Preparing your application file from Première: report cards, tests, letter and calendar

Information checked on 2 November 2026.

Your application file for studying abroad is largely decided before your final year of secondary school. Campus France asks for your report cards from Seconde and Première (the two years before the final year), scholarships for secondary pupils close their applications while you revise for the baccalaureate, and a recommendation letter has to be requested weeks in advance. Preparing your application file from the penultimate year (Première) simply means filing, each term, what you will be asked for later. This guide tells you what to keep, which grades count, when to take a language test, how to build your activities and your letter, and gives you the month-by-month calendar up to the 2027 intake.

Why prepare your application file from the penultimate year

Three reasons, all verifiable on official websites.

Report cards: what you will really be asked for

Each procedure has its own list. Here is what the official sources publish.

Campus France Togo makes a point that applies everywhere: scanned documents must be originals. A report card lost in Seconde is hard to obtain again two years later. Hence the first rule of this guide: at the end of every term, scan your report card and file it in a dated folder, on your phone and in your email.

Your average and the subjects that count

There is no national minimum average for Campus France, but the local offices publish benchmarks. Campus France Togo recommends, for a final-year pupil aiming for the first year of licence:

• no repeated year in secondary school;
• at least 12/20 average in exams, in Seconde as in Terminale;
• this average counts above all in the core subjects of the chosen programme.

In practice, if you are aiming for a mathematics degree, your maths and physics grades will be read first. If you are aiming for law, it will be French, philosophy and history. From Première onwards, identify the two or three subjects that support your project and make them your priority. Our article on the average needed for Campus France details the averages observed among admitted students, field by field.

Scholarships follow the same logic, with their own thresholds. Türkiye Burslari requires, for the bachelor's level, at least 70% average (90% in medicine, dentistry and pharmacy) and being under 21. Yale Young African Scholars, on the other hand, sets no minimum grade and requires no standardised test.

To raise an average, nothing beats practising on real papers: our method to revise for the bac with past papers relies on Compatri's exam archive (in French), which is being built with the papers uploaded by pupils.

Language tests: French for France, English for the rest

A language test cannot be prepared in two weeks. Assess your level from Première onwards.

For France, the DAP 2027-2028 notice makes the TCF compulsory, unless exempted. Exempt candidates include nationals of a State where French is the sole official language, and candidates whose secondary studies took place mostly in French. If this applies to you, the exemption must be proven by 15 December 2026 at the latest. Otherwise, you must take the TCF by 12 February 2027 at the latest, so that the results arrive before the university committees of 16 March. Details by country are in our article on the French test for Campus France.

For English-speaking countries and most international scholarships, English is what counts. YYAS expects a high level of English without requiring a test. Universities and bachelor's scholarships, however, often ask for an official score. Which one to choose, when to take it and how long it stays valid: it is all in our comparison IELTS, TOEFL or Duolingo: which test to choose.

A timing tip: if your project requires an English score, aim for a first attempt at the end of Première or during the following holidays. That way you keep the final year to retake the test if the score is not enough.

Activities: what tells a story in a file

Scholarships for secondary pupils do not only read grades. The YYAS form asks for information on your extracurricular activities; the African Leadership Academy looks for leadership and entrepreneurial potential. An activity that counts is one you can tell in three sentences: what you did, for how long, what changed thanks to you.

Concrete ideas, available in most schools:

• tutoring: helping younger pupils in maths or French, every week;
• a school club or association, with a specific responsibility (treasurer, event organiser);
• a personal project: a small business, a page explaining lessons, a fundraiser for the school;
• academic competitions, national or regional;
• volunteering in your neighbourhood, your parish, your mosque or an association.

Write down each activity in a notebook, with the dates and a contact (teacher, supervisor) who can confirm it. Two years later, this notebook saves you from inventing things from memory.

Motivation letter and recommendations

The letter or essay

YYAS asks for one 400-word essay and two short responses. Campus France asks for one motivation letter per programme. In both cases, the same thing is expected: a clear project, linked to your background, without ready-made phrases. Start a draft during the holidays after Première: what do you want to study, why, and what have you already done in that direction? Our guide to the motivation letter for a scholarship gives a structure and examples.

Recommendations

A recommendation is chosen and requested early.

• YYAS asks for one teacher recommendation, sent through an online form to the teacher's email. Recommendations from parents, relatives, family friends or paid tutors are not accepted.
• The African Leadership Academy asks finalists for recommendation letters.
• The MEXT scholarship (Japan, bachelor's) is submitted to the embassy with, among other things, a recommendation letter.

In Première, choose one or two teachers who really know you, preferably in the subjects of your project. Tell them at least one month before the deadline, and give them a one-page summary: your project, your grades in their subject, your activities. Our article on the recommendation letter for a scholarship helps you ask for it.

The calendar from Première to Terminale

This table assumes a pupil in Première in 2025-2026, in the final year in 2026-2027, aiming for the 2027 intake. If you are in Première today, shift everything by one year: the exact dates of the next cycle are not yet published.

The dates of Campus France offices vary from one country to another around this national framework: always check those of your country in our Campus France calendar 2027-2028. Before paying anything, you can assess your profile with the Campus France simulator (in French), free and anonymous.

Scholarships to prepare during secondary school

Some scholarships target secondary pupils, others baccalaureate holders. All of them require a file ready on time.

Exact dates change every year: turn on Compatri's scholarship alerts (in French) to receive openings and last deadlines by email. The full overview is in our article on scholarships for pupils after the bac.

Your checklist, to keep on your phone

• Report cards from Seconde, Première and Terminale, scanned from the originals
• Bac 1 transcript (or equivalent exam), then bac 2 transcript and certificate
• Birth certificate or ID, with translation if not in French
• Language test score or proof of exemption
• Activity notebook, with dates and contacts
• Draft motivation letter, reread by a teacher
• Names and emails of two teachers who agree to recommend you

None of this costs money. All of it takes time, and Première is when you have the most.

Prepare with your class and with those who left

You do not have to prepare alone. On Compatri, class groups bring together pupils of the same class and the same town ("Terminale D, Kétou") and let you find the same class in other towns: you ask your questions, share your methods, mark the best answer. The diaspora volunteer mentors are former baccalaureate holders who left to study: request an introduction to have your project reviewed. When you apply for a scholarship, the application tracker (in French) guides you step by step and reminds you of the deadlines.

Compatri does not replace Campus France or scholarship bodies: only their official pages are binding.

Official sources

• Ministry of Higher Education: notice of the DAP form 2027-2028 (PDF)
• Campus France Togo: list of required documents
• Campus France Togo: recommended criteria
• Yale Young African Scholars: timeline and deadlines
• Yale Young African Scholars: application requirements
• African Leadership Academy: applications for the 2027 class
• Study in Japan: MEXT bachelor's scholarship, embassy recommendation
• Embassy of Korea in Kenya: GKS bachelor's 2027
• Türkiye Burslari: criteria and programmes
• Türkiye Burslari: application calendar