Motivation Letter for French Universities in English

Motivation Letter for French Universities in English

Write your master's motivation letter for France in English only when the programme is taught in English. Sciences Po makes this a hard rule: the letter "must be written in the language of the chosen programme". Then find your platform, because the platform decides the letter: a school's own portal, Paris-Saclay's Inception dossier, or Études en France if you live in one of its 75 countries.

Most guides to the French "lettre de motivation" treat France as one system with one letter. It is not. A grande école portal, a university platform and the Campus France procedure ask for different documents, at different lengths, at different stages. This page tells you which one you are writing. If you have a draft, the one-page European motivation letter rubric reads it for programme choice, preparation and forward plan.

Every page quoted below was checked on 31 October 2026. One gap: the national Mon Master site loaded only as a script shell for our checker, so we could not read its rules, and this page states none. Check it in a browser before you rely on any limit for a Mon Master application.

Contents:

• Which route you are on
• Paris-Saclay: a dossier, not a letter
• English or French
• Lettre de motivation conventions
• Constructed English letter
• Questions

Which route you are on

Études en France. Campus France describes it as the reference procedure for non-EU countries: "La procédure "Etudes en France" est la procédure de référence pour les pays hors Union Européenne." It applies to students "résidant dans l’un des 75 pays ou territoires suivants". The list includes India, China, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Pakistan and Bangladesh. For a master's, you follow it "jusqu’à l’obtention d’un visa étudiant": until you have a student visa (our translation).

Sciences Po is the exception. Its international procedure page says: "If you are a national of a country using the CEF procedure, please note that you cannot apply to Sciences Po through their system. Please send your application to Sciences Po through our platform, within our deadlines." The sibling guide on the Sciences Po master's motivation letter covers its four required areas.

Polytechnique has its own platform and a minimum length. See the Polytechnique MSc&T statement of purpose guide.

Mon Master. The site's own description reads: "Mon Master est la plateforme nationale permettant de candidater en première année des formations conduisant au diplôme national de master." In English: the national platform for applying to the first year of programmes leading to the national master's diploma (our translation). Paris-Saclay's M1 Artificial Intelligence page lists both an Inception window and a Mon Master window, and sends you to its applications page to see which applies to you.

Paris-Saclay: a dossier, not a letter

At Université Paris-Saclay the motivation letter is one item in a file. The international students page sets the order for residents of Études en France countries:

"Step 1: INCEPTION platform for course starting dates. Step 2: If admitted, then the applicant must go to EEF and the section ‘I am accepted’."

The same page adds a rule on referees: "Applicants of foreign nationality who have not been enrolled in a higher education institution in France during the last two academic years must provide the contact details of two people who can recommend them academically (teacher, supervisor, work placement supervisor, etc.) when they apply."

Dates are per programme. The master's applications page says "The opening and closing dates for applications depend on the chosen course" and "It is not possible to submit an application outside of these dates." For M2 programmes, "Applications must be submitted on the INCEPTION platform." For the first year, the same page advises you to "Make at least 5 applications in the first year of the Master's", to "Apply for at least two different Master’s tracks" and to "Apply to at least two higher education institutions."

Here is what one programme asks for. The M1 Artificial Intelligence page is marked English, lists 25 places, and requires, among other items:

• "Motivation letter."
• "Letter of recommendation or internship evaluation."
• "List of applications for other tracks, in particular in the Paris-Saclay computer science master's program, in order of preference."
• "Completed questionnaire (to download on the master's web page)."
• "Auto-evaluation form to be downloaded from https://ai-master.lisn.fr/"
• "Curriculum Vitae."

On our check date that page still showed last cycle's windows: Inception from 15/01/2026 to 16/03/2026, and Mon Master from 17 February to 16 March 2026. The 2027 dates were not posted. Do not plan around the 2026 dates.

Our view: at Paris-Saclay, write the letter last. The ranked list of other tracks, the questionnaire and the self-evaluation form all say something about you. The letter has to agree with them. If you rank AI first, the letter cannot read like a data science letter with "AI" pasted in. Your ranked list would contradict it on the same screen. The countercase: if your target programme asks only for a CV and a letter, the letter carries the whole case. Write it first and give it more room.

English or French: the language rule

The rule to follow is the programme's language, not your own preference.

• Sciences Po: the letter "must be written in the language of the chosen programme." Its motivation letter page adds that applications that do not meet this requirement "will be deemed incomplete and will not be considered for evaluation".
• Polytechnique MSc&T: "There is no required minimum level in French to be able to apply", and the English tests it accepts are the TOEFL, IELTS and Cambridge exams.
• Paris-Saclay M1 AI: marked English, and it asks for proof of English at B2.

Our recommendation: if a programme is taught in French, write in French unless its page says otherwise. Of the pages we checked, only Sciences Po states this as a rule, so check each course page. If a programme is taught in both, write in the language of the courses you will take first.

Lettre de motivation conventions, explained in English

No university page we checked prescribes a letter format, so this section is our recommendation, not a published rule.

• A French-language letter uses the formal register throughout. Open with "Madame, Monsieur," when you do not know the reader's name. Close with a full formula, such as "Je vous prie d'agréer, Madame, Monsieur, l'expression de mes salutations distinguées." Keep it to one page unless the programme asks for more.
• An English-language letter to a French programme does not need those formulas. Open with "Dear Admissions Committee," or the programme director's name, and close with "Yours sincerely,". Translating the French closing word for word reads as stiff in English.
• Either language: the programme's exact name in the first sentence, no childhood origin story, and every claim backed by a course, a project or a result.

If you are applying to an advertised PhD position in France rather than a master's, the document is a cover letter for that position. See the PhD position cover letter sample.

Constructed English letter for an English-taught French master's

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant statement. Context (invented): Kofi Mensah holds a bachelor's in mathematics from a university in Ghana, one of the 75 Études en France countries. He applies to Paris-Saclay's M1 Artificial Intelligence on Inception and ranks it first in his list of tracks. Bracketed text marks facts he must take from the programme page himself.

The weak opening (34 words):

I am writing to apply for a Master's in France. France has a rich culture and a great tradition in mathematics, and I have always dreamed of studying in Paris at a famous university.

The revised letter (241 words):

Dear Admissions Committee,

I am applying to the M1 Artificial Intelligence at Université Paris-Saclay for the 2027 intake. It is the first track on my ranked list. My goal is to work on machine learning for agricultural forecasting, a field I started on in my final-year project.

My mathematics degree gave me the base this M1 lists: probability and statistics (A), linear algebra (A) and scientific programming in Python (B+). For that project I built a rainfall model from 20 years of public weather station records. A linear baseline missed most of the extreme months, and a gradient-boosted model halved that error. I could not explain why it worked better, and that gap is why I want formal training in machine learning rather than more tutorials.

Three parts of the programme match that gap: [two named courses from the programme page], and the programme's stated focus on ethics and bias mitigation. A forecasting model that misses dry years can mislead the farmers who use it, so the ethics content is not optional for me.

My self-evaluation form shows my weakest area: I have not yet worked with deep learning frameworks. I have started [a named course or textbook], and I will finish it before September.

After the M1, I plan to continue to the second year in AI. I then want to join a research group or company working on climate data for agriculture in West Africa.

Yours sincerely,

Kofi Mensah

Why it works: the first sentence names the programme, the intake and its place on his ranked list, so the letter and the list agree. The preparation paragraph uses the prerequisites the page lists, with grades. It admits a weakness that his self-evaluation form will show anyway. And it ends with a plan that only this programme serves. It fits one page and stays under 300 words.

Questions about French university motivation letters

Can I write my motivation letter in English for a French university?

For an English-taught programme, yes. Sciences Po requires the programme's language, Paris-Saclay's M1 Artificial Intelligence is marked English, and Polytechnique's MSc&T sets no French minimum to apply. For a French-taught programme, write in French unless its page says otherwise; at Sciences Po, an English letter for a French-taught programme makes the file incomplete.

Do I apply through Campus France or through the university?

It depends on the school. At Paris-Saclay, residents of Études en France countries apply on Inception first, then complete Études en France under "I am accepted". Sciences Po applicants use Sciences Po's platform, not Campus France.

What is the Mon Master motivation letter limit?

We could not verify it. The Mon Master site did not render for our checker on 31 October 2026, so this page states no Mon Master limit or calendar.

How many recommenders does Paris-Saclay need?

If you have not been enrolled in French higher education in the last two academic years, you give contact details for two people who can recommend you academically. Applying in Quebec instead of France? The Quebec master's lettre de motivation guide quotes UdeM's per-program limits and the directeur de recherche rule.

Get a free review of your motivation letter

Get a free Quick Review of your motivation letter against GradPilot's one-page European motivation letter rubric, which covers France, Switzerland and the Nordics. It checks whether the letter states which programme it is for and why you chose it, answers what the programme asked, ties your preparation to it, and fits the space allowed. For a longer statement, such as Polytechnique's, the UK and European master's motivation letter rubric reads programme fit, evidence and future direction.

More guides for France:

• Campus France interview questions: the interview that follows the Études en France text.
• Sciences Po master's motivation letter: 1,000 words and four required areas.
• Polytechnique MSc&T statement of purpose: a 700-word minimum and an 11.59 AM deadline.
• The graduate school essays hub lists every master's and PhD guide by destination.

Sources

Retrieved 31 October 2026, except where noted.

• Campus France, Procédure « Études en France » (no year stated): the reference procedure for non-EU countries, the list of 75 countries and territories, and the master's route to a visa.
• Université Paris-Saclay, International students: applying for a Master's degree (no year stated): the Inception-then-Études-en-France order and the two-referee rule.
• Université Paris-Saclay, Master's applications and enrolment (no year stated): dates per course, M2 on Inception, first-year application advice.
• Université Paris-Saclay, M1 Artificial Intelligence (2026 windows shown): documents required, language, places, prerequisites, ethics focus, and both platform windows.
• Sciences Po, Two-Year Master's Programmes, International Graduate Procedure (2027 intake): the language rule and the Campus France rule.
• Sciences Po, Motivation letter (no year stated): a wrong-language letter makes the application incomplete.
• Sciences Po, Graduate FAQ (no year stated): the 1,000-word limit.
• École Polytechnique, MSc&T FAQ (no year stated): the 700-word minimum and the French-level rule.
• Mon Master, monmaster.gouv.fr (site description only): the platform's purpose. Its rules and calendar could not be read on the check date.