VAE and pathways to nursing qualification: care assistants, career change, exemptions

Care assistants, childcare auxiliaries, healthcare students or employees changing career: many care workers are looking for a shortcut to the State nursing qualification. Some exist, others do not. This guide clarifies VAE, entry through continuing vocational education, direct access to the second year for care assistants and exemptions provided for under the order of 20 February 2026 relating to the State nursing qualification.

Can you obtain the nursing qualification through VAE?

No. The State nursing qualification is not among the paramedical qualifications accessible through validation of prior learning. The State services responsible for paramedical certification in Île-de-France list five qualifications open to VAE:

• the State care assistant qualification;
• the State childcare auxiliary qualification;
• the State occupational therapist qualification;
• the State operating theatre nurse qualification;
• the hospital pharmacy technician qualification.

For these qualifications, you must have at least one year's experience in full-time equivalent directly related to the qualification sought. The process involves eligibility assessment, portfolio submission, interview with the panel and decision. You have three years from the date of eligibility to complete the process.

Useful to know: if you work as a service worker or in an unqualified role, VAE for the care assistant qualification can be a first step. Once qualified as a care assistant, the pathway to the second year of nursing becomes available to you after three years of practice.

What are the routes of access to nursing education?

The programme is open to candidates holding the baccalauréat, an equivalent qualification or an exemption, aged at least 17 on 31 December of the year of entry. It can be followed by two routes:

• initial education, including apprenticeship, with pre-registration via Parcoursup;
• continuing vocational education, with an application and examinations organised by the institutes.

The regional council sets the intake capacity of each institute. At least 25% of places are reserved for continuing education candidates. For the Parcoursup route, consult our guide becoming a nurse: IFSI and Parcoursup.

How do you enter an IFSI through continuing vocational education?

This is the route for people changing career and care assistants. Regional health agencies indicate that it is open to candidates who can demonstrate at least three years of contributions to a social protection scheme at the date of registration for the examinations. You register directly with the institute of your choice.

The steps

1. Obtain the application form from the IFSI: timetables vary from one institute to another, often opening in autumn for entry in September.
2. Complete your application: proof of identity, passport or residence permit, copies of your qualifications, curriculum vitae and covering letter setting out your professional project.
3. Without the baccalauréat, include a request for validation of your studies, professional experience and personal achievements.
4. Sit the two selection examinations.
5. Check the results: the admissions panel draws up a main list and a reserve list.

What do the examinations involve?

• An interview lasting 20 minutes, marked out of 20, covering your professional experience and your project.
• A one-hour written examination, marked out of 20: a thirty-minute written component on a health and social topic, followed by a thirty-minute calculation component.

You must score at least 20 out of 40 overall. A score below 8 out of 20 in either examination is grounds for elimination.

Care assistant: how do you enter directly in the second year?

This is the main pathway. Holders of the State care assistant qualification can enter nursing education in the second year, following a favourable opinion from the admissions panel, if they meet three cumulative conditions:

1. demonstrate at least three years' experience as a care assistant on a full-time basis, or the equivalent on a part-time basis, over the past five years at the date of selection;
2. have been selected through the continuing vocational education route;
3. have completed a specific three-month training programme.

To follow this programme, you apply and must be selected by your employer. You also pay the registration fees to the university. In the event of sick leave, maternity, paternity or adoption leave, the benefit of the programme can be extended for a further year.

What documents do I need to provide?

The application includes in particular an identity document, a curriculum vitae, your qualifications, certificates from your employers, a cover letter, your employer's commitment letter and proof of completion of the specific pathway.

Point to note: without your employer's agreement, no specific pathway is possible. Raise the matter during your annual review, well before applications open, so that your application can be included in the training plan.

What about childcare auxiliaries?

Direct access to the second year is reserved for holders of the State diploma in care assistance only. A childcare auxiliary therefore enters training through the continuing professional development route, sitting the same examinations as other candidates. Once admitted, they may request exemptions: the university president may exempt a student from teaching units or semesters, following advice from the admissions committee.

What pathways are available for health students?

The decree provides for several entry points, always following advice from the admissions committee:

• students enrolled in a paramedical training programme at level 6 or above: access to the first or second year;
• students enrolled in the first year of the specific health access pathway or the degree with health access option: access to the second semester of the first year;
• students who have completed this first year without continuing in medicine, midwifery, pharmacy or dentistry: access to the second year with a specific pathway set by the institute director;
• students who have completed the second or third year of the first cycle of these programmes: access to the second year.

For those entering the second year, the institute director decides on exemptions from first-year teaching, examinations and placements in light of training already completed.

Doctors, midwives, paramedical professionals: what is the adapted pathway?

Certain professionals may request an adapted training pathway: doctors, midwives, those who have completed the second year of the second cycle of medical studies, holders of a paramedical diploma at level 6 or above and nurses qualified outside the European Union.

To sit the State diploma examination, they must in particular validate the 'Nursing Sciences and Clinical Reasoning' domain, complete two full-time placements (10 to 33 weeks in total, 8 weeks for midwives), present a written and oral synthesis of a literature analysis and hold certification of level 2 training in emergency procedures and care. The case of foreign qualifications is detailed in our guide practising in France with a foreign nursing qualification.

Career change: how do I fund these pathways?

The question of funding arises from the moment of application: training costs, maintenance of salary, employer agreement. Depending on your status, several schemes may apply (training plan, promotional studies, professional transition project, CPF). All are detailed in our guide funding your nursing training.

Does the training reform change the rules?

The decree of 20 February 2026 replaces the decree of 31 July 2009. It applies to students entering training from September 2026 onwards. Students who entered before remain governed by the old text until the end of their course. The 2009 decree will be definitively repealed on 30 June 2030.

The training remains three years and 180 European credits, but increases from 4,200 to 4,620 hours, of which 2,310 hours are clinical teaching. Access to the second year for care assistants, created by a decree of 3 July 2023, is retained in the new text.

Good to know: once you have obtained your diploma, whatever your pathway, registration with the Order remains mandatory before you can practise. The procedures are explained in our guide registering with the Nurses' Order.

Official sources

• Légifrance: decree of 20 February 2026 on the State nursing diploma
• ANFH: presentation of the decree of 20 February 2026, exemption from the first year for care assistants
• DRIEETS Île-de-France: paramedical qualifications and VAE
• ARS Centre-Val de Loire: selection examinations in IFSI
• ARS Bourgogne-Franche-Comté: entry selection procedures for IFSI
• ARS Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes: selection through continuing professional education