Art, Design, Fashion: Schools, studies and degrees

These state-funded national schools award their own qualifications.

Some qualifications from institutions lead to a Master’s degree in applied arts, fine arts, visual arts, design and creation, textile design, industrial design and photography:

• École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (ENSAD), Paris
• École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts (ENSBA), Paris
• École Nationale Supérieure de la Création Industrielle (ENSCI-Les Ateliers), Paris
• École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie (ENSP), Arles
• Le Fresnoy – Studio National des arts contemporains, Tourcoing

Deux écoles proposent un cursus de 2 à 4 ans en cinéma et théâtre :

• École Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Techniques du Théâtre (ENSATT), Lyon
• “La Fémis” – École Nationale Supérieure des Métiers de l’Image et du Son (ENSMIS), Paris

44 higher education institutions for art and design, which fall under the remit of the Ministry of Culture (the 10 national schools are under the joint remit of the Ministry of Higher Education and Research), offer courses in the visual and plastic arts (contemporary art and design) and are located throughout France. They combine training and development the artistic process, theoretical aspects, research and experimentation, closely linked to the world of contemporary art and design. They offer courses organised into two cycles (3 years and 5 years), leading to national qualifications and conferring the degree of Bachelor’s and Master’s respectively.

• View the list of ANdEA state schools: www.andea.fr
• Download the National Charter for Art School Studies and the brochure describing public art colleges from the ANdEA website

The French arts and crafts sector comprises more than 38,000 workshops, 100,000 craftspeople and 217 professions across 19 specialities. The ESAA offer national qualifications in highly specialised fields through two- to four-year courses, leading to careers in the design sector: graphic design (media and multimedia), spatial design (interior architecture, living environments, scenography), fashion, textiles and the environment, product and service design, and the arts and crafts (textiles, jewellery, bookbinding, glass, ceramics, etc.).

List of Schools of Applied Arts:
https://designetmetiersdart.fr

Music, dance, drama… There are four main types of conservatoires in France: the National Higher Conservatoires of Music and Dance (CNSMD – of which there are only two in France: one in Paris and one in Lyon), the Regional Conservatoires (CRR), the Departmental Conservatoires (CRD) and the Municipal Conservatoires (CRC). The CNSMDs, CRRs, CRDs and CRCs work in partnership with universities and offer courses that form part of the Bachelor’s-Master’s-Doctorate (LMD) system.

List of conservatoires:
www.culture.gouv.fr/Sites-thematiques/Musique/Enseignement-formation-et-metiers

Within the public sector, three heritage colleges offer high-level training programmes. Some of these professions are linked to knowledge of heritage (art historians, heritage educators), whilst others are linked to its preservation (heritage curators, architects specialising in historic monuments, conservators, etc.):

• École du Louvre (EDL), Paris : Undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral degree, museology
• École Nationale des Chartes (ENC), Paris
• Institut National du Patrimoine (INP), Paris

Other public institutions award qualifications specialising in conservation, restoration, heritage, etc.: the École Supérieure d’Art et de Design TALM – Tours, The École Supérieure d’Art d’Avignon, …

Many private schools offer 3- to 5-year postsecondary programs. The degrees are particular to each school and vary widely in cost and quality. Some of the certificates and titles conferred are registered in the RNCP, the National Directory of Professional Certification. The National Directory of Professional Certification (https://www.francecompetences.fr) is the official organization under ministerial supervision, responsible for validating these degrees and classify them according to the level of employment. (https://www.francecompetences.fr).

Historical and theoretical arts courses in France – art history, theatre, film and music – are mainly offered by universities as part of a comprehensive programme of study: Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD.
These interdisciplinary theoretical courses incorporate practical elements in the case of vocational Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees.

Universities offer three major art tracks:

• Performing arts: courses in film analysis, the history of stage direction, dance, music…
• Visual arts: art history, analysis of works of art, aesthetics…
• Art history: the history of artistic creation, painting, sculpture, architecture…

Research in the arts is carried out by more than a hundred research teams affiliated with around thirty Doctoral Schools (EDs) spread across the country.

Following the baccalaureate or equivalent, or after a preparatory year, or even two years’ study in the arts, admission to public art schools (nearly 60) or private art schools and conservatoires is based on a selective entrance examination and the submission of an artistic portfolio.

There are numerous courses available to prepare students for the entrance examinations to public and private art schools.

• Liste des classes préparatoires publiques appartenant au réseau l’Association nationale des classes Préparatoires Publiques aux Écoles Supérieures d’Art (APPEA):
  www.appea.fr (List and map of schools)
• List of classes and preparatory courses offered at art colleges:
  www.andea.fr/formations/classes-preparatoires

France’s postsecondary schools of art and applied arts, like its universities, are excellent public institutions that award national diplomas recognized by the French government and transferable credits under the European Credit Transfer System.