If you are considering studying art market, arts management or cultural heritage in Paris as an international student, IESA École Internationale des Métiers de la Culture et du Marché de l’Art (commonly presented as IESA arts&culture) is a private school worth understanding properly. This guide gathers what international applicants need to know — programmes, entry requirements, published costs and how the application works — from the school’s official websites as of 6 August 2026.
What IESA Is
IESA École Internationale des Métiers de la Culture et du Marché de l’Art is a private higher education institution in Paris that has been teaching since 1985, according to its own website. It focuses on training professionals for the art market and the cultural and creative industries, and its diplomas are registered at levels 6 and 7 of the French national register of professional qualifications (RNCP). The school is part of the Galileo Global Education group, which describes itself as operating 50 schools across 110 campuses in 20 countries.
Two figures from the school’s own pages give a sense of scale: IESA reports that over 20% of its students are international, and that around 400 industry professionals teach there each year. The school’s communication address is 16 rue Claude Bernard, 75005 Paris. Its teaching is organised around five fields: the art market, music, film and audiovisual, live performance, and cultural heritage.
Programmes: Bachelor Level
At undergraduate level, IESA École Internationale des Métiers de la Culture et du Marché de l’Art offers three-year bachelor programmes (Bac+3) starting in September. The Bachelor Marché de l’art (Art Market) is the school’s flagship programme, delivered in French, with work-study possible from the second year; it is registered under RNCP number 39220 at level 6, qualifying graduates as “officer for the commercialisation of artworks and art objects”. A fully English-taught option exists as well: the Bachelor in Arts Management, also three years, starting in September, covering management of arts and cultural organisations.
Both programmes share the same structural logic: years two and three are also open to direct entry for students who already hold the right number of credits. IESA states that second-year entry requires 60 ECTS and third-year entry requires 120 ECTS, and that late entry to the first year is possible until 25 February at the latest. From the second year, the curriculum alternates between coursework and professional placements or apprenticeships.
Programmes: Master’s and MBA Level
For graduates, IESA École Internationale des Métiers de la Culture et du Marché de l’Art runs two-year master’s programmes (Bac+5), a set of shorter professional master’s degrees, and MBA programmes taught in English. The Mastère Marché international de l’art — Art contemporain (International Art Market, Contemporary Art) is a two-year programme starting in October 2026, registered under RNCP number 42330 at level 7. The Mastère Commissariat d’exposition (Exhibition Curation) is also two years, starting in October. A shorter option is the Mastère professionnel Marché de l’art, a seven-month programme starting in November, aimed at applicants who already hold a Bac+4 or equivalent experience.
English-taught graduate options include the MSc in Arts & Cultural Management, a two-year programme run jointly with Paris School of Business with October or February intake; and the MBA in Contemporary Art: Sales, Display and Collecting, which lasts nine months plus a six-month internship, with September or January intake. IESA also participates in MAGMa (Managing Art & Cultural Heritage in Global Markets), a two-year Erasmus Mundus joint master’s where students spend four semesters across four universities — IESA in Paris, the University of Glasgow, and partner institutions in Rotterdam and Lisbon — with applications submitted through the University of Glasgow.
Foundation and Language Preparation
Applicants who need to strengthen their language or academic readiness before a degree can enter IESA École Internationale des Métiers de la Culture et du Marché de l’Art through a preparation year. The Foundation Program is taught in English and offers 270 hours per semester or 540 hours per year; the language entry level is IELTS 5 or equivalent, and the fee is €4,800 for one semester or €8,800 for a full year, plus €150 in teaching fees. The Année Prépa FLE is a French-language preparation year run in partnership with the Cours de civilisation française de la Sorbonne (CCFS), offered since 2009, in one-semester (270 hours), one-year (540 hours) and intensive one-year (720 hours) formats, priced at €4,800, €8,800 and €10,990 respectively, plus the €150 teaching fee.
Entry Requirements and Language Levels
IESA École Internationale des Métiers de la Culture et du Marché de l’Art is an independent school and does not recruit through the French public platform Parcoursup; its own admission pages describe a “hors Parcoursup” procedure of application form plus interview. For the first year of a bachelor, the requirement is completion of secondary education (the French baccalauréat or an equivalent qualification). For direct entry to the second year you need 60 ECTS, and for the third year 120 ECTS.
At master’s level, IESA asks for a completed bachelor’s degree, expressed as 180 ECTS or a French Licence level. The English-language pages add specifics for international applicants: MBA programmes require a four-year undergraduate degree or the equivalent of 240 ECTS (students in their final undergraduate year may apply and must provide proof of graduation before full registration); English-taught bachelor entry suggests a US GPA of 3.00 or a B- average, and non-native speakers need IELTS 6.0. The MBA pages state the same IELTS 6.0 requirement for non-native English speakers. The Foundation Program is the one exception at IELTS 5.
Tuition and Fees for 2026-2027
IESA École Internationale des Métiers de la Culture et du Marché de l’Art publishes its fees per programme on its official pages, marked as applying to the 2026-2027 academic year. The Art Market bachelor costs €8,500 in the first year, €9,400 for second-year entry and €9,700 for third-year entry. The English-taught Bachelor in Arts Management costs €9,650, €9,800 and €9,950 for the same three entry points. The contemporary art market master’s costs €9,700 in the first year and €9,990 for second-year entry, with the same figures for the curation master’s. The seven-month professional art market master’s is €10,800, the MBA in Contemporary Art is €16,900, and the joint MSc in Arts & Cultural Management is €22,780. Every programme adds a €150 teaching fee, and the English pages note an international application fee of €90. These are the published 2026-2027 rates; fees are adjusted annually and the current figures should be checked against the latest version of the official pages when you budget.
Campus and Facilities
Since the 2025 academic year, the programmes of IESA École Internationale des Métiers de la Culture et du Marché de l’Art have been delivered at the LE DELTA campus in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, near the Latin Quarter, in a fully renovated historic building. The school’s figures for the campus: 16,000 square metres including a 1,700-square-metre garden, four lecture halls (one reserved for IESA), two café and co-working areas, two recording studios, a podcast studio, a photography studio, a library listed as a historic monument, an exhibition gallery, a reception space and a mental-health rest room. LE DELTA also houses Paris School of Business, Cours Florent, Penninghen and Atelier de Sèvres, so IESA students share the building with design, performing-arts and management students.
The Application Process and Timeline
The application path described on the official pages of IESA École Internationale des Métiers de la Culture et du Marché de l’Art runs: complete the application form (downloadable or online), prepare the supporting file — application form, CV or résumé, motivation letter, transcripts, copies of diplomas, one letter of recommendation, language test score and a photocopy of a valid passport or ID — pay the €90 international application fee, and then attend an interview, in person or online, with an IESA admission officer. After the interview you receive a registration form to complete and return with a deposit. Admission is rolling, and the school’s pages encourage applicants to contact the admissions team early; for French-language master’s programmes, the admission committee meets on Friday mornings and a decision follows by the following Monday at the latest. There is no direct entry into the second year of the two-year master’s; holders of a Bac+4 (first year of a master’s) or equivalent can enter the one-year professional master’s instead.
Visa and Practicalities for International Students
For non-EU, non-EEA and non-Swiss nationals, studying in France for more than 90 days requires a long-stay student visa (VLS-TS). The English pages of IESA École Internationale des Métiers de la Culture et du Marché de l’Art describe the sequence: obtain the school’s official acceptance letter (which states your name, the programme and level, the duration and start and end dates), then, depending on nationality, go through the Campus France procedure — creating a file, uploading grades and diplomas, paying the administrative fee and attending an interview — and finally submit the visa application at the French consulate. Visa and residence rules are set by the authorities and change over time, so the current requirements should always be confirmed against official French government information.
Funding, Accommodation and Final Notes
On costs beyond tuition, the official pages of IESA École Internationale des Métiers de la Culture et du Marché de l’Art mention several arrangements: payment of fees can be spread in instalments (three instalments after the registration fee), the school has a partnership with Caisse d’épargne for loans at preferential rates, and there is a social-standard scholarship assessed on family income. For international students, apprenticeship contracts are open to those aged 16 to 25 and professionalisation contracts to those aged 26 and over; under an apprenticeship contract the tuition is not borne by the student. The school can also issue documents such as programme descriptions and acceptance letters to support applications for external scholarships. For housing, IESA works with the Studapart platform to offer furnished accommodation of at least one month in more than 40 French cities including Paris, Lyon and Nantes, with dedicated listings and preferential conditions for IESA students.
Everything in this guide comes from IESA’s official websites (iesa.fr and iesa.edu), accessed on 6 August 2026. Tuition, intakes, language requirements and programme details change every year, so treat the official pages as the current source of truth. If you are weighing whether this school fits your profile, the practical questions — which programme matches your background, what the realistic total cost is, and how the timeline fits your plans — are worth talking through with an adviser; our consultants can help you work through your own situation.