This guide is for international students, and especially for students from China and other Asian countries, who are considering a preparatory year in Paris before entering a French business school. It covers the Institut Franco-Chinois de Management（法中管理学院）, known by its acronym IFCM, which describes itself as a school of French and English in Paris that prepares its students for management studies. The guide sets out the four preparatory programmes the school runs, what it asks of applicants, what the published costs are, how the application and admission sequence works, and where the preparatory year can lead. Every fact below was read from the school’s official website at ifcm-esg.fr on August 5, 2026; where the site does not publish a figure, that is stated plainly rather than guessed. The school’s own descriptions of itself — its success rates, its alumni network, its place within a larger group of schools — are reported here as its own claims, and nothing in this guide supports rankings or cross-school comparison. Visa and legal eligibility are matters for the French authorities, not for the school.
The School at a Glance
The Institut Franco-Chinois de Managementwas created in 1999 as a school of French and English in Paris. Its own description of its mission is specific: it welcomes Chinese and Asian students whose level of French is insufficient, or whose academic foundations need to be strengthened, before they enter a business school of the Groupe ESG or PSB – Paris School of Business, and it also operates as an English training centre. The school’s main address on the site is 35 Avenue Philippe-Auguste, 75011 Paris, in the 11th arrondissement; the admission-conditions page gives a separate correspondence address for the preparatory classes of the ESG group at 25 rue Saint-Ambroise, 75011 Paris. The Institut Franco-Chinois de Management runs two intakes a year, in September and in January, which the site presents as flexible entry points. The school says that more than 2,500 students have, over roughly twenty years, continued their studies within the Groupe ESG and PSB after finishing at IFCM, and that 90 percent of its students pass the admission interview for one of the ESG or PSB schools — both figures are the school’s own claims and should be read as such. The site also mentions scholarships for merit, workshops to prepare CVs, motivation letters and interviews, required internship periods, and an alumni association called ESG Chinois Alumni founded in France in December 2014 with offices later opened in Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen.
The Four Preparatory Programmes
All four programmes of the Institut Franco-Chinois de Management are taught in Paris, last one or two semesters, and start in September or January. The school’s formations overview presents them as French, English and management preparatory classes designed for Chinese and Asian students, with language courses supplemented by modules in marketing, commerce, accounting, mathematics, information technology and finance.
The first is the French preparatory course, listed for intermediate and advanced levels (A2, B1, B2). It runs 18 hours per week and is built around fundamental French vocabulary, knowledge of French media and civilisation, and written and oral expression, with an introduction to French for business; the site notes that from the second semester students can move on to a French-and-management track at an intermediate or advanced level.
The second is the management preparatory course, at an advanced level (the overview page lists B1, B2; the programme page itself specifies B2). It runs 18 hours per week and covers specialised French for business plus foundations in economics, marketing, accounting, management, applied mathematics, taxation and information technology.
The third is the French-and-management preparatory course, listed for intermediate and advanced levels (A2, B1, B2 on the overview; the programme page is headed intermediate A2/B1). It runs 24 hours per week and pairs French-language work — vocabulary, reading, oral and written expression, communication techniques, French media and civilisation, audiovisual comprehension — with academic modules in marketing, economics, an introduction to law, French for business, human resources management, general and analytical accounting, corporate and personal taxation, and information technology.
The fourth is the English-and-management preparatory course, described on its page as English, Management and Art at intermediate and advanced level (IELTS 5.0 or 5.5). It runs 20 hours per week and is designed to bring students to a language level sufficient to enter the English-taught programmes of PSB or an ESG group school, with intensive English (vocabulary, grammar, oral and written expression), French for daily life and administrative procedures, art and culture through museum visits, business English, marketing, economics, finance and accounting, management strategy and information technology. All four programmes include a CV and motivation-letter workshop and interview preparation; the English-and-management course also lists thematic seminars and associative activities.
Entry Requirements for International Students
The Institut Franco-Chinois de Management sets a common baseline across its programmes and then adds language-specific conditions. Every programme requires applicants to be aged 18 or over and to hold the baccalauréat or an equivalent diploma from their home country. The French preparatory course states no additional language minimum. The management preparatory course requires applicants to have completed 1,000 to 1,200 hours of French training and to justify a French level of B2, attested by a TCF or TEF score of at least 400 points. The French-and-management course requires a TCF B1 or equivalent for the one-year track, or a TCF A2 or equivalent for the reinforced intensive one-year track. The English-and-management course requires an IELTS score of 5.0 for orientation towards a Bachelor or BBA programme, or 5.5 for orientation towards an MSc or MBA.
The application dossier, according to the admission-conditions page, consists of a completed application form, a CV, a motivation letter (a study plan), copies of diplomas, transcripts of records, and language results — TCF/TEF or IELTS — sent to the school’s Asia admissions service. The deadline for submitting the dossier is 31 July for the autumn intake, which starts at the end of September, and 15 December for the spring intake, which starts at the end of January. After the dossier is received, the school may arrange a telephone or videoconference interview, after which the applicant receives an admissibility letter stating the duration of the preparatory class and the target year of specialisation.
Costs and Fees
The Institut Franco-Chinois de Management publishes its tuition on the programme pages and on the admission-conditions page; the figures below are those pages as read on August 5, 2026. The French preparatory course and the management preparatory course are listed at 1,900 euros per semester. The French-and-management course and the English-and-management course are listed at 3,450 euros per semester. Consistent with that, the admission-conditions page states that tuition for one academic year (two semesters) of management preparatory class in French or in English is 6,900 euros. The only other fee mentioned on the site appears in the refund clause: a 90-euro dossier-processing fee that remains due even if the student’s visa application is definitively refused, with the balance of any payment refunded by bank transfer. The site does not publish other cost items such as accommodation, insurance or living expenses, and no application fee is stated on the programme pages themselves. The school does mention scholarships awarded to the most meritorious students, without publishing amounts.
How Admission Works
The admission sequence for the Institut Franco-Chinois de Management is described step by step on the official admission-conditions page. The applicant sends the dossier by email; after receipt, the school may propose an interview by telephone or videoconference, then issues an admissibility letter specifying the duration of the preparatory class and the year of specialisation envisaged. The student transfers the tuition to the account indicated by the establishment and sends the transfer receipt to the Asia admissions service for accounting verification. Once the payment is received, the school issues an attestation of enrolment and an attestation of accommodation; the site notes that the enrolment attestation covers both the preparatory period and the speciality period in one document. The student then communicates their Campus France Pastel number to the admissions service, and after obtaining the visa presents themselves at the school on the planned date and informs the service of their arrival date. If the first visa application is refused, the student may ask to defer enrolment to the next session or year and will receive a new attestation; if the visa is definitively refused and the student does not pursue the application, a refund can be requested, with the 90-euro dossier fee retained.
For students applying directly to English-taught degree programmes rather than through a preparatory year, the site routes the dossier to the international programmes admissions service of PSB (Paris School of Business): the student receives an admissibility notice about ten days after the dossier is received, is then called to an interview in English by telephone or via Teams, receives the final result about a week after the interview, and, if admitted, pays the tuition to the indicated account. After the payment is received, PSB’s admissions service issues an attestation of enrolment that the student uses to take an appointment with Campus France and to file the visa application at the French consulate in China or in another Asian country.
After the Preparatory Year
The purpose of the preparatory year at the Institut Franco-Chinois de Management is progression into a business school, and the official site describes the routes in terms of prior qualifications. After one year or one semester of preparatory class with satisfactory results, students holding a Bac+4 diploma can, depending on their previous speciality and their professional or internship experience, be recommended for admission to Master 1 (the fourth year) or Master 2 (the fifth year) in the establishments of the Groupe ESG; students who have validated three years of higher education or hold a Bac+3 diploma can apply for admission to the third year of a Bachelor or to Master 1; and students holding the baccalauréat can, after a successful preparatory year or semester, be recommended for admission to the first year of a Bachelor in the Groupe ESG establishments. The site lists the schools of the group — ESGCI in marketing, commerce, communication, international relations, luxury, tourism and hospitality, and purchasing and logistics; ESG Finance in finance, management, audit, accounting and wealth engineering; esGRH in human resources; MBA ESG with specialised programmes; IICP in communication and journalism; ESG Executive Education for continuing and executive education; ESG Langues for English courses preparing the TOEIC and IELTS; and PSB – Paris School of Business with its grande école, bachelor, MSc and executive programmes in French and/or English. The site describes the Groupe ESG as the leading group of business schools in Paris — that is the group’s own positioning, not an independent ranking, and the Institut Franco-Chinois de Management’s place within it should not be read as a commercial endorsement.
Official Sources and Information Currency
All facts in this guide were read on August 5, 2026 from the official website of the Institut Franco-Chinois de Managementat ifcm-esg.fr: the homepage, the school presentation page, the formations overview, the four programme pages, the ESG integration page and the bilingual admission-conditions page. Tuition figures correspond to those pages as they stood on that date; fees, language-level requirements and deadlines change over time, and the latest official versions should be checked before making decisions. The school’s statements about its success rate, student numbers and alumni network are its own claims and should not be used for ranking or cross-school comparison. Visa, residence and legal eligibility questions are governed by the French authorities and their official sources. For advice on how any of this applies to your own situation — which programme to choose, whether a preparatory year is right for you, and how to sequence your applications — ask this site’s advisers.