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Civil Service Examinations Préparation

From the senior civil service to the bar examination, this expertise is grounded in a simple idea: success requires comprehensive understanding of exam formats.

Join the French civil service

Sciences Po offers a one-year preparatory course for French competitive examinations (FR). Reserved for Sciences Po students and graduates, this year of study serves as preparation for the following competitive examinations:

  • Senior French Civil Service (Institut National du Service Public, National Assembly, Senate)
  • French Public Hospital System (hospital or medical/social welfare establishment administrator) and Social protection system (for social protection management positions)
  • Local and Regional Civil Service and the City of Paris (to take on management responsibilities in major local or regional authorities or in the Paris city administration)
  • the Banque de France
  • the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs for diplomatic careers

This preparatory course also grants students access to competitive examinations for positions as administrative court judges.

Join the European civil service

For administrative careers in European Union institutions, the Sciences Po Preparation Centre for European Civil Service Examinations offers training for EU competitive examinations. Preparatory courses are open to all: students or graduates of Sciences Po or other institutions.  Course schedules are established according to notices of competition published by the European Personnel Selection Office - EPSO. In 2018, 20% of students in preparatory courses passed their examinations.

Become a magistrate

The Sciences Po Law School offers students and graduates of Sciences Po, as well as candidates from other institutions, preparation courses for the competitive examination of the French École Nationale de la Magistrature. 

Become a police commissioner or officer in the Gendarmerie

The Law School also offers preparatory courses for entrance examinations at the French École Nationale Supérieure de Police and the École des Officiers de la Gendarmerie Nationale (FR).

Become a professor of history

Intended primarily for Sciences Po graduates, in 2020 the additional year of study to prepare the Agrégation examination in history (FR) helped one-third of candidates to pass the exam.