Entrance exams for top schools in Africa: INP-HB, ESP Dakar, Polytechnique Yaoundé, 2iE, requirements and preparation

Information checked on 2 November 2026.

Entrance exams for top schools in Africa are prepared long before the bac. At INP-HB in Yamoussoukro, for example, eligibility depends on your averages from Seconde to the final year: a bad term in Première can weigh as much as a bad paper on the day. This article presents four recognised schools, based only on what their official websites publish: requirements, papers, fees, the 2026 session calendar, then a preparation method. We left out schools whose website gave no verifiable information on 2 November 2026, such as the École polytechnique d'Abomey-Calavi (EPAC): their absence here says nothing about their quality.

Entrance exams for top schools in Africa: the overview

The 2026 sessions are closed. This table serves as a typical calendar: schools usually reuse the same periods from year to year, but only the dates in the new notice count.

INP-HB, Yamoussoukro: file, then written test

INP-HB offers new bac holders two routes:

• the long cycle, in preparatory classes for the grandes écoles, for candidates aged 22 or under on 31 December of the year;
• the short cycle, three years of higher technician training leading to a bachelor's-level degree (DTS), for candidates aged 24 or under.

You must hold the baccalauréat or BT from the current year. Selection happens in two stages:

The file average and the test average are combined. Fees are paid through TresorMoney: 15,000 FCFA registration per exam, 3,000 FCFA file fee and 1,000 FCFA photo fee. The physical file includes Seconde, Première and final-year reports, the bac transcript or pass certificate, an ID document and the pre-registration form.

INP-HB also states that this exam is held in Congo, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Guinea and Niger. For international students in bachelor's or engineering programmes, the institute asks for a diploma equivalent to the bac, solid knowledge of maths and science, and an overall average equivalent to 2.8 out of 4.

ESP Dakar and Senegal's joint engineering schools exam

After the bac: the DUT

ESP recruits into the first year of the DUT through a competitive exam. The 2025 notice set common papers (maths, French, English) and a paper specific to each department, with the Senegalese bac streams accepted:

The 2026-2027 results were published for nine options, from computer science to telecommunications and management.

After bachelor's year 2: the joint exam

The network of public engineering schools of Senegal (REPFIS) runs a joint entrance exam for engineering cycles for eight schools, including ESP, the École polytechnique de Thiès, the Institut polytechnique de Saint-Louis and Polytech Diamniadio. It is for candidates with at least a second year of a bachelor's in science and technology, from preparatory classes, universities or other institutions, in Senegal or abroad. In 2026, files were submitted only online on UCAD's e-concours platform until 20 May, and papers took place on 1 and 2 June in five centres. The engineering programme then lasts three years.

ENSP Yaoundé: one exam a year, two subsystems

The École nationale supérieure polytechnique de Yaoundé, attached to the University of Yaoundé I, recruits mainly through a competitive exam for its engineering programmes. Its website states that the fee amount appears in the official exam notice published every year, that registration is online or at a submission site named in the notice, and that the platform has one entry for the French-speaking subsystem and one for the English-speaking one: GCE A Level holders have their place. Good news for your preparation: the school provides past entrance papers in its downloads section. For the 2026-2027 intake, an exam remained open at the Meyomessala annex until 11 September 2026. If you sit the bac in Cameroon, also read our guide to the bac and GCE in Cameroon.

2iE, Ouagadougou: selection on file

The 2iE institute holds no written exam for entry after the bac: its catalogue states selection on file review, depending on the number of places per class and per session. The engineering bachelor's (three years) is open to holders of a science or technical baccalauréat (C, D, E, F, S…), and the 2iE engineering degree, at master's level, takes five years. Applications go through an online platform in two steps: create your account and complete your profile, then submit your file.

The institute also publishes the cost of on-campus housing for a twelve-month year: 380,000 FCFA for a single room with shower, plus a 50,000 FCFA deposit, or 270,000 FCFA per person in a double room. Tuition fees only appear in image documents on the fees page: ask the admissions office before applying.

Preparing: the method, from Seconde to the exam

In Seconde and Première: look after your file

When a school selects on your secondary averages, every term counts. Aim for consistency in maths, physics-chemistry and English, the three subjects that come up in almost every table above. Your choice of stream matters less than you think: our article bac C or bac D, which stream to choose shows that several schools accept both.

In the final year: practise on entrance papers

• Collect past papers: on the school's website when it publishes them (ENSPY does), from those admitted in previous years, and in the Compatri exam archive (in French), which accepts entrance exam papers. It is still growing: if you sat an exam, share your paper (in French) once the exam is over.
• Work on what the bac does not test: logic, general knowledge and English are in the INP-HB test; an ESP DUT exam includes French and English for everyone.
• Practise under time pressure. A competitive exam ranks candidates: knowing is not enough, you have to be fast. The method is in our article on revising with past papers.

During registration: miss nothing administrative

Do not bet everything on one school

Sit several exams when calendars allow, and prepare a plan B: public university, another school, or studying abroad. Our article after the bac in Africa: stay or leave helps you compare, and the scholarship directory (in French) lists programmes open to bac holders and African students, such as the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program (in French).

Revising with other candidates

An entrance exam is better prepared with others. On Compatri, your class group brings together pupils in your class and city, and connects you with the same class in other cities: ask a question about an exercise, the author marks the best answer. The diaspora's volunteer mentors, including engineers who went through these schools, answer connection requests sent with a message. To set up an effective study group, follow our guide to creating a revision group.

Compatri is not linked to any of these schools: only their exam notices are binding.

Official sources

• INP-HB: admission of bac and BT holders
• INP-HB: international students
• ESP Dakar: entrance exam for Senegal's engineering schools, 2026 session
• ESP Dakar: 2025 DUT exam, subjects and options
• ESP Dakar: results of the 2026-2027 DUT entrance tests
• ENSP Yaoundé: home page
• ENSP Yaoundé: programmes, admission and FAQ
• 2iE: programme catalogue
• 2iE: registration
• 2iE: fees and housing