Setting up an educational business in France: the glossary

Institutional glossary

House of Educational Diplomacy

What each term reveals under examination

The French framework for educational establishment, read from the position of the one who examines it.

An ordinary glossary defines terms.

This one reads what each term exposes when an institution comes under examination.

The difference is not one of vocabulary. It is one of position.

I · How to read this glossary

These terms are not boxes to tick. They are points of exposure.

An institution entering France ticks boxes: declaration, registration, certification, listing. Each is a visible, dated act, and each is legible to the authority.

The presence of those acts is not enough to make a trajectory legible. Their coherence with one another, and with what the institution declares elsewhere, becomes decisive under examination. A complete file can remain institutionally illegible. A plainer structure, clearly assignable, may read with greater coherence.

Each entry therefore carries two levels: the definition of the term, then the reading the House makes of it. The official source defines. The House reads. Arché determines.

The House provides strategic and institutional advisory services. Where legal questions arise, they are addressed only insofar as permitted by applicable law and as ancillary to the House’s principal activity. Matters requiring reserved legal advice are referred to an authorised legal professional.

II · The French framework

Twenty-five terms, one grammar.

Institutional exposure Rectorat NDA Qualiopi Qualiopi audit RNCP RS Skills blocks Professional certification Diplôme visé EESPIG Hcéres CEFDG CTI France Compétences DREETS Pedagogical and financial report CPF EDOF OPCO VAE ERP Parcoursup Campus France GDPR

Institutional exposure

The surface through which an institution becomes legible to the State. The totality of what it has declared, communicated, signed and built, set against what it can substantiate before the authority that will examine it.

Institutional readingEvery term in this glossary is a point of exposure. They are not ticked off; they are read together. It is their coherence, not their presence, that is examined.

References : Full reading

Rectorat

The regional academic authority responsible for the declaration of opening and the oversight of private higher education institutions. Following the declaration of opening, the Rector of the academic region visits, or has the premises visited, within the statutory ten-day period. Opening may take place only ten clear days after the receipt has been issued.

Institutional readingRectoral reading does not stop at documentary completeness. It also exposes the coherence between governance, assignable responsibilities and declared institutional intention.

References : Code de l’éducation, L.731-3 · R.731-3

NDA, activity declaration number

The activity declaration regime applicable to providers of vocational training in France. The declaration is filed following the first training agreement or contract, within the statutory period, and results in the issue of an activity declaration number when registered.

Institutional readingThe number follows the entity that applied for it and the date on which it did. A declaration carried by the wrong structure, or filed before the architecture is settled, creates a precedent that is read later.

References : Labour Code, L.6351-1 · R.6351-1 · L.6351-6, lapse · DREETS, activity declaration

Qualiopi

Quality certification required, under the conditions set by the Labour Code, for access to certain public or pooled funding. It attests compliance with the French National Quality Standard. The standard retains seven criteria and is subject to an update applicable from 1 November 2026.

Institutional readingQualiopi proves a process exists, never that an institution is legitimate. A foreign institution presenting Qualiopi as its recognition signals to the authority that it mistakes compliance for legibility.

References : Décret n° 2019-565 of 6 June 2019, national quality standard · Updating decree, applicable from 1 November 2026

Qualiopi audit

Audit carried out by an accredited certification body to verify compliance with the National Quality Standard. The certification cycle comprises an initial audit, a surveillance audit and a renewal audit.

Institutional readingThe audit verifies process evidence. It bears neither on the institution’s governance nor on its institutional coherence. Passing the cycle while remaining illegible to the Rectorat is in no way contradictory.

References : Décret n° 2019-565 · Qualiopi reading guide

RNCP

National Directory of Professional Certifications, targeting identified occupations. Registration is applied for, examined and published by France Compétences. Each entry describes activities, skills, assessment methods, blocks and career outcomes.

Institutional readingAn RNCP registration is defended on occupational fit, not on teaching quality. Teaching quality alone does not secure registration where the certification is poorly positioned against the target occupation.

References : Labour Code, L.6113-1

RS, specific directory

Directory of certifications and authorisations covering complementary skills: languages, digital tools, specific authorisations. It does not replace a full occupational certification.

Institutional readingThe RS is sometimes chosen because it looks more accessible than the RNCP. The House reads that as a displacement of the question: a complementary skill does not answer the occupational positioning the institution has not yet been able to defend.

References : Labour Code, L.6113-6 · France Compétences, professional certification

Skills blocks

Coherent, autonomous sets of competences identified within an RNCP-registered certification. Each block corresponds to a professional activity that can be assessed separately.

Institutional readingThe way blocks are cut reveals the maturity of the framework. Blocks mapped onto programme modules rather than onto occupational activities signal engineering done backwards.

References : Labour Code, L.6113-1 · France Compétences, note on competency blocks

Professional certification

Act by which a body attests that an individual masters the skills required for an occupation. That mastery may come from training, experience or VAE.

Institutional readingCertifying engages the certifier’s responsibility for the value of the credential issued. It is an obligation frequently underestimated by a foreign institution entering France.

References : Labour Code, L.6113-1 · France Compétences, certification resources

Diplôme visé, state-endorsed private degree

A degree awarded by an authorised private higher education institution and carrying a ministerial visa for a defined period. For management schools, applications are evaluated through the CEFDG framework. Certain visé degrees may also confer a Bachelor’s or Master’s grade.

Institutional readingThe visa is prepared years ahead and is assessed on governance as much as on curriculum. Seeking it too early exposes the institution to an unfavourable decision that weighs on later applications.

References : Order of 8 March 2001 · MESR, State-controlled programme labels

EESPIG

Qualification for private higher education institutions of general interest, reserved for non-profit structures contributing to the public service under a multi-year agreement with the State.

Institutional readingThe qualification presupposes non-profit status. A capital-backed project cannot claim it, and presenting EESPIG as a horizon in that case reveals a misreading of the framework.

References : Education Code, L.732-1

Hcéres

Independent public authority responsible for evaluating the quality of higher education and research institutions and their programmes.

Institutional readingHcéres evaluation reads a trajectory, not a state. An institution without documented institutional memory has nothing to submit, whatever its present quality.

References : Research Code, L.114-3-1

CEFDG, regime in transition

Until 31 August 2026, the Evaluation Commission for Management Training and Degrees takes part in the evaluation of higher business and management programmes. Its founding decree is repealed with effect from 1 September 2026, when the evaluation framework is reorganised around the Hcéres. Applications filed after that date are read against the procedures then applicable.

Institutional readingThe evaluation bears on academic anchoring and governance stability as much as on content. A file filed at the hinge between two frameworks is read first against the procedure that will receive it.

References : Décret n° 2001-295 of 4 April 2001 · Décret n° 2026-551 of 26 June 2026, repeal · Décret n° 2026-663 of 22 July 2026 · CEFDG

CTI

Commission for Engineering Degrees. It issues opinions on accreditation to award the engineering title and periodically evaluates programmes.

Institutional readingCTI accreditation does not read a curriculum in isolation. It reads the programme together with the school’s governance, academic resources, partnerships, quality system and institutional capacity to sustain it.

References : Education Code, L.642-1 · CTI references and orientations

France Compétences

National authority regulating vocational training and apprenticeship. It examines and publishes RNCP and RS registrations.

Institutional readingA premature filing creates an institutional history. Whether the outcome is registration, adjournment or refusal, the decision to file is an exposure decision, not an administrative formality.

References : Labour Code, L.6123-5 · France Compétences

DREETS

Regional directorates responsible, among other missions, for registering and monitoring training providers, including the issue of the activity declaration number.

Institutional readingThe DREETS registers; it does not approve. Presenting a registration as State recognition is a frequent communication gap, and an easy one to establish.

References : Decree n° 2020-1545

Pedagogical and financial report

Annual pedagogical and financial filing submitted to the administration during the applicable annual reporting campaign. It details learners, hours, turnover and the nature of the actions delivered.

Institutional readingOver time, successive filings create an administrative record of the provider’s declared activity. The gap between what that record carries and what communication announces is a measurable gap.

References : Labour Code, L.6352-11 · DREETS, filing the BPF

CPF

Personal Training Account, drawn on by individuals to fund programmes eligible under the rules in force.

Institutional readingCPF eligibility is a funding channel, not a label. A business model structurally dependent on it is exposed to the slightest regulatory shift.

References : Labour Code, L.6323-1

EDOF

Portal managed by the Caisse des Dépôts for publishing and administering CPF-eligible training offers.

Institutional readingWhat you publish on EDOF is binding. Titles, durations and prices are declarations that inspection will set against your actual delivery.

References : Providers’ portal

OPCO

Skills operators funding work-study programmes, supporting sector branches in building certifications and assisting companies.

Institutional readingOPCOs operate within sector-based competence and funding frameworks. Approaching an OPCO without first identifying the relevant professional branch, funding basis and eligible mechanism reveals a commercial approach to a system that is structured institutionally.

References : Labour Code, L.6332-1

VAE

Validation of acquired experience: a route to a degree, title or certification through formal recognition of professional experience.

Institutional readingVAE engages the jury and the certifier. A poorly held VAE process is the point at which the value of an entire certification can be challenged.

References : Labour Code, L.6411-1

ERP, premises open to the public

Regulatory category for buildings open to the public in France. It imposes fire safety and accessibility rules on any campus hosting learners.

Institutional readingThe lease is often signed before ERP compliance is established. It is one of the first acts that sharply reduce reversibility, often before any reading has taken place.

References : Order of 25 June 1980 · service-public, definition of an ERP

Parcoursup

National pre-registration platform for first-cycle higher education in France. Access by private institutions and programmes is governed by the applicable statutory framework and by annual listings.

Institutional readingAppearing on Parcoursup and being recognised are not the same thing. Presence on the platform reads as a recruitment fact, not an institutional status, and building a model that conflates the two exposes cash.

References : Education Code, L.612-3 · Parcoursup · Annual listings, Bulletin officiel

Campus France

Public agency promoting French higher education and managing admission procedures for international students.

Institutional readingCampus France listing makes your offer visible to consulates. It also makes your declarations verifiable by them. Visibility and exposure arrive together.

References : Décret n° 2011-2048 of 30 December 2011 · Campus France

GDPR

European regulation on personal data protection, applicable to any institution processing student, staff or partner data in or from the Union.

Institutional readingA foreign institution often transfers applicant data to a non-EU head office with no safeguards in place. That is an immediate exposure, independent of any academic question.

References : Regulation (EU) 2016/679

III · The European extension

Italy and Spain: other systems, not other markets.

Many institutions combine a French base with an extension into Italy or Spain. The markers below allow the local architecture to be read before commitment.

An extension is read as an institutional system, never as a commercial expansion. Where the sequence is unclear, the project must not be exposed.

MUR ANVUR Recognition of foreign degrees ANECA RUCT Royal Decree 822/2021 Homologación and equivalencia Registro Estatal de Entidades de Formación

Italy · MUR

Ministry of University and Research, responsible for higher education, universities and AFAM, and for the recognition of institutions and national degrees.

Institutional readingItaly draws a sharp line between a recognised institution and an authorised provider. Conflating the two statuses is a frequent entry error.

References : MUR

Italy · ANVUR

Italy’s national quality-assurance agency. ANVUR evaluates the requirements underlying the initial and periodic accreditation of universities and study programmes, while the formal authorisation is issued through the MUR framework.

Institutional readingAccreditation is prepared over several cycles. An Italian entry timed on a commercial calendar collides mechanically with that rhythm.

References : ANVUR

Italy · Recognition of foreign degrees

Academic recognition is generally determined by the competent Italian higher education institution. CIMEA provides Statements of Comparability and Verification that may support recognition procedures but do not themselves constitute recognition.

Institutional readingIn a double degree, the question is not whether the degree will be compared, but who answers for it before the host authority. The agreement almost never says.

References : CIMEA

Spain · ANECA

National quality assurance agency for higher education. It evaluates institutions and programmes: verificación, seguimiento, acreditación, renovación.

Institutional readingThe Spanish sequence is locked: verification before opening, accreditation after. Reversing the order is not recoverable; it is restarted.

References : ANECA

Spain · RUCT

Official Register of Universities, Centres and Degrees, used to verify that a programme is officially recognised at national level.

Institutional readingThe RUCT is public and searchable by applicants and competitors alike. Absence from it contradicts any communication suggesting recognition.

References : RUCT

Spain · Royal Decree 822/2021

Reform of university education and quality assurance: degree structure, verification and accreditation processes.

Institutional readingArchitectures designed under earlier frameworks may require substantial adjustment before they can satisfy the current verification and quality-assurance requirements.

References : BOE

Spain · Homologación and equivalencia

Procedures for recognition of foreign university degrees by the ministry, required for certain regulated professions and for academic progression.

Institutional readingThese procedures rest with the student, not the institution. Promising them in recruitment communication creates an obligation you do not control.

References : Ministerio de Universidades

Spain · Registro Estatal de Entidades de Formación

Register of providers for formación para el empleo. Depending on the modality and the scheme, competence may lie with the State or with the employment services of the Autonomous Communities.

Institutional readingIt performs a comparable registration function within Spain’s employment-training framework, but it is not the legal equivalent of the French NDA. Like the NDA, registration should not be confused with institutional or academic recognition.

References : SEPE · FUNDAE

Vocabulary gives you the language.
It does not give you the position.

Access

Every institutional entry into Europe begins under the Arch.

The glossary gives the language of the framework. Arché determines where the institution stands within it, before any decision of architecture or execution. Execution follows only where a trajectory can be defended.

Enter under the Arch

Prior reading required · No exploratory commercial call

Official sources

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