Explore the language, culture and history of France and become a fluent speaker with our three-year degree largely taught and assessed in French.
Course
Applicant Open Day 2024
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Could not retrieve the oEmbed resource.Bienvenue! Our Applicant Open Day, otherwise known as Journée de Rencontres (JDR) took place on Saturday 23 March 2024 at the Institute in Paris.
On this page, you can find a range of resources covering course information that we handed out on the day, as well as past recordings with the academic team, student life, Q&A session and general applicant FAQs.
1. Documentations
These are the documents we handed out on the day. You will find the latest details about our undergraduate programmes, fees and funding and more.
We've also included our latest Accommodation guide, where you'll find a plethora of resources to help you make an informed decision and guide you through the process of finding accommodation in Paris.
Check the section below.
View and download our written resources.
2. Presentations
We held various presentations throughout the day, including 'Academic Programme' presentations and a 'Living in Paris' presentation, which includes the latest information about the accommodation and visa process. You can access/download the PowerPoint presentations from the day to review the information below. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Access/download the PowerPoint presentations
Prospective students Facebook group
Don't miss the chance to interact with our current and prospective students. Join the prospective students Facebook group!
3. Campus Tour Video
If you haven't already, be sure to take a look at our 'Tour of the University of London Institute in Paris' video. It's a great way to get acquainted with our premises!
A tour of the University of London Institute in Paris
4. Frequently Asked Questions
We've curated a list of commonly asked questions from applicants like yourself. We're here to make your journey smoother, so dive in and explore. If you don't find what you're looking for, don't hesitate to reach out to fellow students via the Facebook Prospective Group or get in touch with our dedicated Student Services team.
FAQs
The most recent intake in September 2023 included 38 students studying French Studies as their major and 37 students studying International Politics as their major (of which a third took the French minor).
Module-specific reading suggestions are normally sent in early summer.
Meanwhile, we can recommend the following preparatory reading:
French Language
If you are going to be studying French as part of your course, any reading in French will be useful, as it will help you be more at ease with the language. Engage with French media and press, such as Le Monde, Libération, Le Figaro just to name a few, and read the sections of the press that interests you. Getting to grips with news and current affairs is always a good preparation.
You can also watch French TV news channel like France 24 to prepare your ear. You can also check RFI’s website where you either expand your knowledge of French culture and/or learn French at the same time by selecting a topic (may it be Culture, History, Environment or more), an objective and/or a content type.
You can also improve your French vocabulary by switching your Language preferences to French on your devices!
Useful Links:
French Literature
Project Gutenberg gives you access to thousands of works of fiction in French. Here are just a few suggestions from different time periods:
- Madame de Lafayette, La Princesse de Montpensier (17th century)
- Guy de Maupassant, Apparition et autres contes de l’étrange (19th century)
- Romain Gary, Les trésors de la mer rouge (mid-twentieth century)
- Pierre Péju, L’idiot de Shanghai et autres nouvelles (contemporary)
Authors whose works will be studied in our modules include Voltaire, Maupassant, Marguerite Duras, Jen Genet, Annie Ernaux, Mehdi Charef to name a few.
Useful links :
International Politics
The E-INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS website, edited by Stephen McGlinchey, is a great resource. It includes a collection of free online articles which introduce key concepts and core themes studied in the International Politics programmes.
To name a few of the Postcolonial theorists from the Francophone world that will be explored during the programme, and more specifically to understand the dynamics of colonialism and anti-colonialism political struggle, there is Orientalism by Edward Said and The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon. Other examples of authors you can explore include Aimé Césaire, Achille Mbembe and Andreas Malm. Many readings are available in English and/ French.
Useful Links:
International Politics
For the International Politics core modules, there are no exams, they are assessed by continuous assessment, which means a mixture of research essays and different types of assignments such as field reports, book reviews, podcasts and class group presentations. Field reports are a way to invite you to explore various spaces in the city of Paris, what we call sites of international politics and think about the international politics and relations dynamics of these spaces in the city.
One of the unique aspects of the International Politics programmes is that there is a big emphasis on research, which is quite unique for an undergraduate programme.
Useful link:
French Studies
The French language modules are assessed through a combination of written coursework, translation exercises, oral assignments such as mock interviews and group presentations, as well as formal exams.
The French content modules and elective modules are assessed through a variety of assignments such as oral presentations, podcasts commentaries, source analyses, essays and formal exams.
Useful Link:
International Relations can be used as a descriptive term to describe the relationships between nation-states and the international order. When it is used with capital letters (IR), it is referring to this specific academic discipline that dates back to the earlier 20th century and which became the dominant way of studying politics in academia. In IR the primary actors are the nation-state and how they interact with one another.
The reason we called the programme “International Politics” is because we want to foster a broader conception of what political action is, it encompasses much more than just state actors. In International Politics, the big focus is on non-state actors, which encompasses everything from religious groups, terrorist organisations, democratic social movements, indigenous actors, climate and youth movements, all of which don’t really fit in the centric nation-state paradigm. This doesn’t mean we ignore International Relations discipline, as we have some IR modules, but the focus is expanded to different sites of political movements today.
University of London Institute in Paris students can apply for financial support from the Student Loans Company. This includes students from England, Scotland and Northern Ireland but currently not Wales as Student Finance Wales does not fund students for studies taking place entirely abroad.
As registration institution for Institute in Paris students, you will need to list Queen Mary University of London as your university when applying for Student Finance, make sure you follow the instructions on our Funding webpage.
Unless they have an EU passport or residency card, then International Students, including UK students, will need to apply for a student visa.
Students can apply for a long-term student visa three months before the planned travel date.
Students will receive more detailed guidance about the visa application process in May. Meanwhile they should ensure that their passport will not expire within 12 months of beginning their studies.
Timescales for booking an appointment at the visa centre will vary from location to location so we recommend that you consider completing your application form 2 to 3 months before planned travel so that you can book your appointment at the visa application centre no later than 3 weeks before travelling. Note that the visa application centre will keep your passport for 2 to 3 weeks so you will not be able to travel abroad during that time.
Students with conditional offers applying from the UK should note that the visa fees are non-reimbursable so they may decide to book their appointment at the TLS Contact visa application centre for after the publication of the results.
You can check some of our resources posted here, such as our accommodation guide which provides an overview of the various housing options, as well as the Living in Paris presentation.
For students interested in the Nexity or Estudines halls of residence, a link to the booking form will be emailed to applicants by the end of May.
If you are looking for a flatshare or independent studio, you can start looking now, but note that individual landlords tend to advertise just before their flats become available and may want to start the lease immediately. If you want to book a flat in advance you may need to consider going through an online platform/agency.
Useful Links:
Student Induction and Freshers’ Week will be the week starting 18th September. Teaching will start on Monday 25th September.
The Students’ Union will organise a range of workshops, activities, visits and social events. All new students will also be assigned a student buddy from the years above to help them integrate into life in Paris and ULIP.
Useful Link:
There is no compulsory internship or work experience as part of the programme but we do encourage students to explore work opportunities during their studies and a number of our students do carry out internships during the year or the summer (in that case we can sign an internship agreement/Convention de stage).
Queen Mary’s Careers and Enterprise service provides a variety of resources such as links, international databases, one-on-one appointments, CV developments and interview practice which ULIP students have access to. ULIP also partnered with WeAreOne, which is a coaching collective, where students can be selected to take part in mentoring sessions over the course of the semester and meet different students and networks to help find work after graduation.
For casual work, many opportunities are posted on the Facebook group, particularly English-teaching opportunities. Nannying opportunities are also easy to find.
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