Université de Montpellier
Montpellier, France
Specific Health Access Pathway (PASS, 1 year)
<p><strong>Admissions</strong></p><p>Applications are made through Parcoursup for a candidate holding the French or European baccalauréat. A non-EU national holding a foreign secondary school leaving qualification falls under the <strong>prior admission application</strong>, the white file from their country of residence through the Études en</p><p>France platform, or the green file if they already reside in France, with the campaign closing on <strong>15 December</strong> and a TCF-DAP test required. Selection then distinguishes two categories: the highest ranked, designated outright eligible, enter the second year at once without sitting an oral, the next tier of eligible candidates sitting <strong>two oral examinations</strong>. The <strong>2026</strong> calendar illustrates the density of that end of year: first-group panel on 3 June, results on 4 June, oral preparation from 5 to 17 June, then orals from <strong>18 to 25 June</strong>. The faculty organises collective preparation for the orals, with lectures, seminars and tutoring sessions, which not all universities offer.</p><p><strong>Who it is for</strong></p><p>The specific health access pathway combines a health major with a disciplinary minor, the latter determining the campus of allocation as much as the route of reorientation. Teaching rests on filmed lectures, seminars and regular assessment by multiple-choice questions. Since attendance is not compulsory, a substantial share of students work from the recordings and online resources. That autonomy is the principal trap of the Montpellier arrangement: without personal discipline, arrears build quickly, and the teaching units carrying a failing threshold are unforgiving.</p><p><strong>Fees</strong></p><p>PASS falls within the first cycle: <strong>€178</strong> in national fees for <strong>2026-2027</strong>, plus <strong>€105</strong> for the student life contribution. A non-EU student who is not exempt pays <strong>€2,902</strong> in first-cycle differentiated fees. Means-tested scholarship holders are exempt from both the fees and the contribution, and French government scholarship holders benefit from exemption as of right, outside the quota of discretionary exemptions capped by the decree of <strong>19 May 2026</strong> at 30% of non-European students in 2026-2027, 25% in 2027-2028 and 20% from 2028-2029.</p><p><strong>Careers</strong></p><p>The <strong>196 medicine places</strong> opened by this route for <strong>2026-2027</strong> are accompanied by 108 in pharmacy, 29 in dentistry and 7 in midwifery. From a cohort of roughly 1,600 students, the admission rate is near <strong>15%</strong>. Successful candidates continue into the second year of medicine, midwifery, dentistry, pharmacy or physiotherapy.</p>
Health-Access Bachelor's Degrees (LAS, 3 years)
<p><strong>Admissions</strong></p><p>The same application routes as the specific pathway, Parcoursup or the <strong>prior admission application</strong> closing on <strong>15 December</strong> for a non-EU candidate. One useful rule completes the arrangement: where the candidates of one group of courses do not fill the capacity of a programme, <strong>admission may be offered to candidates from another group</strong>, which limits places lost.</p><p><strong>Who it is for</strong></p><p>The health-access bachelor's degrees take in roughly <strong>475 students</strong> at Montpellier, with a success rate of <strong>23.2%</strong>, higher than that of the specific pathway. That result is explained less by gentler selection than by the composition of the pool: degree candidates have already passed one or more university years and present a built-up academic record. The Montpellier advantage lies in all five programmes being open through this route.</p><p><strong>Fees</strong></p><p>The same first-cycle scale as the specific pathway: <strong>€178</strong> in national fees and <strong>€105</strong> for the student life contribution in <strong>2026-2027</strong>, and <strong>€2,902</strong> in differentiated fees for a non-EU student who is not exempt. Since the best chances lie in the second or third year, the cumulative cost of two or three years should be anticipated, which makes a French government scholarship, exempting as of right, decisive on this route.</p><p><strong>Careers</strong></p><p>All programmes are open through this route for <strong>2026-2027</strong>, with <strong>44 medicine places</strong> in the first year of the degree, 30 in pharmacy, 20 in physiotherapy, 9 in dentistry and 7 in midwifery. The distribution over time deserves attention: of the 172 medicine places reserved for degree students, <strong>44 go to the first year and 128 to the second and third years</strong>. As at Bordeaux and Lille, the route is therefore decided chiefly after one or two years passed. Successful candidates join the second year of the health programmes; the others complete their disciplinary degree to graduation.</p>
Second and Third Cycles of Medical Studies
<p><strong>Admissions</strong></p><p>Access comes through passing the first year, whether the specific pathway or a health-access bachelor's degree. A few places are reserved for students from partner overseas universities, the University of Corsica for midwifery, that of the Antilles for dentistry and that of Réunion for pharmacy, an arrangement particular to Montpellier that reflects the faculty's role as a support point for territories without complete programmes of their own. The regulatory position should be followed closely. On <strong>17 April 2026</strong>, the ministers responsible for higher education and for health confirmed the end of PASS and the health-access bachelor's degrees, in favour of a single route organised in three blocks and applied for through Parcoursup, from the <strong>2027</strong> intake. The Conference of Deans of Medicine, in a letter of 25 March 2026, and then the National Academy of Medicine judged that timetable unrealistic and asked for postponement to <strong>2028</strong>; the government is holding to 2027 and no final decision has been published to date. The <strong>2026-2027</strong> intake remains governed in full by the arrangements described here.</p><p><strong>Who it is for</strong></p><p>After the first year, the course continues to the State diploma of doctor of medicine, divided between the teaching hospitals of Montpellier and Nîmes. That dual base widens the range of clinical placements, the Nîmes site offering a patient profile and a hospital organisation different from those of Montpellier. The faculty moreover holds a considerable heritage, including the anatomy conservatory and the botanical garden created in 1593, the oldest in France.</p><p><strong>Fees</strong></p><p>The second cycle falls on the master's-level scale: <strong>€255</strong> in national fees for <strong>2026-2027</strong>, plus <strong>€105</strong> for the student life contribution, with differentiated fees for non-EU students standing at <strong>€3,950</strong> at this level. The third cycle escapes that regime, students enrolled in the third cycle of health studies <strong>not being subject to differentiated fees</strong>. Hospital students receive placement allowances from the fourth year onwards, and residents are salaried.</p><p><strong>Careers</strong></p><p>Graduates reach the third cycle through the national examinations at the end of the second cycle, which replaced the former national ranking examinations in <strong>2023</strong>: the <strong>national digital examinations</strong> in October of the sixth year count for 60% of the mark, the <strong>objective structured clinical examinations</strong> in the spring for 30%, and the training record for 10%. The single national ranking has given way to a <strong>national matching procedure</strong> between the candidate's choices of specialty and region and the posts open. They then practise in France or, subject to recognition of qualifications, abroad.</p>
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