University in France
Pessac, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
University profile
Sciences Po Bordeaux (Institut d'études politiques de Bordeaux) is a selective, multidisciplinary and international grande école for the humanities and social sciences. Founded in 1948, it is one of the ten French Instituts d'études politiques. It is a public higher-education institution of an administrative nature, associated by agreement with the Université de Bordeaux, and a member of the Conférence des Grandes Écoles and of the territorial coordination agreement for Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It has close to 2,200 students of all statuses.
The school sits at the heart of the Pessac-Talence-Gradignan university campus, about 20 minutes from central Bordeaux. Its mission, set by the Code de l'éducation, is to train senior managers for the public, semi-public and private sectors and to develop research in political science. The five-year diploma is recognised at Master level and rests on five major disciplines: political science, sociology, economics, law and history, taught through a mix of academics, researchers and practising professionals, with presentations, simulations, tutored projects, internships and apprenticeships.
The first cycle (years 1 to 3) covers fundamentals and methodology and includes an international mobility period in the third year. The second cycle (years 4 and 5) is organised from the 2026 intake into five poles with 18 renovated Master parcours, among them Affaires européennes, Géo-économie appliquée, Sécurité internationale, Gouvernance des transitions écologiques, Communication publique et politique and Objectif INSP. Double degrees include Sciences, Ingénierie, Société & Politique (SISP) with ENSMAC at Bordeaux INP, integrated French-German, French-Caribbean, French-Spanish, French-Italian and French-Portuguese tracks, and Binational English Programmes with Hong Kong Baptist University and LUISS Rome. Preparation centres for civil-service competitive examinations (CPAG and Objectif Haute Fonction Publique) and continuing education complete the offer.
Student life includes more than 50 active associations, compulsory sport supported by the Association Sportive, a health unit with a nurse, a psychologist and an Espace Santé Étudiant, and a network of over 16,000 alumni. The school reports the highest share of grant-holding students (30 percent) among the IEPs and runs its own social fund, FAIRE.
The school has partnerships with 160 higher-education institutions for exchange students, who may come as nominated students or as free movers, with study tracks in French and in English. Foreign students are admitted on the same terms as French candidates, and all candidates sit the same entrance procedures.
Every student pays the national CVEC (contribution vie étudiante et de campus), collected via messervices.etudiant.gouv.fr, plus institutional registration fees and library fees set by the board. For students whose tax residence is in the European Economic Area, fees are modulated by household income. CROUS grant-holders on social criteria are exempt. Students with tax residence outside the EEA pay the maximum fees: 6,300 EUR a year in the first cycle and 6,615 EUR a year in the second cycle. Students in international curricula recruited by Sciences Po Bordeaux pay the same fees as the general curriculum; those recruited by partner universities pay the partner university and nothing to Sciences Po Bordeaux. For doctoral students the CVEC was 103 EUR in 2024-25, with exemption for French Government scholarship holders. A fee calculator is at www2.sciencespobordeaux.fr/calcul_droits.html; details at Droits d'inscription.
The Fonds d'Aide à l'Insertion et à la Réussite des Élèves finances need-based grants and excellence grants for study and internship mobility abroad, internship support (travel, housing), top-ups to grants for French or foreign students, equipment for students with disabilities and career-entry support. It works on three priorities: equal opportunities, internationalisation and professional integration. See Fonds social FAIRE.
The school welcomes students from countries of the South, notably African, under the BALAFON programme with the City of Bordeaux, Bordeaux Métropole and the Fondation Prospective et Innovation.
CROUS university housing is reserved first for CROUS grant-holders and for international students enrolled in Master or doctorate; applications go through the dossier social étudiant. See Logement.
FAIRE Social Fund (Fonds d'Aide à l'Insertion et à la Réussite des Élèves) →
BALAFON Programme (Bordeaux-Afrique L'Ambition FOndatrice) →
Browse the scholarships listed for Sciences Po Bordeaux and check each award’s eligibility.
View scholarships for Sciences Po Bordeaux →Three entry points exist: first year of the general curriculum (Bac 0, candidates in the year of the baccalauréat only), first year of an international curriculum (Bac 0 or Bac +1) and fourth year (Bac +3, 180 ECTS). First-year applications are made on Parcoursup on the Ministry calendar, and all documents must be uploaded there.
Required level: the baccalauréat or an equivalent secondary-school leaving diploma obtained in the year of the entrance procedure; equivalent foreign diplomas are examined case by case by the admissions commission. Two foreign languages are compulsory throughout the course (English plus German, Chinese, Spanish, Italian or Portuguese) and must already have been studied at school. Selection runs in two phases: admissibility on the basis of school grades, then admission by qualitative file review (reports, motivation letter, activities, a certified written assignment in French) and a 20-minute oral interview with two jurors. Orals take place in person at the exam centre chosen, with some decentralised centres in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, overseas territories and abroad.
A five-year double degree with ENSMAC (Bordeaux INP) leading to the engineering diploma and the Sciences Po Bordeaux diploma. Applicants must have followed Mathematics and Physics-Chemistry plus another specialty in Première, and Mathematics (or Mathématiques complémentaires) plus another specialty in Terminale.
Open to Bac 0 or Bac +1 candidates (FIFCA requires Bac +1 with 60 ECTS, or Bac +2): FIFA (Stuttgart), FIFCA (Antilles and West Indies University, Kingston), FIFE (Madrid), FIFI (Turin), FIFPO (Coimbra), BEPHK (Hong Kong Baptist University) and BEPLUISS (LUISS, Rome). Candidates submit a motivation letter and a written assignment in the partner language (English for the BEP and FIFCA) and are interviewed, partly in the curriculum language for BEPLUISS and BEPHK.
Open to holders of a French or foreign diploma validating at least 180 ECTS. The online application includes a professional project file, CV and transcripts. Admission consists of a 15-minute oral in English and a second language and a 30-minute video interview (5 minutes presentation, 10 minutes document analysis, 15 minutes discussion). Candidates may apply to one Master parcours at a time. The registration server for the 2027 session is open from 15 February to 19 March 2027, 16:00. International candidates follow the same procedure; French at B2-equivalent level is essential, and the written level is checked on arrival: a student whose level does not match the file is registered for the Certificate of Political Studies instead of the Master course.
Foreign students are admitted to the first cycle on the same conditions as French students, unless a special agreement with a partner university or diplomatic service applies, in which case the candidate may choose either route. Holders of the Sciences Po Bordeaux Certificat d'études politiques à titre étranger (CEP) may apply for third year (general curriculum, within two years of the CEP) or fourth year (with a Bac +3 diploma). Exchange students come through one of the partner institutions or as free movers. The international admissions contact is +33 (0)5 56 844 297.
A national Master's degree or equivalent conferring the Master grade is required (derogations possible for equivalent foreign studies or validation of professional experience), together with a research project in political science, the agreement of a thesis supervisor, an online application on the Adum platform, signature of the training agreement by the supervisor and unit director, pedagogical approval by the doctoral school, then administrative registration with the CVEC certificate and the doctoral registration fee of 391 EUR.
Single site: 11 allée Ausone, Domaine universitaire, 33607 Pessac, on the Pessac-Talence-Gradignan campus with direct tram access. The present building, inaugurated in 2016, is the largest single-site IEP in France and is fully accessible.
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