Admissions

Parcoursup

All applicants are subject to the PARCOURSUP procedure, except non-European applicants without a French diploma (cf. Demande d'admission préalable DAP) and applicants in their second or subsequent year of higher education (cf. validation des acquis).

Each applicant must formulate his or her wishes on the PARCOURSUP portal of the French Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research.

1. This first eligibility stage takes into account certain grades from the school record - cf. PARCOURSUP
2. A individual interview focusing on the applicant's interpersonal skills, motivations and areas of interest constitutes the admission phase

At the end of these two phases, the Commission des formations et de la vie étudiante - CFVE will rank the applicants. 
Applications are ranked according to the following breakdown: 50% academic record, 50% oral interview.

Results of common and specialised core (except scientific teachings), coefficient 1 : French, history-geography, philosophy, physical and sports education, moral and civic education, modern languages LVA and LVB and specialised teachings.

Results in the early French exams, coefficient 6: written mark and oral mark.
 

Admission procedure 2026-2027

1. Registration on the PARCOURSUP portal: January 19 to March 12, 2026
   The application fee of 39 euros is non-refundable. Scholarship holders are exempt.
   Candidates selected for interview will be invited via PARCOURSUP.
2. Interview date: 6, 7, 11, 12, 13 May 2026
3. Results via PARCOURSUP : June 2, 2026

Opening of the platform onDecember 17, 2025, for consultation by establishment of the characteristics of the training courses: expectations and recruitment criteria. Don't hesitate to consult the information sheets for each École nationale supérieure d'architecture, whose selection criteria differ somewhat.

For information: tuition fees for 2024-2025 are €384/year for bachelor's degrees and €527/year for master's degrees.

Validation of prior learning

You are concerned by the validation of prior learning procedure:

• If youare in higher education (at least bac + 2)
• If you are European and hold a higher education diploma or are about to obtain one
• If you have interrupted your studies in a French ENSA for more than three years and wish to resume architectural studies at ENSAL
• If you are non-European but hold a French higher education diploma

Admission procedure 2026-.2027

Application for admission by validation of prior learning is made only on the Taïga portal.

• Registration on the admission.archi.fr: from January 15 to March 1^er , 2026 (non-refundable application fee of 39 euros)
• Interview date:during the second half of May 2026 (only for eligible candidates in the first year of architectural studies)
• Results: during May 2026 by email

For information: the 2025-2026 registration fees are 390€/year for bachelor's degrees and 535€/year for master's degrees.

WARNING: Read the 2026-2027 pre-registration terms and conditions carefully before logging in. Any incomplete and/or late applications will be rejected.

Demande d'admission préalable - DAP

You are concerned by the DAP procedure:

• If you are a student from outside the European Union or the European Economic Area AND hold a foreign degree

If you live in a country with a "Études en France" procedure, go to the Études en France platform. Otherwise, get in touch with the French embassy, download a DAP yellow file.

If you live in France, download a DAP blue file, which you will file on the TAIGA platform.

You must provide proof of a very good level of French (B2 minimum), a good level in the disciplines useful for architectural studies, and a long-term, multiple-entry visa.

Procedure date:October 1 to December 15, 2025.

For information: The reform of registration fees for foreign students is not applicable to ENSAs. The 2025-2026 registration fees are €390/year for bachelor's degrees and €535/year for master's degrees.

ATTENTION: BE SURE TO READ THE DAP 2026-2027 PROCEDURE BEFORE REGISTERING.

Double curriculum Engineer-Architect - DCIA

In order to enter the double curriculum Engineer-Architect - DCIA, you must have completed your enrolment in an initial training course at Centrale Lyon, ENTPE or the GCU department of INSA de Lyon. Each of these establishments will communicate to its students the procedures for applying for admission to the DCIA.

The admission process is divided into three rounds:

1. First round: You will be offered a topic for reflection, and a production is requested in the form of a one-sided A4 page
2. Second round: Following the "project design" and "observational drawing"
3. Third round: An interview is organized for candidates

At the end of the selection process, a final inter-school jury meets to pronounce candidates' admission to the DCIA.

Jury : not specified.

ENSAL offers a continuing education diploma course open to professionals wishing to become state-registered architects. 

You are concerned by the admission procedure specific to continuing professional education:

• If you can justify professional activity in the fields of architecture, construction, or spatial planning, including at least three years under an architect. This activity must be four years for holders of a Bac +2, six years for holders of a Baccalauréat (or equivalent diploma), and eight years for other candidates. In all cases, candidates must provide proof of at least 3 years of full-time work in the fields of architecture, under the authority of an architect or in partnership with an architect.
• If you are able to pursue a professional activity in the fields of architecture, construction, or spatial planning during your resumption of studies.

If you are concerned by this procedure, you will need to submit an application file, which will undergo an initial selection within a fortnight of the submission deadline to check that your profile matches that eligible for continuing professional training.
If your application is successful, you will then be invited to take three written tests over two consecutive days:

• The 1^re eight-hour test is designed to test your aptitude for architectural design
• The 2^e general culture test lasts three hours and assesses your knowledge of the history of architecture, the city and art
• The 3^th is an assessment of your level in mathematics applied to construction

If you are declared eligible following the first admission phase, you will be invited to an interview consisting of a presentation on the theme of architecture and its cultural, economic and social environment.

Admissions 2026-2027

Closing date for applications: January 15 to March 1, 2026
Commission for validation of prior learning: (dates to come)
Written admission tests:(dates to come)
Oral admission test: (dates to come)
Final jury: (dates to come)

You are concerned by the transfer procedure, if you have graduated from a French ENSA.
The procedures for transferring between France's Écoles nationales supérieures d'architecture are governed by articles 12 and 13 of the decree of July 20, 2005 relating to registration procedures in architecture schools.

Two situations are envisaged:

• After obtaining the diploma of study in architecture issued on completion of the third year of the bachelor's degree, transfers are by right
• In the course of the cycle, transfers are not a priority

Integrating ENSAL:

All transfer requests are subject to:

• The favorable opinion of the members of the Commission des formations et de la vie étudiante, after examination of the file
• The school's capacity to receive students

We encourage the student to analyze the content of ENSAL's pedagogical program before embarking on a transfer process. This analysis will enable him to assess the relevance of the latter to his personal or professional project.

Calendar 2026-2027

The transfer request must be made on the student portal TAIGA (position yourself on the year 2026-2027, Transfer 2026).

• Start of vows:January 15, 2026 (common calendar for all ENSAs)
• Closing of vows: February 28, 2026 at 23:59 (Paris time zone)
• Deadline for completing this initiated vow: 1^er March 2026
• Date of review board: current April 2026
• End of session (deadline for reply to confirm choice): 1^er June 2026

Important : students interested in the architecture and urban planning double major will need to submit a transfer request via TAIGA and apply in February - March on the MON MASTER for VEU admission. Otherwise, admission to ENSAL will be refused.

Admission requirements

Admission procedures

• Students with a state diploma in architecture, a master's degree (bac +5)
• For ENSAL students: having followed the research pathway and presented the research mention in master

The registration fee for the doctorate is 458 euros per year.

Preparing your application

1. Depending on your research theme, contact one of ENSAL's research teams (EVS-LAURE UMR CNRS 5600 or MAP-Aria UMR CNRS-MCC 3495).

   → Doctoral training is carried out under the responsibility of a thesis director, who must be a teacher authorized to direct research - HDR, a member of an ENSAL laboratory and associated with ED483. At ENSAL, four teacher-researchers are authorized to direct research: Philippe Dufieux, Olivier Balaÿ, Manuel Appert, Xavier Marsault and Cécile Regnault

2. Once the thesis director has been contacted, the candidate must propose a thesis project consistent with the lines of research developed at ENSAL. The project must set out the issues and working hypotheses envisaged, the corpus of the study and a methodology. This project should be presented in the form of a note (+/- 5 pages) outlining the scientific investigations and timetable envisaged

Selection process

In the first instance, applications are evaluated by the HDR teaching staff and then forwarded to the scientific advisory board before being submitted to the doctoral school's scientific advisory board. Candidates are authorized to enroll once the doctoral school has issued a favorable opinion.

The evaluation of applications is based first and foremost on the quality of the applicant's curriculum, which must include proof that he or she has obtained a Research mention for his or her dissertation. The interest and originality of the thesis project, the match between it and the skills of the HDR teacher and the prospective laboratory, and the feasibility of the project within three years are then taken into account.

Finally, the ability of the supervising team to mobilize a scientific environment conducive to the advancement of the research work and the professional opportunities that may result will also be appreciated.

Financing

There are various sources of funding, including two main ones: the PhD contract from the Ministry of Culture and the CIFRE.

Other funding schemes:

• CMIRA Explor'RA DOC grant
• Thesis funding types from the Ministry of Higher Education
• Association Andès to find thesis funding
• Foundation grant Palladio
• Fundit, portal for calls for projects