Internships

🎓 Internships by study cycle

1st cycle (Bachelor’s degree)

Internships available :

• From L1 to L3 ➜ before the end of L3
  (internships must be validated before the end of administrative registration for passage to M1, last deadline early September in L3 for passage to Master)

✅Number of hours required for validation :

• Worker/worksite internship: 3 weeks (105 h)

• First practical training course: 3 weeks (105 h)

  

2nd cycle (Master)

Courses available in :

• M1 or M2
  ➜ Before the end of the Master’s registration fee(September 30 of the current year).

✅Number of hours required for validation :

• Practical training course: 8 weeks (280 h)

  

🗓️ Authorized periods for internships

Internships must be scheduled outside class periods, i.e. :

• During the February break (3 weeks) ( provided there are no intensive courses or exams).

• During the university vacations scheduled in the ENSAPLV calendar:
  🟢 December (2 weeks)
  🟢 April (2 weeks)
  🟢 July-August (depending on when classes end in July)
  🟢 September (depending on when classes resume).

  

🕐 Working hours – 35-hour rule

➡️ Working hours may not legally exceed 35 hours a week for a trainee in France, except in the case of exceptions provided for by decree.

This rule derives from provisions applicable to internships and labor law, notably article L.6343-2 of the French Labor Code, which limits working hours, and article L.124-14 of the French Education Code on attendance rules.

⚠️ only hours actually worked are counted to validate the 35 h/week. ⚠️

📍 For internships abroad, the rules of the host country apply.

  

⏱️ Maximum duration of internships

➡️ An internship may not exceed 6 months per academic year in the same structure, i.e. 924 hours of actual presence.
This limit is set by article L.124-5 of the French Education Code.

The duration is calculated on the basis of the trainee’s actual presence(7 h = 1 day; 22 days = 1 month).

👉 Internships can be carried out :

• at once,

• or in two split periods(over two academic years and/or in two different structures).

✅ Validation of hours

✔️ Only hours actually worked count towards validation of the course.

⚠️Responsabilité of étudiant⚠️
The student is solely responsible for verifying the number of hours completed as part of his or her internship(s). The administration cannot assume that the student intends to complete all the required hours during a single internship period, or to complete them at a later date.

Only hours actually worked are taken into account for validation. Public holidays not worked are not counted and must be compensated for in order to reach the required number of hours. Failure to carry out the necessary checks beforehand may result in refusal to validate the compulsory training period.

📌 Internships straddling two academic years

➡️ These require :

• Two separate internship agreements:

  • The 1st ends on September 30 at the latest.

  • The 2nd year can start as early as October 1st (subject to the student’s timetable).

• Mandatory university registration for the year concerned
  ➜ Students must contact their cycle manager to carry out this re-registration before obtaining a new agreement.

👥 The course participants and their roles

An internship relies on three key players :

• The student trainee

• A teacher from ENSAPLV

• A host organization, represented by an internship supervisor

  

The student’s role

It is the student’s responsibility to find an ENSAPLV teacher willing to supervise the internship.

In particular, the student must:

• define the internship’s pedagogical project with the agreement of the supervising teacher before applying for the agreement;

• have the teacher sign the internship agreement (respecting the order of signatures defined by the school);

• have the internship report validated by this teacher at the end of the internship.

  

The supervising teacher

• The supervising teacher must work at ENSAPLV during the academic year in question, including at the time of final validation of the internship.

• A teacher may not take on a student enrolled in one of his or her courses for an internship within his or her own professional structure.

• He or she may not combine the roles of supervising teacher and internship supervisor for the same student.

⚠️ Once the internship agreement has been drawn up and signed, it is not possible to change the supervising teacher.
In the event of difficulty, the student should contact the internship manager, who will assess the situation and, if necessary, arrange for an amendment to the agreement. ⚠️

The host structure

• The internship can be carried out in any public or private structure, in France or abroad, working in the field of architecture.

• The organization must sign an internship agreement with ENSAPLV.

• Laboratories and structures legally attached to ENSAPLV may not take on trainees.

❌ No agreement other than the one issued by the school will be accepted.

  
  
  

⚠️ The pedagogical project is compulsory and must be drawn up in agreement with the supervising teacher. ⚠️

It clearly defines the objectives of the internship, including :

• the knowledge and skills the student wishes to develop (e.g. wood construction techniques, site supervision, mastery of representation tools, teamwork, etc.),

• links with current and future courses at ENSA PLV.

  

The project must be drawn up with the supervising teacher, to ensure consistency between :

• the school’s pedagogical expectations,

• practical activities carried out during the internship.

  

An internship is more than just an immersion in the professional world: it’s an essential pedagogical moment. Students need to know what they want to learn, what practical and professional skills they wish to acquire, and how these fit into their training.

🏛️LES RECEPTION FACILITIES

The internship can be carried out in any public or private structure, in France or abroad, working in the field of architecture.

The choice and assessment of the type of host structure are the responsibility of the supervising teacher, who is in charge of the pedagogical part of the internship. If there is any doubt or question as to the suitability of the chosen structure, the student is required to consult his or her supervisor before taking any action.

🚫 Laboratories and structures legally attached to ENSA-PLV cannot take on ENSA-PLV students as trainees.

🚫 In order to avoid any conflict of interest situation, students are prohibited from doing their internship with the company of a teacher whose courses they are taking at the time of the internship.

🚫 A teacher at the school cannot combine the functions of supervising teacher and internship tutor within the host structure.

🚫A student cannot carry out all of his or her compulsory internships in the same host organization. The two Bachelor’s internships and the Master’s internship must all be carried out in separate structures.

Conversely, internships can be carried out in different structures contributing to the same project.

At least one of the internships must take place outside an architectural practice.
  

🌍STAGE A L’ETRANGER

It is possible to carry out an internship abroad. In this case, the rules governing bonuses and working hours in force in the host country apply.

Student obligations :

The student must enter the following on the breadcrumb trail: 🔗 https://pastel.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fildariane/dyn/public/login.html

🛡️ The student is required to take out civil liability insurance covering the country in which the internship is taking place.
📄 The corresponding certificate must be sent with the agreement application form, in accordance with the procedure in force.

⚖️ It is the student’s sole responsibility to verify the need for and, if necessary, to take out any additional insurance, particularly health and repatriation insurance, appropriate to the host country and the duration of the internship.
Theschool cannot be held responsible for any lack or inadequacy of coverage.

🌐 The school does not have a convention in English

✍️ If necessary, the student must translate the agreement for the host organization.

✅ Only the French version, completed and signed, must be sent to the school.

For an internship lasting more than two consecutive months, or during the same academic year, the student must receive a bonus.

It doesn’t matter whether the intern’s hours are consecutive or not:
a company that takes on the same student for more than 44 days (or 308 hours) in the course of a year, in one or more internships spaced out over time, is obliged to pay a minimum bonus (€4.50/hour in 2026).

Any change to the initial terms of the agreement must be reported to the school administration, which will draw up an amendment to the internship agreement. If the agreement has already been signed, it will be subject to the same signature procedure as the agreement.

Examples: change of supervisor, change of dates, change of gratification, interruption, etc.

The student must request the amendment before the period affected by the changes. The request must therefore be made at least 7 working days before the application of the modifications provided for in the amendment, as specified on the internship agreement.

Validation of a course can only be carried out once the course has been completed.
Any validation form dated before the last day of the course will be considered invalid.
Documents may be completed after the end of the course, but must respect the deadlines indicated below.

1. Submission of internship report

• The internship report must be sent to your supervisor within one month of the end of the internship.

ATTENTION: It must not be sent before the end of the course.

2. Transmission of the validation form

The validation form must be :

• completed in full (any missing information will delay validation of your internship)
• signed and stamped by the company (page 1, dated last day of internship or later),
• then forwarded to the internship manager within the timeframe appropriate to your situation*.

*Deadlines for sending validation documents depending on your situation :

• Students registered for the year: before September 30.
• Students registered for a single semester (only for M2 students with only the internship to complete): before February 28.

3. Special cases :

Internships ending in September (end of the academic year):

• The internship report must be sent to the supervising teacher within one month of the end of the internship (Example: end of internship on September 30 → report due no later than October 30).
• The validation form must be sent to the internship manager before the end of the calendar year, i.e. by the end of December at the latest.

Internships ending in February for students enrolled in the first semester only (registration fees end on February 28):

• The internship report must be sent to the supervising teacher within one month of the end of the internship (Example: end of internship on February 28 → report due no later than March 28).
• The validation form must be sent to the internship manager before June.

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Administrative re-registration: There’s no need to re-register if the course has been completed and all that’s missing is administrative validation.

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L3 students transferring to M1

The internship must be validated before the end of administrative registration for the Master’s program, i.e. during the first week of September (last deadline).

No validation will be carried out before the end of the course.
If you extend your course beyond the minimum duration required, you undertake to validate it in full.

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SUMMARY: student obligations

The student must :

• Submit your internship report to your supervisor no later than one month after the end of the internship, together with page 2 of the validation form.
• Have page 1 of the validation form completed, signed and stamped by the host organization on the last day or after the end of the internship.
• Fill in the feedback form to assess how your internship went.
• Send: the validation form (page 1 completed by the organization, page 2 completed by the teacher) and the internship return form to the internship manager within the deadlines indicated above, depending on the student’s situation.

Optional courses are available under certain conditions, for the following groups:
 ⚠️ Non-repeating undergraduates are not eligible for optional internships.
  

1. Master’s students :

• The compulsory internship must already have been completed and validated.
• Only one additional optional course is allowed.
• All plans for optional internships must be notified to the internship manager at the same time as the documents validating the compulsory internship are sent in, regardless of the period planned for the internship.
• The optional internship must be completed before the end of the student’s registration period.

 ⚠️ No re-registration is possible for an optional course.
 ⚠️ Once a student has graduated, he or she can no longer obtain an internship agreement.
  

2. Students repeating a bachelor’s or master’s degree :

• The schedule needs to be streamlined.
• Mandatory internships must be validated.
• All plans for optional internships must be notified to the internship manager at the same time as the documents validating the compulsory internship are sent in, regardless of the period planned for the internship.

 ⚠️ Validation may take several days, depending on the number of files to be processed. Thank you for your patience.
  

3. Students enrolled in a gap year :

Internships are authorized without restriction, provided that the student has indicated his/her intention to undertake an internship when registering for the gap year, and has paid the corresponding partial registration fee.

Internships do not count towards compulsory internships.
  

4. Bicursus students – Licence cycle :

Students whose bachelor’s degree internships are dispensed on the ENSA PLV side and who are not repeaters ❌ cannot obtain an internship agreement.
 ⚠️ Non-repeating undergraduates are not eligible for optional internships.
  

5. Bicursus students – Master’s program :

• The compulsory internship must have been completed and validated.
• All plans for optional internships must be notified to the internship manager at the same time as the documents validating the compulsory internship are sent in, regardless of the period planned for the internship.

  

⚠️ Attention

Students who have obtained an exemption from internship (by equivalence, commission decision or agreement between schools as part of a bicursus) ❌ cannot obtain an optional or elective internship agreement.

Because of the workload involved, it is strongly discouraged for all students to carry out an internship in parallel with their courses. However, an internship may be carried out during course periods on a part-time basis only, provided that :

• it doesn ‘t overlap with school hours;

• the student is enrolled for the period in question and has a timetable clearly defined by the school prior to any request for an agreement (no agreement drawn up in the first semester for the second semester until the timetable has been confirmed);

• the days and times of attendance at the company must be specified on the application form and on the internship agreement in article 4.

For S10 (M2):

• In addition to the PFE, new courses have been added and must be taken into account;

• Students must free up one full day per week for personal work on the EFP;

• full-time internships are prohibited.

⚠️L administration reserves the right to refuse an internship agreement if it is not compatible with the student’s schedule.⚠️

For ENSAPLV internships, the application procedure is the same as for conventional courses (see above).

On the other hand, for internships shared with the engineering school, when the latter issues the internship agreement, the student must send the ENSAPLV manager an information sheet containing all the information relating to the internship agreed by the engineering school.

Once the internship is completed, he or she must also send ENSAPLV’s validation form (see internship validation tab), completed and signed.

The internship is validated according to the respective conditions of each establishment.

Conditions of exemption :

Professional work carried out by students in the fields mentioned below can be validated as an internship, on presentation of a descriptive and critical report. Students engaged in a declared professional activity, giving rise to the payment of social security contributions, whether salaried or self-employed, may apply, under this procedure, for their activity to be validated as an internship (exemption from internship).

This includes activities carried out within structures in the following sectors: construction and public works, home improvement, naval architecture, project management or assistance to project management, design and construction of buildings, gardens or public spaces, consultancy to local authorities, technical, economic or health inspections, decoration, graphic design, industrial creation, as well as maintenance, rehabilitation, conversion or extension of buildings.

internships and “passerelle V” contracts are not taken into account for exemption requests.

– The internship commission meets several times during the academic year to consider requests for exemption.

– Requests for exemption must be made as soon as possible and imperatively before before July 6 of the academic year concerned by the internship.

– Students must be enrolled at the school when they apply, or must re-register in order to submit their application.

– Exemption request form to be completed and e-mailed, together with the supporting documents specified on the form, to the internship manager.