Diplôme d'archiviste paléographe at École nationale des chartes – PSL

Programme overview

Founded in 1846, the archiviste paléographe diploma trains future civil servants for careers as curators of written, graphic and monumental heritage. The course combines classes with placements in heritage institutions in France and abroad and leads to an établissement thesis, with a master 2 dissertation along the way. Classes are held at 65 rue de Richelieu, Paris 2e.

Duration: 3 years 9 months (six semesters of coursework, then a diploma thesis defended in the fourth year) | Study mode: full-time; taught in French | Location: Paris, Île-de-France, France

What you will study

Multidisciplinary teaching in art history, palaeography and diplomatics, history of manuscripts and the book, legal history, contemporary media, Latin and Romance philology, archival science and archaeology, plus a compulsory 2-3 month placement abroad in the fourth year.

Career pathways

Curator of libraries (about half of each cohort, via the Enssib competition reserved for chartistes), archives curator (via the INP competition), museum or historic-monument curator after further preparation, and research and teaching careers in history, ancient languages and art history.

Official programme page

Application information

Entry requirements

Admission is by competitive examination (concours). First-year entry is the main route, through sections A (historians with strong ancient-language knowledge) and B, with written tests via the Banque d'épreuves littéraires and oral tests; applicants are mainly students from preparatory classes littéraires (about 20 admitted from roughly 220 candidates). Registration for the 2026 concours ran from 8 December 2025 to 12 January 2026 on concours-bel.fr. Second-year entry by concours is suspended until further notice. An international selection route (dossier-based, with motivation letter) allows admission to year 1 or 2.

Duration: 3 years 9 months (six semesters of coursework, then a diploma thesis defended in the fourth year)

Apply through the official page: https://www.chartes.psl.eu/formations/archiviste-paleographe/concours

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