Frequently asked questions – ESDAC

Founded in 2009, ESDAC has established itself as a benchmark in art and design.

With more than 1 500 partner companies hosting its students and apprentices every year, the school maintains close ties with the industry. It also draws on partnership agreements with leading regional and national organisations : Maison et Objets, Salon de l’Habitat, Bo Concept, la Biennale des Imaginaires Numériques, Paris Design Week, Décathlon and La Tiny House.

What is more, with its 12 campuses across the country, ESDAC plays an active part in local economic life by building partnerships with regional companies and institutions. This grounding in each region encourages exchanges between students, professionals and local entrepreneurs, enriching their studies and keeping the design sector closely connected to the economic realities of every area.

ESDAC is a private higher education school that is both a training organisation and an apprentice training centre (CFA). Its programmes lead to professional qualifications registered with France Compétences, a body attached to the French Ministry of Labour and Employment. On that basis, ESDAC is governed by the French Labour Code and comes under the Ministry of Labour and Employment. As a private higher education school and CFA, it also falls under the French Education Code.

ESDAC is a private higher education institution attached to the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research. The school is therefore governed by the French Education Code. Because it focuses exclusively on teaching rather than research, the school appoints working professionals as tutors rather than research academics. This is why ESDAC qualifications do not fall into the « state-approved (visé par l’État) » category and do not confer the French licence or master’s grade.

As a training organisation, ESDAC holds Qualiopi certification, the mandatory state-awarded quality mark attesting to the quality of the training delivered on our campuses. The certification is valid for three years, with a monitoring audit halfway through.

ESDAC qualifications are not « state-approved (visés par l’État) », because the school’s purpose is to get students into work. It is a private higher education institution, a training organisation and an apprentice training centre (CFA) preparing students for professional qualifications registered in the RNCP and overseen by France Compétences. ESDAC does not carry out research, which is the defining feature of state-approved qualifications.

The licence, master and doctorat (the French LMD system) are national qualifications awarded in France by universities. They correspond to three, five and eight years of study after the baccalaureate. The main remit of universities is to ensure student success and to develop research.

The licence, master and doctorate grades are designations that, for a given period, grant equivalence to qualifications from schools and higher education institutions recognised by the State. These institutions are assessed on student success and on the development of research.

Bachelor and mastère are names given to three-year and five-year post-baccalaureate programmes, which are not university grades.

Because it focuses exclusively on teaching rather than research, ESDAC does not carry out research and has no faculty of research academics. This is why ESDAC qualifications do not fall into the « state-approved (visé par l’État) » category and confer neither the licence nor the master’s grade. It is a deliberate choice that carries a strong promise : to train graduates who are ready to enter the job market and to give them a career aligned with their professional plans. For several years now, the private sector has taken in more than a quarter of all baccalaureate holders, which shows how relevant this skills-led rather than academically led approach to teaching really is.

ESDAC programmes run over three and five years after the baccalaureate. The first three years are known as the bachelor, and the following two years as the mastère.

These programmes prepare students for specific careers :

• the bachelors lead to technical or hands-on roles
• the mastères lead to roles with a higher level of expertise, involving team leadership and/or strategic direction.

ECTS, the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System, make it easier to have qualifications recognised across Europe and smooth the way for student mobility. As a higher education institution, ESDAC therefore awards 60 ECTS for each year successfully completed, according to the criteria set out in the school’s academic regulations.

All our programmes lead to a school qualification  called a bachelor or mastère. 

Depending on the programme, students also work towards a professional qualification registered in the French national register of professional qualifications (RNCP). 

Level 6 qualifications are awarded on completion of the bachelor (three years after the baccalaureate). 

Level 7 qualifications are awarded on completion of the mastère (five years after the baccalaureate). 

Some programmes do not lead to a Level 6 qualification because employability at that level is limited, and all students go on to continue their studies to Level 7. 

A school qualification records the path taken to acquire the target skills, setting out the specialisms followed and the options chosen, which a professional qualification does not do. It captures the particular route a student took, which can differ from one holder of the same qualification to another. It is generally the name of the school qualification that alumni put on their CV.

A professional qualification certifies only the professional competence reached at the end. It is a record of the skills acquired.

A professional qualification registered in the RNCP is official recognition of a level of qualification. It guarantees that the holder’s skills are recognised, and therefore their employability. The level attained can be used to demonstrate the entry requirements for another course. Registration in the RNCP can also open the door to public funding, such as apprenticeship funding, provided the course prepares students for the corresponding qualification.

A work-study programme (alternance) is a teaching format that allows students to move back and forth between the classroom and real working situations in a company. Its rhythm varies according to the objectives, the sector, the role and so on.

Several types of employment contract can support this alternating rhythm : an apprenticeship contract, a professionalisation contract, a part-time fixed-term or permanent contract, or a work placement agreement providing for this pattern.

An apprenticeship is particularly well suited to a work-study rhythm and includes, in particular, the company covering the course fees and paying the student a salary.

There are two categories of registration :

1. Registration « as of right », for vocational diplomas and qualifications awarded in the name of the State and created by decree or following a specific consultation
2. Registration « on application ». The qualifications belonging to ACE EDUCATION fall into this category.

An application to register a professional qualification in the RNCP is assessed against nine criteria, covering the employment outcomes of at least two graduating cohorts, the quality and consistency of the activity, skills and skills-assessment frameworks for the target occupation, the procedures for monitoring how assessments are organised, and the routes of entry to the proposed qualification as a whole or by individual skill block.

The professional qualifications prepared through ESDAC programmes are as follows :

• Bachelor Design Graphique + Level 6 qualification « Designer en Communication Graphique Eco-responsable » RNCP 39221
• Mastère Directeur Artistique Graphique + Level 7 qualification « Directeur Artistique en Design Graphique » RNCP 38595
• Mastère Designer Architecte d'Intérieur + Level 7 qualification « Architecte d'Intérieur Designer » RNCP 37269

There are several possible reasons :

• The programme is new. A new RNCP registration requires evidence of the employment outcomes of at least two graduating cohorts before a first application can be submitted
• The programme runs over five years, so there is no RNCP qualification at Level 6
• The qualification is being renewed and appears as inactive on the France Compétences website
• The target occupation is not one that lends itself to institutional recognition (for example : certain artistic professions such as illustration)

The Bachelor Design d'Espace is an integral part of the five-year programme leading to the role of interior architect and designer, with a Level 7 qualification. ESDAC does not hold a Level 6 RNCP professional qualification in Spatial Design, but it does award a school qualification at the end of the three years. The option of following the course by apprenticeship over the final three years of the programme was a provision of our own Level 7 qualification. It reflected our view of the interior architect and designer profession when we registered it in 2019. Today, the profession requires a five-year post-baccalaureate qualification to recognise interior architecture skills. ESDAC encourages its students to continue on to the Level 7 professional qualification in order to secure their employability over the long term.

ESDAC informs its students during the re-enrolment period.

Qualifications also have expiry dates that fall at different points in the year, independently of the academic calendar. Whether a qualification is renewed or replaced by another as the professions evolve, the information is updated on our website at the earliest opportunity.

Finally, should there be a prolonged gap that affects students already enrolled on a course, specific communications are put in place for them.

When an RNCP professional qualification reaches its expiry date and becomes inactive, this means no new students can be enrolled on it until it is renewed. However, all students already enrolled on the programme leading to it may complete it through to the end of their course, and can graduate with that qualification provided no other qualification has replaced it and subject to passing the assessments.

Likewise, a learner on apprentice status may continue their course through to the end of their apprenticeship contract. Please note that no new apprenticeship contract can be signed for that qualification, even if a contract has been interrupted for any reason.

A professional qualification prepares students for an occupation and is organised into blocks of skills. One qualification is often used for several courses that draw on the same skills. This may happen within a single group, with the qualification applied to courses delivered by different schools belonging to it, and with partners. The courses, modules and teaching formats differ, but they prepare students to demonstrate the same skills through the same assessments. This is common practice and does not devalue the courses.

An RNCP qualification targets a specific occupation consistent with the course on offer. It sets out the skills to be acquired in order to practise it and the assessments to be passed in order to demonstrate them. It is the finishing line for a course of study. There are different occupations (often quite closely related) that draw on the same blocks of skills. This is why the same qualification can be used by several schools and for different courses.

An RNCP qualification targets a specific occupation consistent with the course on offer. It sets out the skills to be acquired in order to practise it and the assessments to be passed in order to demonstrate them. It is the finishing line for a course of study. To prepare students for that point of assessment, each organisation approved to deliver the qualification rolls out its own programmes and its own teaching approach. The content of the programmes, the way students are prepared for the target occupations and skills, and the student experience all differ from one organisation to another, even when they award the same qualification.

On the France Compétences record, the list of organisations preparing students for the qualification is available via the corresponding link at the bottom of the page.

A school may deliver training and run the certifying assessments for a qualification of its own, a state qualification or a partner’s qualification. When our own qualifications are being renewed and are inactive, we use a partner’s qualification. This is common practice and reflects a strategic decision taken by the training organisation and its partner.

Every qualification registered in the RNCP has an expiry date. If it is not renewed before that date but apprentices hold contracts under it, the apprenticeship continues through to its end and the apprentice prepares to sit the corresponding assessments in order to obtain the qualification. If, however, the contract is terminated for any reason, the student will not be able to sign a new contract under that expired qualification.

Since 2018, the regulations and funding arrangements for apprenticeships have been particularly favourable to all parties involved (companies, learners and apprentice training centres). The latest measures on work-study funding will have an impact on the number of apprenticeship places companies offer. While this route offers many advantages, ESDAC does not regard it as superior to full-time study. That is why ESDAC offers ESSENTIEL programmes for apprenticeships, but also EXPERT and INTERNATIONAL programmes, which give more room to teaching.

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