The French academic system

The French higher education system relies on the LMD system: the Licence (Bachelor/Undergraduate), Master (Master/Postgraduate), and Doctorat (Doctorate). Sorbonne Abu Dhabi offers various undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.

The Bachelor is a three year programme (L1, L2, L3). Non-French speaking students have to add an additional year of intensive French classes to obtain a University Diploma (DU), which is mandatory to enrol on a bachelor programme.

The Master is a two year programme comprising Master 1 (M1) and Master 2 (M2). Direct access to Master 2 is provided for the Master in Marketing, Management, Communication, Media and the Master in Urban Planning and Development. Both of them are 18 month programmes.

All courses and optional materials are referred to as UE or Unités d’Enseignement (or Modules – Teaching Units). These divisions are similar for postgraduate studies as well. UEs are assigned a predefined number of European credits (ECTS). Total amount of UE for a year is 60 ECTS. To obtain a bachelor degree, a student needs 180 ECTS and 120 ECTS to obtain a Master degree.

In all undergraduate programmes, the various UEs correspond in each semester to minor or major courses as well as elective courses.