One of France¡¯s prestigious?grandes ¨¦coles?has announced the creation of its first programmes taught exclusively in English after one of its senior managers conceded its flagship programme was ¡°hard to sell¡± to international students.

Frank Pacard, vice-president of academic affairs and research at the ?cole Polytechnique, told Times Higher Education that while his institution¡¯s bespoke Ing¨¦nieur polytechnicien, a four-year engineering course, had a good reputation globally, it is taught in French and therefore ¡°doesn¡¯t match the international schedule for studies¡±.

¡°The programme is designed in such a way that it is hard to ¡®sell it¡¯ to international students,¡± he said. ¡°In the core programme, it¡¯s very difficult to explain to foreign students what is inside the programme because it doesn¡¯t match international standards, but also everything is taught in French.

¡°We realised that by keeping only this programme we miss a lot of talented international students. We need to adapt to the fact that there is a need [from students to travel]. Even in the US, more and more students want to have some education experience abroad.¡±

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Professor Pacard also pointed to the complex system France employs in order for applicants to enter its prestigious grandes ¨¦coles?as a reason for why international students were dissuaded from applying. Students must complete two intensive preparatory years (classes pr¨¦paratoires or ±è°ù¨¦±è²¹²õ) and an entrance exam.

¡°[Can you imagine going] to the US and asking someone in high school if they want to do a ±è°ù¨¦±è²¹²õ for two years,?all taught in French, and at the end of these two years you don¡¯t have a degree, but eventually you¡¯ll have to pass an extremely tough exam, [to get] a degree? It¡¯s very hard to sell.¡±

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The institution¡¯s new degrees ¨C five graduate degrees and its first bachelor¡¯s programme ¨C will not require a ±è°ù¨¦±è²¹²õ and?aim to offer international students high-level scientific training and education in innovation management to closely match the demands of the job market.?

The graduate courses span a range of subjects including training in electronics and communications, the environment, economics and big data. The bachelor¡¯s degree is primarily focused on mathematics. All the programmes encapsulate multidisciplinary curricula ¨C another characteristic of the Ing¨¦nieur polytechnicien ¨C combining science, humanities, management and sports.

Professor Pacard said that the introduction of English-taught programmes was not aimed at trying to compete with similarly ranked global universities, but to give international students more options.

¡°We have to be realistic. We don¡¯t have the same means and size [as] some of our international partners,¡± he said.

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¡°But I think that from the experience we have with the engineering programme, all our students are extremely well trained, and when they go abroad to the top 10 universities [to study further], they are [welcomed].¡±

john.elmes@tesglobal.com