Architectes and you are already an Architect.

FINDING A SCHOOL

If you decided to seek registration in France you will need to contact one of the ENSA schools or one of the two recognized private schools.

Both have pros and cons, but if you can I would suggest applying to one of the ENSA, one of my personal tutors for my programme in Oxford is a design professor at ENSA Belleville and I am impressed by the level of education of this school.

ENSA PROS:

• Great education level.

• Fees for international students are incredibly low.

• Professors own their practices and you have great chances to get a job right after your studies.

• A good number of practices prefer graduates from ENSA schools.

ENSA CONS:

• You have to go through the DOSSIER JAUNE, which means that there is no admission exam, so they based their decision on your lettre de motivation and if you wrote it well, they look at your portfolio.

• DELF B2, TCF TP or TCF DAP with a B2 level mandatory.

• Some schools may lack organisation.

• Most prestigious ENSA schools dislike welcoming international students (I learned this from a retired professor who worked all his life in one of them).

• Getting a spot can be difficult depending on the school you apply.

PRIVATE PROS (My experience was with ESA Paris, I do not know anything about INSA)

• There is no DOSSIER JAUNE.

• (In normal times, when I applied they cancelled my examination due to COVID and considered just my motivation letter) There is a short admission exam, I consider this a good opportunity to show your knowledge.

• ESA Paris does not require a B2 level, so you have more chances to get into the school.

• Possibility of getting into a good professional network.

PRIVATE CONS

• Fees are high.

• Despite their admission exam, they have the power to accommodate you in whatever level they think is best based on strange criteria.

EXPERIENCE WITH ENSA

I wanted to go to ENSA Belleville or Versailles, I tried to reach them before I lodged my DOSSIER JAUNE and it was almost impossible. When I had the opportunity to talk to someone, this person told me that they do not recognize anything done in the UK even prior to the Brexit official date (2020) so they suggested going for the DOSSIER JAUNE.

EXPERIENCE WITH ESA

I presume experiences can vary depending on many things, but I apply for the master’s, after sending all my documents, including a cover letter, they came back to me with an acceptance letter for their second year of the license. I had to withdraw my application as I found it inconsistent compared to my professional experience and credentials already recognized in the UK.

EXPERIENCE WITH ENSA

I lodged a DOSSIER JAUNE twice, one in 2018 and one in 2019.

The first application was refused because I was missing 1 point in the writing section of the TCF DAP.

The second application was refused because that particular year did not have enough space to welcome new students to their programme, this is what they said, however, during my search for a personal tutor I met professors who tutor people to get into ENSA schools, and then I understood that, at least, this time around, my dossier was lacking interest. By this time I was working hard to get into the RIBA Diploma at Oxford Brookes (you may read all my ARB prescribed posts to understand why this University is important to me) so all my energy was focused on the UK.

DOSSIER JAUNE

This is the famous CERFA form that every foreign student attempting to study in ENSA needs to fill:

https://www.formulaires.service-public.fr/gf/cerfa_11962.do

There are two ways to lodge this form: Campus France if you are not in France or directly to the ENSA of your choice.

It sounds easy and logical, it is just a form, right? Well, you are in France, it is not... you will need to play the game if you want to succeed.

Whilst discussing with tutors I learned that this procedure, including writing a motivational letter, goes beyond. You increase your chances of getting a spot in one of the ENSA schools if you do the following things:

• ASK FOR HELP, get a tutor, you can contact them from websites like superprof or similar (these websites make you pay and you need to unsubscribe on time otherwise will keep charging you) or search for one on linked in. There are many teachers who tutor people to write their letters and prepare portfolios for admission purposes. Most of them worked or work at these Universities and know their selection criteria. You can even go creative and contact professors at the ENSA of your choice and see if they can check these documents for you.

• Get your foreign credentials evaluated by ERIC NARIC, and submit them as part of your application.

• Submit recommendation letters from teachers of your previous architectural school.

• Submit recommendation letters from your previous employers.

• Possibilities may decrease if you apply to the most famous ENSA schools.

• ALL TUTORS suggested to apply at La Villette, Paris Val de Seine or Paris-est, apparently these schools are more flexible to welcome international students.

• ENSA schools outside Paris are great and also give you more possibilities.

I also found helpful social media accounts/ groups:

Primo Archi , Team.archi (they have three accounts and cover different subjects) on Facebook and cesphrasesdarchi on Instagram.

You have all the info now it is up to you, google is your best friend.

I wish you a successful application !!!!!!