The Études en France platform opened on Thursday 1 October 2026 for the September 2027 intake. The national deadline for the demande d'admission préalable (DAP), used to enter the first year of a licence (L1), the French bachelor's degree, or an architecture school, is 15 December 2026. In several countries, applications close earlier: 15 November in Morocco, and 30 November in Algeria for master's programmes and the second and third years of a licence.
Études en France is the online application procedure run by Campus France, the French agency that promotes higher education in France and supports international students. If you live in one of the 75 countries concerned (including Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Senegal and China), it is mandatory: it leads to the end-of-procedure certificate you need for your student visa application. It guarantees neither your admission, which the institution decides, nor your visa, which the consulate decides.
What the national calendar sets for the 2027 intake
Campus France's national page gives the calendar for the DAP, the procedure reserved for the first year of a university licence and for architecture schools:
- applications open on 1 October 2026;
- applications close on 15 December 2026;
- universities reply before 30 April 2027;
- you reply before 31 May 2027.
Your application is reviewed at the same time by the three universities you selected. If more than one accepts you, you choose before 31 May: if you haven't replied by then, Campus France treats it as a refusal.
For other programmes (second and third years of a licence, the bachelor universitaire de technologie or BUT, master's degrees, schools), there is no single national date. The deadline is set by the Espace Campus France in your country, the agency's local office, and it can fall before or after 15 December.
Deadlines vary by country
Each Espace Campus France therefore publishes its own calendar. Here is what the official pages of five countries show for connected programmes, the ones you apply to directly on the platform.
| Country | L1 and architecture (DAP) | Other connected programmes |
|---|---|---|
| Morocco | 15 Nov 2026 | 15 Nov 2026 |
| Algeria | 15 Dec 2026 | 30 Nov 2026 |
| Tunisia | 11 Dec 2026 | 18 Dec 2026 |
| Senegal | 15 Dec 2026 | 15 Dec 2026 |
| Cameroon | 15 Dec 2026 | 1 Feb 2027 |
In Morocco, the Sunday 15 November deadline applies to all connected programmes, including L1 and the first years of health studies: a full month before the national date. In Algeria, it's the other programmes that close first: master's, L2, L3, BUT and schools stop on 30 November 2026, two weeks before the DAP.
DAP, non-DAP or Parcoursup: which route applies to you
The procedure also depends on the programme you're aiming for, not just on your country.
The DAP covers the first year of a university licence, including first-year access routes to health studies, and architecture schools.
The non-DAP procedure covers the other connected programmes: second and third years of a licence, licence professionnelle, BUT, master's, engineering and business schools. You submit your application on Études en France and the institutions reply on the platform.
Brevets de technicien supérieur (BTS) and classes préparatoires go through Parcoursup, even if you live in a country that uses the Études en France procedure. The same applies if you hold a French or European baccalauréat. Once admitted, you come back to Études en France for the visa part.
For non-connected programmes, such as some private schools, you apply directly to the institution, then open an Études en France file for your visa using your admission letter. Programmes in art, design, fashion or music have their own procedure, CampusArt.
Application fee, interview and visa
Submitting your application isn't enough: you also need to pay the procedure fee and attend the academic interview at the Espace Campus France, each with its own deadline.
Once your choice is confirmed, you receive an end-of-procedure email that lets you apply for your student visa. Among other things, the consulate checks your financial resources: at least €877.50 per month since 1 August 2026, a threshold now indexed to the SMIC. The documents and steps are covered in our VLS-TS visa guide.
What this means for your application
For a September 2027 start, your real deadline isn't necessarily 15 December: it depends on your country and your programme, and sometimes falls a month earlier, as in Morocco. Only your Espace Campus France calendar is authoritative, not the dates circulating on social media.
Plan your budget too: at university, a non-EU student generally pays €2,902 a year for a licence and €3,950 for a master's in 2026-2027, and fee waivers are increasingly limited (we explain this cap).
Our advice: submit your application a few days early. The fee payment and the interview follow closely, and an application submitted after the deadline is not reviewed.
Sources
- Campus France - The "Études en France" procedure
- Campus France Morocco - 2026/2027 application procedure calendar
- Campus France Algeria - Procedure calendar
- Campus France Tunisia - 2026/2027 procedure calendar
- Campus France Senegal - Procedure calendar for the 2027-2028 intake
- Campus France Cameroon - 2027-2028 application campaign calendars
- Service-Public - University: some non-EU international students will pay more from the 2026 intake
