Between business school entrance exams, exam banks that change names from one year to the next, and calendars specific to each school, keeping track of parallel admission (AST) competitions can feel like a puzzle. This calendar covers the main 2026 deadlines and a method for not missing a single date.
Overview of the AST calendar
The AST landscape has changed for the 2026 session: the Ambitions+ concours, which previously granted access to two recognized Grande École programs, ceased to exist starting with the 2025-2026 academic year. It no longer appears among the active exam banks - an important point to check before basing your application strategy on information that may be several years old.
The main active AST exam banks for business schools in 2026 are:
- Passerelle (Passerelle 1 for a two-year degree, Passerelle 2 for a three/four-year degree)
- ECRICOME Tremplin (Tremplin 1 and Tremplin 2)
- ACCÈS (parallel admissions into year 3 and year 4)
For engineering schools, the Advance Parallèle exam bank covers parallel admission into several engineering programs accredited by the Commission des Titres d'Ingénieur (CTI), France's engineering-degree accreditation body.
Each exam bank groups several schools and runs on its own registration calendar, its own fees, and its own exam format - which is why it helps to start from an overview before diving into the details of each competition.
Dates by concours: Passerelle, ECRICOME, ACCÈS, Advance
Concours Passerelle: according to the rules published on the official Passerelle website 🔗, the 2026 session opens 2,080 spots, including 1,900 in Passerelle 2 (three/four-year degree) and 180 in Passerelle 1 (two-year degree). A notable change for this session: the TAGE MAGE test is no longer required, with selection now based on the file review, an English test, and an individual interview at each institution. Registration fees are €50, free for scholarship holders, with a preferential rate for early registration before early March.
Concours ECRICOME Tremplin: presented on the official ECRICOME website 🔗, this concours grants access to several management schools (including KEDGE Business School, NEOMA Business School, and Rennes School of Business) through two levels, Tremplin 1 (two-year degree) and Tremplin 2 (three/four-year degree). About 370 spots are open in Tremplin for two-year-degree holders in the 2026 session.
Concours ACCÈS: according to the official ACCÈS 2026 calendar 🔗, applications open in November of the preceding year, with several staggered closing sessions between January and April, and oral exams organized by the schools between February and end of May. The concours opens about 1,390 spots in 2026, split between year 3 and year 4 entry.
Concours Advance Parallèle (engineering schools): according to the official Advance concours website 🔗, this path leads into EPITA, ESME, IPSA, or SupBiotech, four CTI-accredited schools. It is open to students who have already started higher education - prep school, a bachelor's degree, health studies - and registration costs €60, free for scholarship holders.
⚠️ Watch out: these fees, spot quotas, and formats are set annually by each exam bank and can change from one session to the next. Always check the exact dates on each concours' official website before building your timeline, rather than relying on a date remembered from a previous year.
Recommended timeline for preparing your file
Whatever concours you're targeting, building a solid AST file follows a similar pattern:
4 to 6 months before the registration deadline: identify your target concours and schools, check eligibility based on your degree (two-year vs. three/four-year), and start gathering administrative documents (transcripts since the baccalaureate, degrees, supporting documents).
3 to 4 months before: take the required English test (TOEIC, TOEFL, IELTS) if you don't have a valid score less than two years old, and identify who could write your recommendation letters.
2 months before: draft and get feedback on your academic resume and cover letter, tailoring them to each school rather than sending an identical file everywhere.
Final month before the deadline: finalize your online registration, take advantage of early-bird rates where they exist, and do a final check on every document in your file.
After admissibility: prepare for the motivation interview, often the most decisive step in the process, carrying a high coefficient in most concours.
💡 To learn more: if you're unsure which entry level matches your path, our article on the difference between AST1 and AST2 details eligibility criteria based on your current degree.
What to do when dates overlap
It's not uncommon for two concours or two schools to have very close, even simultaneous, registration deadlines. A few principles for handling this constraint:
- Prioritize based on your project, not ease: it's better to put quality time into 2-3 targeted applications than to rush through 6.
- Reuse the framework, adapt the content: a base academic resume can serve as a foundation for several applications, provided you adjust the emphasis to each school's expectations (see our article on the ESSEC parallel admission resume for a detailed example).
- Anticipate shared tests: the same TOEIC or TAGE MAGE score (where still required) can often be used across several concours - don't retake it needlessly.
- Block off interview dates as soon as they're published: some schools offer limited slots that fill up quickly.
A file sent in a rush, a few hours before the deadline, is almost always noticeable - typos, missing documents, sloppy formatting. The best protection against this risk remains a personal calendar built several months in advance.
Writing a one-page academic resume that's coherent and tailored to each concours takes time - FinanceCV lets you focus on your file's content while the tool guarantees a professional layout that meets AST concours format requirements.
Ready to build your resume for the 2026 AST concours? Use our free generator to get a professional document in minutes at /cv.