University in France
Bruz, Bretagne, France
University profile
The École normale supérieure de Rennes (ENS Rennes) is a public scientific, cultural and professional establishment whose mission is to train senior scientific staff for the French civil service. It prepares students for research through research, by way of the agrégation and the doctorate, and leads mainly to careers in higher education, research and innovation. Its small size allows study paths to be individualised, with each student followed personally by the teaching teams.
The school sits on the Ker Lann campus in Bruz, south of Rennes. It teaches in six departments: Droit - économie - management, Informatique, Mathématiques, Mécatronique, Sciences du sport et éducation physique (2SEP) and Sciences pour l'environnement. Disciplines range across the humanities and social sciences, education sciences, engineering sciences and fundamental sciences. Preparation is offered for nine options of the external agrégation.
At 1 September 2025 the school counted 659 normalien students (224 civil-servant trainees and 435 students), 29 doctoral students enrolled at the school, 59 teachers and teacher-researchers, 12 teaching professors and 50 support staff, with about 291 outside contributors. The buildings cover 13,000 m2 on 3 hectares. More than 90% of students pass the agrégation and 86% continue to a doctorate; more than 30% of students receive a means-tested bursary at admission.
Students follow master's degrees co-accredited with partner institutions of the Rennes area (Université de Rennes, Université Rennes 2, IEP Rennes, INSA Rennes and EHESP), and the ENS Rennes diploma, which carries the grade of master (arrêté of 29 June 2022). Research is carried out in partner laboratories such as IRISA, IRMAR, IODE, CREM, IETR, IPR, M2S, VIPS2 and OSERen.
The residence Rose Dieng-Kuntz, opened in 2023 in the Le Blosne district of Rennes, offers 200 furnished places. The school has a library with more than a hundred seats and four group-work rooms, a gym, student associations (arts, sports and others) and health and well-being services. Incoming international students are supported by the International Relations Service; French at level B2 is required, and the school runs summer French classes with the CIREFE. Postgraduate master's and PhD programmes are taught in French or English.
Two awards of up to 24 months each for a master's degree at ENS Rennes (computer science, cyber-security, complex systems engineering, sports science, public policy with economics option, mathematics for candidates with prior postgraduate training, and master's in the PhD Track in Environmental Transition). Applicants are considered through their Fulbright application and possibly a phone interview. Fulbright programme page
The ENS group funds 30 doctoral students a year with the CSC. The scholarship lasts up to 4 years at 1,350 EUR per month, for applicants of Chinese nationality residing in China; thesis proposals are collected until 30 October 2026 for the 2027 call, and applications run from 7 December 2026 to 8 February 2027. CSC programme page
A pre-doctoral programme for Chinese students, selected on file and interview, leading to a CSC four-year doctoral scholarship in one of the ENS. PROSFER page
The International Relations Service helps incoming students find funding, with programmes open to students from Germany, Australia, Brazil, India, Italy, Lebanon, Norway, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. The school takes part in Erasmus+ 2021-2027. Funding page
Normalien civil-servant trainees are paid about 1,800 EUR gross a month; more than 30% of students hold a means-tested bursary at admission.
Browse the scholarships listed for ENS Rennes and check each award’s eligibility.
View scholarships for ENS Rennes →About 65 normalien civil-servant trainees are recruited each year through the first-year and second-year concours. First-year concours: scientific tracks (mathematics MP, computer science MPI, mechatronics PSI, PT, ATS, TSI, through the SCEI exam bank), the Droit-économie concours and the Sciences du sport et éducation physique (2SEP) concours. The second-year concours (formerly cycle master) covers mathematics, computer science and engineering sciences. Registration for the ENS entrance concours is free. Holders of a degree worth 240 ECTS from a university, a CTI-listed engineering school or a business school may not enter the first-year concours, and no one may sit it more than twice. Trainees receive a salary of about 1,800 EUR gross a month in return for a ten-year service commitment (engagement décennal).
French, European and foreign students may be admitted outside the concours through the admissions parallèles procedure run by each department. They follow the same courses as civil-servant trainees and obtain the co-accredited master's degrees, the ENS Rennes diploma (L3, M1, M2) and doctorates.
International students may apply under a specific partnership or scholarship programme (Fulbright, ENS-ECNU PROSFER, ENS-China Scholarship Council, Campus France Eiffel scholarship, Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie), or contact the target department or laboratory directly for an application outside a programme; selection is highly competitive. An application form is available from the International Relations Service ([email protected]). Undergraduate courses are mostly in French; postgraduate master's and PhD programmes are in French or English. Level B2 of the CEFR in French is required for every incoming foreign student, and a summer school offers French classes to candidates with strong files but weaker French.
The co-accredited master's degrees are open to holders of a European licence (bachelor's degree) or equivalent.
Continuing-education trainees can enrol, notably to prepare the agrégation. Enquiries: [email protected].
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