Undergraduate Admissions 2021: Who joined Sciences Po through the general French pathway?

In its first year of managing admissions from French high school students entirely on the platform Parcoursup, Sciences Po received almost 12,000 applications. That’s more than double as many as in 2020. In addition to being a record year for selectivity, there were more applications from scholarship holders from a wider range of high schools across France. Read our first interim review of an exceptional year for Sciences Po admissions.

A 7% selection rate for the general French admissions pathway

In 2021, Sciences Po received 15,284 applications through the admissions platform Parcoursup. Of those, 11,977 applicants applied through the general admissions pathway for French high school students (which excludes the Equal Opportunity Programme, dual degree programmes and international applications). That equates to a 107% increase in applications from French high schools compared to 2020.

793 applicants were admitted through this pathway, making for a record rate of selectivity at 6.6%. In total, Sciences Po has welcomed a cohort of 1,630 new undergraduates in September 2021, from across French and foreign high schools, the Equal Opportunity Programme and those who applied for our dual degree programmes. This figure remains stable in relation to previous years.

Applicants from almost 2,000 different high schools

66% of the students admitted are female, a slight increase on previous years. Of those admitted through the general French pathway, 13% are recipients of a secondary school scholarship, compared to 5% in 2020 and 3.8% in 2019.

1,995 different secondary schools were counted among the applicants (up 45% compared to 2020) and 551 different secondary schools among the 793 successful candidates, equating to 1.4 candidates admitted per institution. High school students from outside of the Île-de-France region accounted for 70% of the intake (64% in 2020), versus 79% of the French high school population (according to statistics for 2019-2020 from the Ministry of National Education).

The ratio of private to public institutions within the intake remains similar to previous years. Students from private high schools account for 31% of students admitted compared to 33% for the previous year.

Admissions pathway and application evaluation

Candidates applying through the Parcoursup platform had up until 8 April to submit their online application. All application forms were evaluated before 30 April. 803 evaluators were recruited for the procedure, including secondary school teachers, academic staff and faculty at Sciences Po, with each application undergoing a double evaluation.

These evaluators were responsible for Evaluation 2 (academic performance and progress) and 3 (three written papers) of the selection process. Each evaluator reviewed an average of 30 applications. With regards to Evaluation 1 (performance in the French Baccalaureate), a score for each applicant was calculated on the basis of the subject grades uploaded to the Parcoursup platform.

Once all application forms had been evaluated, the admissions jury agreed upon a minimum score for candidates to be invited to interview, the fourth and final phase of evaluation. Interviews for applicants from the general Parcoursup pathway took place from 12 to 22 May 2021. 194 evaluators from Sciences Po’s faculty and/or administrative and academic staff were appointed to the interview panels. The successful candidates selected by the admissions jury achieved an average score of 72 out of 80. The scores for students admitted ranged from 67 to 79 out of 80.

Find out more:

• Read the press release and see admission results by French region (Fr)
• Undergraduate Admissions: changes to the procedure for 2021
• 2020 Admissions Report

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