ENSAI is a great place to carry out a semester or year-long exchange. Exchange students have access to both English and French-taught programs and a low teacher-to-student ratio. At ENSAI, you will learn in a new and challenging way, and have the opportunity to participate in ENSAI’s rich student life while getting the chance to explore Brittany and its lively capital city: Rennes.
ENSAI maintains a network of exchange and Erasmus+ partners:
Students must be enrolled at one of ENSAI’s partner institutions to be eligible for an academic exchange at ENSAI. First, partner institutions must officially nominate their students before the application procedure can begin. Once students have been officially nominated, they will be contacted directly by ENSAI and provided with a link to ENSAI’s academic exchange registration website to complete a very short online application. The application form should be submitted with particular attention paid to the deadline and all required adjoining documents. Students will be notified of official acceptance, at the latest, 4 weeks after the application deadline.
Nomination deadlines
Autumn semester deadline: 15 June
Spring semester deadline: 15 November
Application deadlines
Autumn semester deadline: 30 June
Spring semester deadline: 30 November
Required documents for exchange applications
Higher-education Transcripts (current and past)
European Health Insurance Card
Recent Headshot
Students admitted to ENSAI as part of an academic exchange are exempted from paying tuition at ENSAI as well as paying the French CVEC student tax.
Studying abroad at ENSAI will give students the opportunity to develop their linguistic skills in both English and French, but minimal levels of one or both languages may be required depending on the study program.
Official language certifications are accepted but not necessary. ENSAI trusts its partner institutions to nominate students with appropriate linguistic skills.
Even if students elect to follow a program that is taught entirely in English, they should learn some French prior to arrival, as speaking the language of Molière is essential for daily life and integration. Erasmus+ and other non-French speaking students are highly encouraged to follow French as a Foreign Language courses while studying at ENSAI. They are offered to all international students free of charge.
Language requirements for programs are detailed as follows:
ENSAI is a small “grande école” offering graduate-level degrees with limited undergraduate-level courses. The following details and figure below should make it easier for students to understand how ENSAI’s programs are structured and how they compare to typical degrees offered by universities. In turn, this should help students understand which programs or tracks of programs they may request when applying to ENSAI as an exchange student.
Exchange students who are unsure of which study program to follow at ENSAI, should have already earned the following ECTS to enter into the program listed below:
– the first-year program at ENSAI: 120 ECTS (equivalent to the last year of a BSc)
– for the second-year program: 180 ECTS (equivalent to the first year of a MSc)
– for the third-year or Master programs: 240 ECTS (equivalent to the final year of a MSc)
Incoming students must finalize their Online Learning Agreement prior to arrival at ENSAI. Due to scheduling overlap, it is generally impossible to take courses from different programs or different years during your exchange. As such, Erasmus+ students are admitted into specific tracks at ENSAI. Course selection is therefore limited to classes within the given track.
The list of courses for each track are available on the program pages linked below:
Master for Smart Data Science – 2nd Year Master Studies
Master in Data Science for Public Decision Making (EMOS) – 2nd Year Master Studies
For any questions regarding course offerings or to be put in contact with an academic advisor, please contact ENSAI’s Office of International Relations.
ENSAI offers several opportunities for students who wish to study only in English at the graduate level. Currently, most undergraduate-level courses are offered only in French.
Year 2 of Engineer Statistician program (1st Year Master Studies)
Semesters 2: An English-taught track of 30 ECTS credits is available to international students who do not speak French.
Year 3 of Engineer Statistician program (2nd Year Master Studies)
Semester 1: Data Science for Economic & Health Modeling specialization taught entirely in English.
Master for Smart Data Science (2nd Year Master Studies)
Semester 1: Taught entirely in English.
Master in Data Science for Public Decision Making – EMOS (2nd Year Master Studies)
Semester 1: International EMOS track taught entirely in English.
