Becoming a vet in France through the post-bac route

France's four public national veterinary schools — ENVA (Maisons-Alfort), VetAgro Sup (Lyon), Oniris VetAgroBio (Nantes) and ENVT (Toulouse) — recruit a cohort of students directly after the baccalauréat through a common competitive examination managed on the Parcoursup platform. The degree awarded is the Diplôme d'État de docteur vétérinaire, recognised throughout the European Union.

The post-bac route targets students in their final year of general secondary education (terminale générale). In 2025, 280 places were available (70 per school) for 4,293 confirmed applications — an acceptance rate of approximately 6.5%. The course lasts 6 years: a specific common first year, then 5 years of veterinary training.

This route is restricted to candidates of French, EU, EEA or Swiss nationality (Decree n°2020-1520 of 3 December 2020). Non-EU candidates are not eligible and must use other admission routes.

The four campuses

• ENVA — Maisons-Alfort (Val-de-Marne, Paris region) · founded 1765, second oldest vet school in the world.
• VetAgro Sup — Marcy-l'Étoile, near Lyon (Rhône) · founded 1761, the first veterinary school in the world.
• Oniris VetAgroBio — Nantes (Loire-Atlantique) · includes a university veterinary teaching hospital (CHUV).
• ENVT — Toulouse (Haute-Garonne) · founded 1825; 40-hectare campus with CHUV, teaching farm and technical facilities.

Academic requirements

• General baccalauréat (post-bac route is reserved for terminale générale students).
• Recommended specialisations: SVT + Physics-Chemistry (50.2% of 2025 admissible candidates), PC + Maths (34.5%), SVT + Maths (10.2%), other (5.1%).
• If dropping Mathematics in the final year, the Mathématiques complémentaires option is strongly recommended.
• Admissibility is based solely on the academic record (Parcoursup grades). No motivation letter or extracurricular activities are considered.
• No UCAT/BMAT-type test required.

Animal experience

No work experience certificate or supporting document is required or accepted at the application stage. Motivation and animal experience are only valued during the oral admission stage, for candidates already declared admissible. No specific number of hours or species is officially required.