Institut Franco-Chinois de Management（法中管理学院）European Study Guide: Programs, Entry Requirements, Costs and Student Planning

Institut Franco-Chinois de Management（法中管理学院）, known by its acronym IFCM, is a Paris institute founded in 1999 that prepares international students for management studies in France. It describes itself as a school of French and English whose preparatory programmes lead into the business schools of Groupe ESG and PSB – Paris School of Business, with two intakes a year. This guide covers the four preparatory tracks, who can apply, what the published fees are, the deadlines, and how to plan the application-to-arrival sequence. Every fact below comes from the school’s official website, accessed on August 5, 2026; fees and dates should be re-checked against the latest version of the site before you apply.

What Institut Franco-Chinois de Management Is

Institut Franco-Chinois de Management (IFCM) was created in 1999 as a school of French and English in Paris preparing students for management studies. The official site describes its mission as welcoming Chinese and Asian students whose French level is not yet sufficient, or whose academic foundations need deepening, before they enter a business school of Groupe ESG or PSB – Paris School of Business; the institute also functions as an English training centre. IFCM’s main address is 35 Avenue Philippe-Auguste, 75011 Paris, and its legal entity is the SAS ESGCV, a member of the Studialis network, with the director of the school listed as Xiuxian Qiu.

The school reports that over more than 20 years, more than 2,500 students continued their studies within Groupe ESG and PSB after IFCM and obtained the diploma they prepared for, and that 90% of students succeed in their admission interview into one of the ESG group or PSB schools. These are the school’s own claims about its track record, useful as context but not a guarantee of any individual outcome. IFCM also states that it awards scholarships of excellence to its most meritorious students, without publishing amounts, and that every student must validate one or more internship periods in a company during their studies.

Programs: Four Preparatory Tracks

Institut Franco-Chinois de Management organises its teaching into four preparatory tracks, all based in Paris with intakes in September and January and a duration of one or two semesters:

• Prépa de Français – intermediate and advanced French (levels A2, B1, B2), 18 hours a week, 1,900 euros per semester. The course builds fundamental vocabulary, knowledge of French media and civilisation, and written and oral expression, with an introduction to French for business.
• Prépa de Management – advanced level (B1, B2), 18 hours a week, 1,900 euros per semester. It covers specialised French vocabulary for business plus foundations in economics, marketing, accounting, management, applied mathematics, taxation and information technology.
• Prépa de Français et de Management – intermediate level (A2, B1), 24 hours a week, 3,450 euros per semester. It combines French improvement with academic skills in marketing, economics, accounting and office IT.
• Prépa d’Anglais, de Management et d’Art – intermediate and advanced (IELTS 5.0 or 5.5), 20 hours a week, 3,450 euros per semester. Its stated objective is to bring students to a sufficient language level to integrate PSB (Paris School of Business) or an English-taught programme of the Groupe ESG.

The English track is the most relevant route for students aiming at English-taught business degrees. Its curriculum includes English vocabulary and grammar, oral and written expression, French for daily life and administrative procedures, art and culture with museum visits, business English, marketing, economics, finance and accounting, management strategy, information technology, and a workshop on CV, motivation letter and interview preparation, alongside thematic seminars and associative activities. The French tracks feed mainly into French-taught programmes within the ESG group.

Entry Requirements and Application Materials

Institut Franco-Chinois de Management applies the same baseline requirements across its preparatory tracks: applicants must be aged 18 or older and hold the baccalauréat or an equivalent diploma from their country of origin. Language requirements differ by track and are stated precisely on the official pages.

For the French and management track, applicants need a TCF level B1 or equivalent for the one-year programme, or a TCF level A2 or equivalent for the reinforced intensive one-year programme. The management track asks for a B2 level attested by a TCF or TEF score of at least 400 points, and prior French training of 1,000 to 1,200 hours. For the English track, the published requirement is an IELTS score of 5.0 for orientation towards a Bachelor or BBA, and 5.5 for orientation towards an MSc or MBA.

The application is dossier-based: candidates send by email a completed application form, a CV, a motivation letter, copies of diplomas, transcripts of records, and their TCF/TEF or IELTS results. The school’s admissions correspondence address is 25 rue Saint-Ambroise, 75011 Paris. Note that French language minimums and score thresholds can be updated by the school; the version above reflects the official pages as of August 5, 2026.

Deadlines and the Admissions Process

Institut Franco-Chinois de Management runs two intakes, and the published dossier deadlines are: 31 July for the autumn intake (classes start at the end of September), and 15 December for the spring intake (classes start at the end of January). After the dossier is received, the school may propose a telephone or videoconference interview, then issues an admissibility letter specifying the duration of the preparatory class and the target specialty year.

After admissibility, the sequence is: pay the tuition by bank transfer to the school’s account, send the transfer receipt for accounting verification, and the school then issues an attestation of enrolment (attestation d’inscription) and an attestation of housing (attestation de logement). The attestation covers both the preparatory period and the speciality period, serving as a single document for both enrolment and pre-enrolment. Students then communicate their Campus France Pastel number to the admissions service, use the attestation to book a Campus France interview, and submit their visa application at the French consulate in China or another Asian country. If the first visa application is refused, the school allows deferral to the next session or year with a new attestation of enrolment.

For students applying directly to English-taught programmes, the dossier is handled by the PSB international programmes admissions service instead: an admissibility notice arrives about 10 days after the dossier is received, followed by an English interview by phone or Teams, with the final result about one week after the interview, and the attestation of enrolment issued after payment. Where the preparatory year leads after IFCM depends on results: with satisfactory progress after one year or one semester, baccalauréat holders can be recommended for Bachelor year 1, students with three validated years of higher education (Bac+3) for Bachelor year 3 or Master 1, and Bac+4 holders for Master 1 or Master 2 within Groupe ESG establishments.

Published Fees and Costs

Institut Franco-Chinois de Management publishes its tuition per semester on each programme page: 1,900 euros per semester for the French track and for the management track, and 3,450 euros per semester for the combined French-and-management track and for the English-and-management track. The admissions page gives the annual figure: 6,900 euros for one academic year (two semesters) of preparatory class in management, in French or in English. These are the official figures as accessed on August 5, 2026.

Two cost-related policies are worth knowing before committing. First, the school awards scholarships of excellence to meritorious students, but publishes no amounts or criteria on the pages reviewed, so the practical value should be confirmed with the school at application time. Second, the visa-refund policy: if a visa is definitively refused and the student does not continue, a refund of the fees paid can be requested; 90 euros of dossier fees remain due, and the balance is returned by bank transfer. IFCM does not publish a unified figure for living costs in Paris; accommodation and daily expenses vary widely and should be budgeted from current market information rather than from this guide.

Planning Your Studies in Paris

Planning around Institut Franco-Chinois de Management means working backwards from the intake you want. For the September intake, the dossier deadline is 31 July; for the January intake, 15 December. A realistic sequence is: confirm your target degree (French-taught or English-taught, Bachelor or Master), prepare the language certificate (TCF/TEF or IELTS), assemble the dossier, submit before the deadline, attend the interview if proposed, pay the tuition after admissibility, and then use the attestation documents for the Campus France and visa steps, which take additional time.

Life at IFCM is designed to support the transition. The school organises workshops on CV, motivation letter and interview technique, thematic seminars, forums, conferences, museum visits, cultural and artistic outings, and sports, alongside an internship requirement that every student must validate in a company. IFCM also highlights the ESG Chinois Alumni association, created in France in December 2014 with offices opened in 2015 in Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen. The institute presents itself as a bridge into the ESG group, which the site describes as the first group of business schools in Paris, with member schools covering marketing, commerce, finance, human resources, communication, luxury, tourism and more, plus PSB Paris School of Business for grande école, Bachelor, MSc and executive programmes; those descriptions are the group’s own self-presentation.

Putting the Plan Together

The essentials for Institut Franco-Chinois de Management（法中管理学院）are compact: four preparatory tracks in Paris, two intakes a year, deadlines of 31 July and 15 December, published tuition of 1,900 to 3,450 euros per semester (6,900 euros per academic year), a dossier-based application with TCF/TEF or IELTS scores, and a defined pathway into Groupe ESG and PSB for students who complete the year with satisfactory results. Fees, deadlines and language thresholds are the school’s own published values as of August 5, 2026, and can change; always confirm against the latest official pages. If you would like to weigh your language level, target degree and budget together, our advisers can walk you through programme fit, timing and preparation for the route that suits your situation.