Passerelle, ECRICOME Tremplin, ACCÈS, Advance Parallèle, GEI-UNIV: the sheer number of exam boards for parallel admission can be disorienting for a candidate discovering the topic. Each covers different schools, with its own fees, its own exams, and its own calendar. This comparison aims to be neutral and decision-oriented, to help you choose the competition(s) that genuinely fit your profile rather than applying everywhere just to be safe.
Overview of the main AST competitions
The AST competition landscape changed for the 2026 session: the Ambitions+ competition ceased to exist starting with the 2025-2026 academic year and is therefore no longer among the active exam boards - a point worth checking systematically before basing an application strategy on information that's several years old.
The main active exam boards in 2026 are:
Passerelle 🔗: Passerelle 1 for candidates with a two-year degree, Passerelle 2 for candidates with a three- or four-year degree. Selection no longer relies on the TAGE MAGE test since the competition's overhaul, but on the file review, an English test, and an individual interview at each targeted school.
ECRICOME Tremplin 🔗: Tremplin 1 (two-year degree) and Tremplin 2 (three- or four-year degree), giving access to several management schools including KEDGE Business School, NEOMA Business School, and Rennes School of Business.
ACCÈS 🔗: parallel admission into the 3rd and 4th years, with applications opening as early as November and interviews run directly by the schools between February and late May.
Advance Parallèle 🔗: dedicated to CTI-accredited engineering schools such as EPITA, ESME, IPSA, or SupBiotech, open to students already engaged in higher education (preparatory class, undergraduate degree, health studies).
GEI-UNIV 🔗: the university track reserved for L3 or first-year Master's students to join fifteen major engineering schools directly, including Mines Paris - PSL, Télécom Paris, or École des Ponts ParisTech, without going through a preparatory class.
Some prestigious schools, such as HEC Paris or ESSEC, also run their own parallel admission procedure outside these pooled exam boards - an important point to check school by school rather than assuming a pooled competition covers the entire market.
💡 For a complete calendar view: our 2026 AST exam calendar details registration, exam, and results dates for each of these exam boards.
Business school competitions vs. engineering school competitions
The most structuring distinction in choosing an AST competition remains the type of school targeted, since the selection logic differs so much.
On the business school side, Passerelle, ECRICOME Tremplin, and ACCÈS assess general managerial potential: analytical ability, ease of speech, general economic culture. The academic file matters, but the motivation interview - often held before a mixed panel of professionals and faculty - carries heavy weight in the final decision, sometimes more than the university ranking.
On the engineering school side, Advance Parallèle and GEI-UNIV primarily test a solid scientific foundation through written exams in math, physics, and a chosen specialty, before the oral interview. A brilliant academic file in management or law carries no weight here: only the scientific coherence of the path counts.
A candidate torn between the two paths should therefore first decide on the targeted professional project rather than applying to both types of competition in parallel "just to see" - a scattershot strategy that generally weakens preparation for each application.
Selection criteria: schools covered, cost, exams
Three concrete criteria help arbitrate between competitions beyond the mere notoriety of the schools covered.
Which schools are actually accessible given your degree. Each competition sets its own eligibility conditions by level (two-year or three-/four-year degree), and not every school is accessible at every level. Systematically check the list of schools covered for the current year - some schools join or leave a pooled exam board from one session to the next.
Registration cost. Fees range from €50 (Passerelle) to several hundred euros for certain procedures specific to top schools outside the pooled boards, with frequent waivers for scholarship-holding candidates. A candidate on a tight budget should prioritize a limited number of competitions rather than multiplying registrations.
The nature of the exams. A candidate strong at interviews but less solid on a TAGE MAGE-style aptitude test should favor Passerelle, where this test is no longer required, over a competition that still weighs it heavily. Conversely, a candidate with a strong scientific profile maximizes their chances on engineering competitions, where the written exam remains decisive.
⚠️ Warning: these fees, place quotas, and procedures are set each year by the exam boards and can change from one session to the next. Systematically check the official website of each competition before building your application strategy.
Can you combine several competitions?
Combining several competitions is not only possible but often recommended, provided it's done methodically rather than by scattering effort. Two combination strategies work particularly well:
Combining several schools within the same pooled exam board. Passerelle, ECRICOME, and ACCÈS let you apply to several schools with a single shared set of written exams, which limits the preparation load while multiplying your chances of admission.
Combining a pooled exam board with a procedure specific to a top-tier school. A candidate targeting HEC Paris or ESSEC should also secure one or two schools via Passerelle or ECRICOME, procedures whose calendars are generally offset, rather than betting everything on a single highly selective application.
📊 Go further: our guide on the difference between AST1 and AST2 details eligibility criteria based on your current degree, an essential prerequisite before choosing your competitions.
On the other hand, combining two engineering competitions with written exams scheduled very close together (as can happen with Advance Parallèle and GEI-UNIV in some years) demands intense scientific preparation over a short period - a choice to make only with an already-solid level on the math-physics foundation shared by both procedures.
Our recommendation by profile
Management/business profile with a general managerial project: favor Passerelle or ECRICOME Tremplin, which cover a broad network of recognized schools with a selection process balanced between file and interview.
University science profile (L3/M1) targeting a top engineering school without a preparatory class: the GEI-UNIV competition remains the most direct route, though highly selective for the most sought-after schools like Mines Paris - PSL or Télécom Paris.
Profile already engaged in higher scientific education (preparatory class, degree, health studies) targeting a mid-sized CTI-accredited school: Advance Parallèle offers access to recognized schools with a generally less intense admission process than GEI-UNIV.
Profile targeting a top-5 school outside the pooled exam boards: look directly into the specific admission-on-title procedure run by your target school (HEC Paris, ESSEC, CentraleSupélec), alongside one or two safety applications through a pooled exam board.
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