Recognition of Diplomas and Qualifications

(source: European Union)

• I. Information on Community Law
• II. Formalities in France
• III. Useful addresses in France

I. Information on Community law

The teaching profession is covered by the general system for the recognition of professional qualifications (see the Factsheet on the general system).

1. You are entitled to work as a teacher if your professional qualifications enable you to pursue this profession in the Member State from which you come. What is recognized is the qualification or set of qualifications required in order to take up teaching in the Member State from which you come (e.g. university degree and doctorate for university lecturers or, in certain countries, university degree and teaching diploma for secondary education).
   
   
2. The competent authority may require you either to undergo an adaptation period or to take an aptitude test (at your choice) if there are substantial differences between your training and that required in the host Member State (see the Factsheet on the general system). These requirements may also be applied if you are not qualified in the Member State from which you come to teach all the subjects that you are required to teach in the host Member State (e.g. you are a maths teacher and are required to teach maths and physics in the host Member State). Such differences justify these additional requirements but do not constitute grounds for refusal to recognize qualifications (assuming that the other conditions are met).
   
   
3. The host Member State authorities have four months in which to reply to your application for recognition. In the event of refusal, the grounds for the decision must be given and you may appeal before a court or tribunal according to the procedures in force in the host Member State. Failure to take a decision within four months is to be deemed an implicit refusal.
   
   The Community institutions are not empowered to set aside an administrative decision taken by national authorities in your case. Only the competent national bodies can set aside a decision to reject your application for recognition. In its judgments, the EC Court of Justice has simply held that a Member State has failed to implement Community law correctly or that a particular piece of national legislation is incompatible with Community law. It is for the authorities of the State concerned to amend individual decisions resulting from practice or legislation which the Court has found incompatible with Community law.
   
   
4. Once your qualifications have been recognized, you may apply for teaching jobs on the same basis as persons with the qualifications of the host Member State, with the same rights and obligations.

Reference documents:

• Directives 89/48/EEC and 92/51/EEC;
• Guide for users of the general system for the recognition of professional qualifications.

II. Formalities in France

Competent authority: 

Applications for recognition should be sent to the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Research. Your application should specify the level at which you wish to teach (primary school, secondary school, higher education) and the subjects you offer.

In the private sector, provided that no links exist with public education, access to the teaching profession is unrestricted and is not subject to the possession of a diploma. You do not need, therefore, to apply for recognition. When seeking access to a teaching post in the private sector, you are subject to the rules and conditions of the labour market and not to legal constraints regarding your diploma. Any person meeting the following conditions is free to teach: (i) he must not be disqualified by virtue of having a criminal record; (ii) he must not be debarred from teaching (by a decision of a national education academic council sitting as a disciplinary body or tribunal); (iii) he must enjoy his civil rights in the country of which he is a national.

In the public sector and in the sections of the private sector that are linked by contract to the State, teachers are recruited by public examinations open to Community nationals. To be eligible to take an examination providing access to a teaching post, you should first obtain recognition of your diploma(s).

Supporting documents: 

Contact the competent authority for a list of precisely which documents are required. As an indication, you will probably be expected to provide: 

• a document providing proof of your nationality; your qualifications and diplomas; 
• and certificates showing your professional experience. 

You may also be required to submit a certificate issued by a competent authority in your country stating that you are a fully qualified teacher. Non-French diplomas should be accompanied by a certificate from the awarding authority giving the number of years you have studied. The diploma should be translated into French and certified.

Recognition will enable you to take part in the public examinations organized in France for the recruitment of teachers, under the same conditions (same rights and same obligations) as holders of French diplomas. You should therefore satisfy all the other conditions imposed on applicants (i.e. you should enjoy your civic rights in your own country; you should not have been found guilty of an offence which is incompatible with the performance of your duties; you should have fulfilled your national service obligations in the country of which you are a national). The certificates issued by authorities in your country and showing that you meet the conditions laid down must be translated into French and certified. The public examinations are the same for teaching in the public sector and in the private sector under contract.

If you pass the examination, you become a trainee civil servant in the public sector or a trainee teacher in the private sector under contract. Trainees must normally undergo vocational training organized by a university teacher training institute (IUFM). However, candidates who can show they have undergone training in their country of origin similar to that given to trainees in the IUFMs may complete a probation period in situ and be assigned direct to a school. A trainee becomes established in the public sector, or is given a definitive contract in the private sector, after the probation year.

With regard to higher education, you become a lecturer (maître de conférence) or senior lecturer (professeur d'université) by taking an examination organized by the establishment with a view to filling one or more vacant posts in the discipline concerned. To be eligible, candidates should apply direct to the president of the university in which they wish to teach and should hold at least a French doctorate or a diploma (or diplomas) giving access in another Member State to the profession of university teacher. 

National rules: 

• Law of 26 July 1991 providing for unrestricted access by nationals of other Member States to certain professional bodies and jobs in the French public service; 
• Decrees No 92-1246 of 30 November 1992 and No 93-60 of 13 January 1993 giving nationals of the Member States of the European Community other than France access to certain professional bodies in education; 
• Decrees of 28 February 1991 and 21 May 1991 concerning the examination for school teachers (CAPE); 
• Decree of 7 July 1992 laying down the diplomas and qualifications required in order to sit the external examination for the certificate of aptitude for teaching in secondary education (CAPES), the certificate of aptitude for teaching in technical education (CAPET) and the certificate of aptitude for teaching physical education and sport (CAPEPS);
• Decree No 92-1189 of 6 November 1992 concerning the examination for the certificate of aptitude for teaching in a grade II vocational school (CAPLP2); 
• Decree of 21 July 1993 concerning the public examination for the agrégation; 
• and, with regard to university teaching, Decree No 84-431 of 6 June 1984, as amended by Decree No 95- 490 of 27 April 1995.

III. Useful addresses in France

• School teachers 
  Ministère de l'Education Nationale, de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Bureau de l'Information sur les Systèmes Educatifs et de la Reconnaissance des Diplômes DRIC A2 
  110 rue de Grenelle F - 75007 Paris 
  Tel: +33/1/40.65.65.90
• University teachers 
  Département des Affaires Internationales de l'Enseignement Supérieur DRIC B1 
  rue Dutot 61-65 F - 75015 Paris 
  Telo: +33/1/40.65.66.19

By Minitel: Code 3615CEE

Note: This Citizens First Factsheet is intended to provide guidance on EU law for information purposes only. It has been prepared by the European Commission with the help of national authorities and contains information on the national implementation of EU law. You are advised that the texts of Community legal instruments should be relied upon in case of doubt concerning the extent of a right or obligation arising from EU law.