French exam exemptions

There are exemptions on two different bases.

1) The candidate is exempt from the French exam if they:

• are Swiss or Liechtensteiner;
• have a Swiss or Liechtensteiner upper secondary education diploma meeting the UNIGE enrollment conditions;
• have a foreign upper secondary education diploma meeting the UNIGE enrollment conditions and whose medium of instruction is French;
• already have a first bachelor’s degree (or any equivalent diploma) from a university and program recognized by UNIGE. The studies must have been at least 3 years long (180 ECTS at least) and the medium of instruction must be French;
• have a certificate attesting successful completion of 1 year of studies in:
  • the École de langue et de civilisation françaises (ELCF) of the University of Geneva;
  • the Institut de langue et de civilisation française of the University of Neuchâtel;
  • the École de français langue étrangère of the University of Lausanne (B2 level);
• have to take the French exam as part of the ECUS (examen complémentaire des hautes écoles suisses);
• upon applying to the Faculty of Translation and Interpreting (FTI):
  • have passed the French exam (A and B language) from the specific FTI entry exams (Bachelor of Arts in Multilingual Communication, Master of Arts in Translation, Master of Arts in Conference Interpreting);
  • are exempt (by the FTI) from the entry exams for the Master of Arts in Translation, as long as French is part of the language combination;
• are applying for a complementary certificate, if the program does not require it;
• are applying for a Master of Arts, if the program does not require it;
• are applying for a Certificate of specialization, if the program does not ask for it;
• are applying for a Master of Advanced Studies;
• are applying for a PhD.

Those exemptions count for the totality of the exam (general and complementary).

Nota bene:

• Candidates to the École de langue et civilisation françaises (ECLF) for the Diploma in French as a Foreign Language (DEFLE) who are exempt from the French exam based on their nationality or their Swiss or Liechtensteiner upper secondary education diploma whose medium of instruction is not French must take a placement test (for information only);
• For the admission to the Advanced Diploma in Teaching French/as a Foreign Language (DESFLE), the linguistic abilities are directly checked by the ECLF during the pre-registration. No certificate is required.

2) The candidate is exempt from the French exam if they hold one of the following diplomas:

• B2 DELF (Diplômes d’Etudes de Langue Française);
• C1 or C2 DALF (Diplôme Approfondi de Langue Française);
• TCF (at least B2 in the compulsory and complementary exams);
• TCF DAP (at least B2 in the compulsory and compulsory written expression exams);
• TEF (Test d’Évaluation du Français) with at least B2 level in compulsory and complementary exams issued by the CCIP/Alliance française;
• Summer French courses certificate from the University of Geneva.

Nota bene:

• The diploma must have been obtained during the previous 4 years before the start of the chosen term (Monday from the 8^th week for Spring semester, Monday from the 38^th week for Fall semester);
• These exemptions are only valid for the general exam. No exemption is attributed for the complementary exam required by the Faculty of Humanities, including the ELCF.